Internal Factors

• GIST and WIST: girls/women in STEM has encouraged women into STEM careers
• Introduction of National Curriculum 1988 requiring boys and girls to study the same subjects
• Boaler 1998: saw changes in policy as the key change causing female achievement as the education system became more meritocratic 
• Proportion of female head teachers and teachers has significantly increased
• 1992 --> more men secondary school teachers

  2012 --> more women secondary school teachers
• men significantly over represented in higher educational roles
• Female teachers may inspire girls into gaining higher education themselves 
• Gorard 2005: ‘product of the changed system rather than any more general failing of boys’. Gender gap in achievement fairly consistent from ‘75 to ‘89 but with the introduction of GCSEs (focusing on coursework)
• Mitsos and Browne 1998: girls better at coursework as they 1. Spend more time 2. Take more care 3. Meet deadlines 4. Bring the right equipment to lessons
• Elwood 2005: coursework is not the greatest influence in achievement as exams have greatest weighting
• French 1993: boys received more attention as they were reprimanded more
• Francis 2001: boys got more attention but were reprimanded more harshly due to low expectations
• Swann 1998: boys dominate whole class discussions whilst girls prefer pair and group work
• Swann 1998 explains why teachers respond to girls positively as they are seen as cooperative which can result in self fulfilling prophecies
• Weiner 1995: since 1980s teachers have challenged stereotypes and stereotypical images have been removed from learning materials invigorating girls to believe they can
• Marketisation in the Education Reform Act 1988 has seen girls be picked more frequently for better schools due to better earlier achievement
• Jackson 1988: introduction of league tables results in girls having self fulfilling prophecies as they are more likely to be picked for better schools
• Slee 1998: boys less attractive to schools as they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are 4X more likely to be excluded
• Boys seen as ‘liability students’ which act sas obstacles to school success which gives the school a ‘rough, tough’ image that deters high achieving girls from applying