Gender - educational achievement- internal

• Gender Gap in Achievement


  • Girls outperforming boys in literacy, language, maths and PSED in 2013 teacher assessments
  • Girls continue to do better than boys especially in English where the gap continues to widen but the gap begins to narrow in the sciences and maths
  • The average gap at KS4 stands about 10 points but the gap is increasing
  • The gap at A Level is much narrower than at GCSE but girls still out perform boys even in the so called 'boys subjects' such as maths and science
  • Although boys are more likely to take a vocational qualification than girls, girls are still more likely to receive a distinction
• Equal Opportunities


  • Government policies for education that have aimed to create more opportunities for girls to take part in what have traditionally been make subjects for example GIST & WISE
  • The national curriculum also levelled the playing field as girls and boys had to study the same subjects
• Boaler suggests that these policies are the key reason for the changes in girls achievement as they removed many of the barriers faced by girls and has made education more meritocratic
• Role models


  • In the last 20 years there has been an increase in the number of females taking up head teacher and senior teacher roles which acts as role model for girls showing them that they can achieve positions of importance and power
  • By having role models to look up to in no traditional positions Girls are more likely to work harder to achieve these goals themselves which leads to them achieving more educationally
• GCSE and Coursework


  • Course work was introduced in 1988. Gorard noted that the achievement gap was fairly constant between 1979 and 1989, however once coursework was introduced girls began to out perform boys and the gap widened
  • Mitsos and Browne suggest that girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys which puts them at an advantage
• Teacher Attention


  • Peter and Jane French analysed classroom interactions and noted that teachers interact with girls and boys differently
  • Boys get more attention in the classroom but it is negative attention
  • Boys also tend to dominate in whole class discussion where as girls tend to be more democratic
  • This negative interaction could explain why teachers respond more positively to girls which could lead to a self fulfilling prophecy allowing girls to achieve and boys to underachieve
• Challenging Stereotypes


  • The removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks, reading schemes and has removed a barrier to girls aspirations and achievement
  • In the 1970's and 1980's girls were portrayed as wives and mothers and textbooks would reinforce this image as well as putting girls off science and maths
  • Weiner shows that since the 1980's there has been significant change with teachers and textbooks challenging the traditional stereotypes which has led to greater achievement in girls as they are presented with more positive images of what they can achieve
• League Tables / Selection


  • The introduction of league table have made girls more desirable for schools as they are likely to achieve better grades
  • Slee points out that boys are more likely to have behavioural issues and four times more likely to be excluded which reflects badly on a school in the competitive nature of education today
  • Jackson links this desire for high achieving girls to a self fulfilling prophecy
  • League tables have created greater opportunities for girls and they fact they are more desired by schools means that girls take on a self fulfilling prophecy and master status of higher achievement
• Radical Feminists


  • Recognise that girls are achieving more
  • Emphasis that this is in spite of the patriarchal nature of the education system rather than due to major changes in education
• Evidence of patriarchy in education (according to Radical Feminists)

  • 1/3 of 16-18 yr old girls said they have experienced unwanted sexual touching in school
  • Women are hugely underrepresented in the curriculum, Wiener calls history a Women Free Zone
  • There are still many more men in positions of authority in education such as Head Teachers especially in secondary schools
  • There is still the genderisation of subjects and career options which limit girls choices and options
• Liberal Feminists


  • Celebrate the progress that have been made in education and achievement for girls
  • Believe that there is still work to be done
  • See the need for continued equal opportunities policies, more positive roles models and education against sexist attitudes and stereotypes in order for true equality in education to be achieved