4.1 Gender & Education (Internal Factors)

• What are 3 statistics about gender differences in schools?

  -Boys 2.5x more likely to have SEN-Girls do better than boys in all subjects-9% of females get 1st class degrees compared to 6% of males
• Why do we still need feminism in education?

  -15,000 girls leave school annually with no qualifications-Post education women still rarely hold positions of power in employment-Women are underpaid compared to men
• What's the impact of feminism?


  -Success in improving women's rights-Challenges stereotypes of women as a mother & housewife-Girls have more ambition regarding careers & improved educational achievement
• What have been the changes in the family?

  -Increased divorce rate-Smaller families-More single parents
• What did Sue Sharpe find about girls changing ambitions?

  -She interviewed girls in the 70s & 90s-In the 70s, girls had low ambitions as they say doing well in education as unfeminine, being ambitious as unattractive & priorities were love, husbands, marriage & children-In the 90s, their top priorities were careers and being able to support themselves & more likely to see their future as an independent women with careers
• What did O'Connor find about girls changing ambitions?

  He did a study of 14-17 year olds & found that marriage & children wasn't a major part of their plan
• What are Wc girls' ambitions more likely to be?

  Some WC girls continue to have stereotyped aspirations for marriage & children as they expect traditional low paid women's work-Their limited aspirations reflect limited jobs perceived being available to them & the traditional gender identity is attainable & gives them status-WC girls more likely to face a precarious position in the labour market & see motherhood as the only viable option
• What are the 6 Internal factors in girls' achievement?


  -Equal opportunities policies-Positive role models-Coursework-Teacher attention-Selection & league tables -Challenging stereotypes
• How do equal opportunity policies help?

  -Equal opportunities between boys & girls has now become mainstream thinking-GIST & WISE encourage diverse subject choice-National curriculum introduced in 1988-Boaler- equal opportunity policies are the main factors as they start on level footing
• How do positive role models help?

  -87% primary teachers are women & 74% of heads are women-60% secondary teachers are women & 40% of heads are women
• How does coursework help?


  -Girls are more successful at coursework because they're more conscientious & organised -This is because of early gender socialisation & taught by parents to be organised and neat
• How does Teacher attention help?

  -Peter & French found boys received more teacher attention but it was more negative-Francis found boys given harsher punishments-May explain why teachers have positive labels of girlsGirls=cooperative/boys=disruptive & could lead to SFP
• How does selection & league tables help?

  -Marketisation has made girls more desirable to schools because they're competing on league tables-Jackson- league tables have increased job opportunities for girls as they're recruited by the best schools-Boys seen as liability students- an obstacle to the school improving in the league tables
• How does challenging stereotypes help?

  -Removal of gender stereotypes in lesson & textbooks has removed a barrier-Weiner- Teachers now challenging the stereotypes and sexist imagery that has generally been removed from learning materials
• What is the liberal feminist view on girls' achievement?

  Celebrate progress made in improving achievement.Further progress will be made by continuing development of equal opportunities policies
• What is the radical feminist view on girls' achievement? Why do they think this?

  A more critical view who recognise girls are achieving more but emphasise that the school system is still patriarchal1. Sexual harassment continues at school2. Education still limits girls' subject choice & career3. More female head teachers, but men still more likely to become head of a secondary school4. Women are underrepresented in many areas of the curriculum
• What percentage of non FSM girls achieved 5 A*-C GCSEs?

  67%