1.4 - Gender and Education

• What are the trends in gender for education?

  • girls tend to outperform boys in education
  • 1980's - feminists believe the discrimination of women has led to girls trying in school and are motivated
• What are the differences in education across levels?

  • KS2 - girls outperform boys in every subject but are equal in maths
  • GCSE - girls outperform boys except for maths
  • A-levels - gap narrows since they each pick a subject tailored for them
  • University - girls outperform boys
• What are the trends of education with class and ethnicity?

  • Mcdonald - girls outperform boys in every class
  • Ethnicity - AC girls outperform AC boys
• How do external factors influence girls?

  • primary socialisation - edwards and davis believe girls talk to their mothers more, read and write with them. This develops their language and reading skills
  • secondary socialisation - hannan believes girls' peer groups tend to help each other out with education and homework
• How do external factors influence boys' achievement?

  • primary socialisation - parents allow boys to be disruptive and attention seeking. They transfer these skills to the classroom and be disruptive
  • frosh et al - boys surround themselves with a 'macho masculinity' which is typically anti school
  • kirby - boys who succeed in school tend to work at home
• How does the social change affect girls' education?

  • wilkinson - feminisation of the economy - more opportunities and careers for women so are more likely to try in education
  • gender quake - the attitudes of women across 3 generations have changed.
  • evidence by Sue Sharpe - researched w/c women in the 1970's and found ideas of womanhood, love, marriage and housewife.
  • researched again in 1990's and found attitudes had changed to more career orientated
• What did Wilkinson and Sharpe find out about social change?

  • media influences womens' attitudes towards education
  • led to movements
  • GIST - GIRLS INTO SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY
  • STEM - SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHS
• What was a RISK society?

  • Beck - believes there is a risk with relationships and society as men and women have to compete for different opportunities.
• How does social change affect boys achievement?

  • Mac and Ghaill - believe boys experience a 'crisis of masculinity' - they are socialised into being breadwinners. HOWEVER
  • There is a decline in manufacturing jobs and an increase in desk based, part time jobs that are more suited towards girls
  • women are also primary breadwinners
• What does Jackson believe about social change for boys?

  1. Boys think education is pointless and does not have the skills needed for the workplace
  2. Find status through macho masculinity which are typically anti school

  • Evidence from Jackson - interviewed masculinity in 8 schools and found a dominating masculinity. Viewed education as pointless
• What do Francis and Skelton believe about social change?

  • boys are vulnerable and have a low self esteem due to their low educational attainment
• Internal factors

  • Spender - girls seen as unladylike if disruptive, boys respected
  • Standworth - teachers give more time and attention to boys
  • Pedagogy - boys feel teachers' methods more suited for girls
  • Abraham - school fails to confront traditional masculinity through labelling
  • Rothermel - home schooled boys perform equally to schooled girls
  • Feminisation of school - teachers tend to be female, emphasise tidiness, creating alienated environment for boys
• What are the criticisms towards patriarchal education?

  • coffey and delamont - most senior staff in 2014 were male and promote macho masculinity ethos
  • Myhill - believes girl succeed by conforming to the education system
• How does the curriculum affect achievement?

  • coalition government created o-levels. These were more suited towards boys
  • hurst - boys overtook girls in GCSE maths because of these changes. However humanities are more suited for girls
• What does Anne Colley say about gender differences in subject choice?

  • girls tend to pick humanities and essay subjects whereas, boys tend to go for science and maths
  • the subjects girls pick tend to influence their future - career paths and degrees
  • girls tend to pick these subjects because of gender socialisation, family and peer groups
  • girls from same sex schools tend to go for maths degrees