Gender

• Gender role socialisation

  Norman (1998)

  •   from early ages, girls + boys are
  •   given differen toys, dressed differently, participating in different activities

  Byrne (1919) - teachers encourage stereotypes

  •   girls expected to be quiet, helpful, clean, tidy
  •   boys expected to be tough and show initiative
• Murphy + Elwood (1998) - Differences in reading 

  •   boys tended to read hobby + informative books
  •   girls tended to read stories about people
  •   therefore boys choose science girls choose english
• Gender domains

  Browne + Ross 1991

  •   Fixing a car = male domain, caring for sick = female domain
  •   eg, in maths, girls felt more confident when problems were linked to food + nutrition, boys more confident when linked to cars
  •   paying attention to different areas of tasks: girls focus on the feelings of others, boys on how things work  
  • children = more confident on doing their  gender’s domain's tasks
• Gendered subjects

  Kelly

  • science = boy's subject
  • more male science teachers
  •   gendered images in textbooks + class examples
  •   boys dominate class + its equipment

  Colley 

  •   computing = boy's subject
  •   working with machines
  •   girls are pur off by formal teaching styles, abstract tasks
• single sex schooling

  • have fewer traditional subject choices

  Leonard 2006

  •   girls in girl schools likelier to do Maths + science A levels, and continue to in university
  •   boys in boy schools likelier to do english + languages

  institute of physics

  • girls in girl schools were 2.4x more likely to study sciences than those in mixed schools
• Gender identity + peer pressure

  • some subject choices attract negative responses

  Paetcher (98)

  •   Sport = male domain, girls may opt out due to failure of meeting traditional expectations

  Dewar (90)

  •   Female sports students were labelled by boys as ‘butch' or ‘lesbian'
• Gendered career opportuniries

  •   jobs being sex-typed influences subject choices
  •   women's jobs - childcare, nursing - over half jobs fall into the categories: clerical, secretarial, personal services, cleaning
• Gender, vocational choice and class

  Fuller (2011)

  •   working class girls opt for traditional gendered subjects, eg hairdressing + childcare
  •   choice stemmed from school pushing gendered work placements for working class girls in nursery nursing + retail
• external factor

  Globalisation + decline of traditional jobs

  • decline in primary and secondary sectors of industry 
  • globalisation of the economy = male dominated jobs being relocated to China, eg mining and engineering
  • Mitsos + Browne - led to males having an identity crisis + boys having a lack of motivation, leading to them giving up on qualifications
  • but: these jobs required few qualifications, meaning there could be a different reason for underachievement 
• external factor 

  Poor literacy

  • girls ‘bedroom culture’ (reading) facilitates their literacy to develop, while boys leisure pursuits don’t facilitate this, eg football
  • primary socialisation of mothers reading to their daughters more than sons causing boys literacy to be lower
• internal factor

  feminisation of education

  • Sewell (2006) - Schools reward attentiveness rather than competitiveness  (masculine traits) - girls will benefit
  •   coursework - boys struggling to meet deadlines - should focus on ourdoor adventure + final exams
• internal factor

  lack of male teachers

  • Read studied teachers language when criticising pupils 
  • identified:

  1.   disciplinarian discourse - shouting, loud tone of voice, sarcasm - makes teacher authority more explicit
  2. liberal discourse - teacher authority = more implicit + invisible teacher speaks,  to child like they’re adults, expecting respectful and sensible behaviour

  • lack of male role modes - YOUGOV - 39% of 8-11 year vids have no male teachers
• internal factor

  Laddish subcultures

  • Epstein (1998) - working class boys are discouraged from being swots
  • through verbal abuse eg being called 'gay' / ‘sissies' - masculinity in working class is constructed this way
  •   boys aim to be ‘rough, tough and dangerous to know’ by rejecting school work
• internal factor

  moral panic about boys

  • Ringrose - damaging moral panic about boys failing in the education system to become dangerous + unemployable - this threatens social stability
  • by only worrying about boys achievement, problems faced by girls at school are ignored 
  • only focusing on boys means that failing ethnic + lower class students are ignored