Gender Differences in Achievement - External Factors

Question 1

Who discusses external factors as an explanation for the gender gap in education?

Answer 1

1) . McRobbie –> impact of feminism.
2) . Sharpe –> girls’ changing ambitions.
3) . Fuller –> girls’ changing ambitions.
4) . Reay –> class differences in girls’ ambitions.

Question 2

What study did McRobbie conduct?

Answer 2

Girls’ magazines =

• 1970s = importance of getting married.
• now = assertive, independent.

Question 3

What study did Sharpe do?

Answer 3

interviews of girls in 1970s and 1990s =

• 1970s = low aspirations (wanted marriage).
• 1990s = high aspirations for a career first.

Question 4

What did Fuller find about girls’ changing ambitions?

Answer 4

Educational success as part of their identity =

• wanted good jobs.
• believed in meritocracy so worked hard to achieve.

Question 5

What did Reay find about social class and gender?

Answer 5

w/c girls expect to have bad jobs =

• their limited aspiration reflects this.
• a gender identity (being a couple) offers them a source of status.