Gender and Achievement – Outside of School

• Changes in women's employment

  • Equal pay act 1970 - made it illegal to pay male and female employee's different amounts to do the same job
  • Sex discrimination act 1975 - aimed to promote equality of opportunity between sexes
  • Equality act 2010 - outlawed discrimination based on gender
• Changes to women's aspirations

  In the 70s they were more marriage and children based whereas in the 90s girls put their careers first
• Changes to the family

  • Divorce rate has more than tripled which has led to an increase of single parent families
  • Increase of female breadwinners show women are more equal to men
• Increase of single parent families

  Makes girls want to achieve better at school and have financial stability
• Sharpe: 'Carried out a study into girl's aspirations'
• McRobbie: 'Study into girls' magazines and found in the 70s they promoted love and boyfriends whereas in the 90s it focused on being more independent'
• The 2022 statistics show men are paid 15% more than women
• Reay: 'Working class girls still have gender-stereotyped aspiration for marriage'
• Radical feminists continue to criticise women's magazines as many still focus on appearance and beauty as opposed to equality
• Most families are still nuclear, and most divorcees get re-married, so this point over-exaggerates women's need for financial independence
• Primary socialisation and literacy

  Clark and Douglas found 58% of girls enjoy reading in comparison of 43% of boys. Boy's hobbies don't help develop communication skills for example, boys are encouraged to take up sports and girls play with dolls
• The decline of traditional men's jobs


  Due to globalisation, industries like iron, steel and mining have moved abroad as labour is cheaper. Mitsos and Browne - this had led to an identity crisis among boys
• Changes to the family

  Increase in divorce has led to boys not having a male role model to help develop ambition. Dennis and Erdos - 'fatherless families' create delinquent boys
• McRobbie argues that there is bedroom culture amongst girls which means girls are more likely to stay inside
• Middle class jobs have not declined as much as working class jobs therefore this explanation only applies to working class boys
• Young boys can find male role models elsewhere