Gender and Achievement

• Give 3 reasons why girls outperform boys (include names)


  • Sharpe - shift in priorities from valuing marriage + family to valuing Education + careers as a means of financial independence and security
  • Wilkinson - Gender Quake meaning they no longer prioritise marriage + children leading to an increasing participation of women in education
  • McRobbie - girls are more likely to work harder cause they are more aware of what is needed to obtain good qualifications (spend leisure time talking not playing sports)
• Give 3 reasons why boys under achieve (include names)


  • Mac an Ghail - there's a crisis in masculinity due to the feminisation of education meaning boys are less likely to take certain subjects
  • Willis - labelling creates anti-school subculture of boys "lads" form their own set of values
  • Sewell - Black boys hold on to this idea of Hyper Masculinity and don't conform to standards in school due to the lack of an authoritative figure
• Give 2 factors why girls still underachieve 


  • Gendered stereotypes - boys better at STEM whilst girls are not which impacts their subject choices as they feel inclined not to take maths/physics + also because there is a lack of representation of women as teachers in those subjects
  • Removal of Coursework (Education White Paper 2010) - idea that girls are better at coursework through bedroom culture
• Give 2 policies that have impacted on gender achievement negatively + positively

  • GIST (girls into science and technology)and WISE (Women in Science and Technology) - encourages girls to raise their aspirations but boys may start to feel those subjects are now feminine (stigma)
  • Sex Discrimination Act -reduces the lack of opportunities for women but there is still a glass ceiling in the workforcs
• How has changes in women employment impacted girls achievement?


  encouraged girls to see their future as more than housewives and mothers but having greater career opportunities and financial independence, aspirations to get these jobs push girls to do well in education in order to achieve these career goals
• How has changes in the family impacted girls achievement?


  More lone parent families headed by women and dual earning families raises girls aspirations
• How has changes in girl's ambitions impacted girls achievement?


  there's a decline of traditional gender roles - in order to achieve the desired goals of independence and self sufficiency girls now recognise the need for good education, educational success becomes a central tenant to girls identity
• How do Role models impact on girls achievement?

  increase number of females taking up head teacher and senior teacher roles showing them they can achieve positions of importance and power - by having role models to look up to in no traditional positions, girls are more likely to work harder to achieve these goals themselves leading them to achieve more educationally
• How does Coursework impact girls achievement?


  Girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys which puts them at an advantage
• How does group pressure affect subject choices?


  students can face extreme pressure to conform to gender stereotypes in order to be accepted by their peers - sport is often seen as a male domain and girls will be see as unfeminine if they opt for it also found that when students opt of opposite domain subjects they are subjected to name calling and bullying