Gender - internal Flashcards
(5 cards)
Equal opportunity policy - GIST & WISE
E - GIST and WISE encourage girls to pursue careers in these non-traditional areas. Female scientists have visited schools acting as a role models aswell as effort being made to raise science teachers’ awareness of gender issues.
E - Girls are now achieving in STEM subjects and out performing boys. Boaler sees the impact of equal opportunity policy as a key reason for the changes in girls achievement many of the barriers have been removed on schooling has become more meritocratic so girls who work harder than boys achieve more.
E - However, they focus too much on access and not enough an outcomes. Slee (1998) argues schools may adopt these policies symbolically, whilst continuing to reinforce traditional gender roles through the curriculum.
Positive role models in school
E - There has been an increase in the proportion of female teachers and heads. These women in senior positions may also act as role models for girls, showing their women can achieve positions of importance and giving them non-traditional goals to aim for.
E - They are likely to be important role models as far as girls’ education achievement is concerned since to become a teacher, the individual must undertake a lengthy and successful education herself. This means girls may try harder in school if they have evidence it is possible for them to succeed.
E - Radical feminists argue headteachers are still most likely to be headteachers, reinforcing patriarchy in the education system.
GCSE & Coursework - Mitsos and Browne (19980
E - Mitsos and Browne found girls are more successful in coursework. I’ll stay more conscientious and better organised than boys. Girls seen more time on their work, take more care with presentation etc.
E - This has led to girls benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSE and A level. This means that girls tend to achieve higher results in todays society as coursework is more popular in the education system today.
E - However, Elwood (2005) argues although coursework has some influence, it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap because exams have much more influence than coursework on final grades.
Teacher attention - French (1993)
E - French analysed classroom interactions I’m found boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands. Francis also found that boys put more attention and were discipline more harshly and felt picked up by teachers who tended to have low expectations of them.
E - This may explain why teachers respond more positively to girls who they see as cooperative, than to boys who they see as potentially disruptive. This may create a SFP in which successful interactions with teachers, promote girl self-esteem, and raise their achievement levels but bringing boys down as they feel they cannot achieve.
E - However, teachers argue they don’t differ in the attention they give to either gender to maintain professionalism ad it is also too deterministic of a view.
Challenging stereotypes in curriculum - Weiner (1995)
E - Weiner argues since the 1980s, teachers have challenged stereotypes of reading schemes portraying women as housewives and mothers . Physics textbooks also showed them as frightened of science and that maths books depicted boys as more intentive. These images how now been removed.
E - This has helped raise girls achievements by presenting them with more positive images of women in textbooks such as women doing the since experiments instead of males.
E - However,Tuchman argues these images usually marginalize these women in textbooks. They call this symbolic annihilation’ where women contributions are underreprestened - still reinforces male dominated narratives.
