internal

• equal opportunities policies 

  • GIST and WISE policies
  • encourages girls to pursue careers in non traditional areas - schools provide nonsexist careers advice and have female scientists visiting to develop interest in science for girls
• teacher attention

  • boys get more negative attention, girls get more positive and work-focused attention
  • boys dominate class discussion, girls dominate turn taking
  • this positive attention for girls increases their self-esteem which enables them to achieve higher
• GCSE + coursework 

  • girls are better at coursework
  • more organised, equipped, better at meeting deadlines 
• selection + league tables

  • marketisation made schools favour girls as they produce better results for league tables 
  • self-fulfilling prophecy supports girls to continue achieving 
  • boys are less desired due to higher exclusion rates which gives school a worse image + distracts achievers
• challenging stereotypes in curriculum

  • since 1980s, sexist + stereotyping images removed from textbooks, and teachers challenging
  • gives girls more positive role models in learning as the gender neutral curricula empowers girls 
• positive role models 

  • more female teachers = girls having more role models so they can see achieve higher roles and be inspired
  • primary schools are more feminised, encourages boys to view education as girly and not for them