Gender + achievement

• McRobbie (impact of feminism)

  • External factor
  • Comparisons of girls magazines 1970 - 1990s
  • Early magazine = importance of marriage
  • Later magazines = assertive + independent women
• Archer (symbolic capital) :

  • =status, recognition + self worth obtained by others
  • Working - class girls gaining SC = underachieve + not achieve qualifications / economic capital
  • Eg - putting on makeup, worry about appearance not education
• Archer (hyper-heterosexual feminine identities) :

  • Times, money + effort spent on desirable feminine identity
  • Eg - sexy clothes, makeup + hairstyles
  • School's response = punish them
• Mitsos + Brown (GCSE + coursework) :

  • Internal factor
  • Girls = more successful at coursework (conscientious, organised + early maturation)
  • Girls = more successful at oral exams as language skills better
• Mitsos + Browne (crisis of masculinity):

  • Lack of traditional jobs = male identity crisis
  • Eg - steelworks + mining
  • Undermines motivation to achieve in school
  • Little chance of proper job
  • Due to globalisation
• Murphy + Elwood (gender role socialisation) :

  • Boys read hobby + info books/texts
  • Girls read stories about people
  • May explain why boys prefer sciences + girls English
• Fuller (gender + subject choice) :

  • Most working class girls that studied have ambitions to go into careers
  • Eg - childcare/ hair + beauty
  • Reflected their working class habitus
• Epstein (laddish subcultures) :

  • Working class boys that work hard = swots + sissies
  • Seen ad feminine + emasculated
  • Masculinity associated with being tough + not doing manual work not schoolwork
• Swann + Graddol (teacher attention + classroom interaction) :

  • Boys gained more attention due to boisterous behaviour
  • Given more opportunities to speak
  • Interactions with girls = more positive
  • Based on academic not behaviour
• DCSF (Boys + literacy) :

  • Gender gap in achievement due to boys poor literacy skills
  • Eg - boys activities = sport
  • Parents spend less time reading to sons = female activity
• Leonard (gender + subject choice) :

  • Girls from all girls schools more likely to take maths + science alevels
  • Boys in all boys schools more likely to take English + languages
  • Due to less stigma and stereotypes
• Sewel (feminisation of education) :

  • Boys fell behind as schools feminised
  • Competitiveness + leadership not encouraged
  • But methodical working + attentiveness = nurtured
• Jackson (selection + league tables)(internal factor) :

  • League tables improved opportunities for girls, self-fulfilling prophecy
  • Girls seen as desirable recruits = achieve better exam results
  • Boys = liability
• Sharpe (girls changing ambitions + perceptions) :

  • External factor
  • Notes shift in girls view of careers + marriage changing patterns
• Dewer (gender identity + peer pressure) :

  • Found male students would call females lesbian/ butch if appeared sporty
• Prosser (changes in women's employment) :

  • External factor
  • More women working than ever before
  • Training + jobs =open to women
  • Weren't before
• Changes in the family (external factor) :

  • Eg - Increase divorce rate, Increase female headed lone parent families
  • Affects girl's view education
  • Female led lone parent = takes on breadwinner role = new financially independent women = role models
  • To achieve this independence girls need to gain high level qualifications + well paid jobs