4.3 Gender & Subject choice and Pupils' sexual & Gender identities

• How does the influence of female peer groups affect achievement?

  Ringrose

  Study of 13-14 year old WC girls in a South Wales school

  As they transitioned from a girls' friendship culture into a heterosexual dating culture & faced tension between an idealised feminine identity for non-competitiveness or a sexualised identity

  Girls has to adopt Boffin' identity- conforming to schools ideal feminine identity & having to perform an asexual identity & lacking interest in boys & fashion
• How do male peer groups affect achievement?

  Verbal abuse used to reinforce dominance of masculinity

  Willis' lads- boys in anti-school subcultures accuse boys in pro-school subculture of being gay
• How does verbal abuse affect achievement?

  Dominant sexual & gender identities reinforced through abusive vocabulary e.g. name calling

  (Parker) boys labelled gay just for bring friendly to girls/female teachers regardless of actual sexuality

  Reinforces idea of non-heterosexual identities being inferior
• How do double standards of sexuality affect achievement?

  Lees

  Boys praised for sexual exploits & gives them status among peers & ignored by male teachers

  Girls labelled 'slags' by peers & promiscuous by teachers
• Hegemonic masculinity

  Heterosexual stereotyped masculine identity gives status whereas female and homosexual identities seen as subordinate
• How do gendered career opportunities affect subject choice?

  Employment still highly gendered

  Over half of women's employment is clerical/secretarial/cleaning

  Boys affected as nursery nurses 'should be' women & won't choose childcare

  Explains larger gender differences in vocational education
• How do gendered subject images affect subject choice?

  (Kelly) science is seen as a boys subject because-

  Science teachers more likely men

  Teacher & textbook examples draw on boys' interests

  In lessons, boys dominate apparatus & act as if its theirs

  (Colley) single sex schools have less gender differences
• How does gender role socialisation affect subject choice?

  (Norman) from an early age there are differences in how boys & girls are encouraged to dress, play & do as hobbies etc