DEA - gender

• Colley

  • Socialisation shapes children’s beliefs about gender domains.  
  • Computing and IT, like science, is seen as part of the masculine domain, with use of machines accompanied by more individual style learning appealing more to boys.
  • But engineering and technology based subjects are more expensive to resource.
  • Since all children are expected to sit exams in maths and science the actual options for boys could be limited and therefore this could be a reason why they underachieve compared to girls.
• Kelly

  • Girls are less drawn to subjects such as maths and science due to their ‘invisibility’ in textbooks, reinforcing the idea that they are ‘male’ subjects.
  • Boys often dominate in science classrooms, grabbing apparatus first, answering questions aimed at girls and ridiculing girls’ answers to questions.
• Paechter

  Subject choice can also be influenced by peer pressure.  Boys and girls may opt out of a subject if their peers disapprove of their subject choice, for example boys tend to opt out of art, drama and dance as it is seen as too ‘girly’ and they may be bullied if they take them even if they have skills in those subjects.

  She found that female athletes who took PE had to work hard to express their femininity in other ways in school to avoid being stigmatized as ‘butch’ or ‘lesbian’.
• Boaler

  the impact of equal opportunities policies are a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement. Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic.
• Jackson

  the introduction of exam league tables, which place a high value on academic achievement, has improved opportunities for girls. High achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low achieving boys are not. 
• Sewell

  argues schools do not nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness or leadership. Instead they celebrate qualities more closely associated with girls, such as methodical working and attentiveness in class.
• Sewell (coursework)

  coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement & females are better at coursework due to socialisation in the family.

  The gender gap first increased in 1988-9 which was the year GCSEs were introduced as well as coursework.
• Forde et al

  Peer group pressure encourages boys to maintain a dominant masculine identity which involves rejecting academic work as ‘feminine’ and adopting disruptive classroom behaviours. ‘Street cred’ is gained through not working. It’s not ‘cool’ to work hard and achieve in school.
• Francis:

  Supportive and pro-school female peer groups help to reinforce girls’ good working habits.

  Girls remind each other of deadlines and are not afraid to ask their peers for help if they don’t understand something. 
• Francis:


  Found that boys get more attention than girls. However, boys were disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers who tended to have lower expectations of them.
• Swann and Graddol


  Found boys are generally more boisterous and attract the teacher’s attention more than girls. However, the way teachers interact with girls is positive because it is focused on schoolwork rather than on behaviour.
• Impact of Women's Rights movements


  • Challenged employment law
  • Equal Pay Act - prohibits discrimination of women in terms of pay, women must be paid the same as men for the same work (in theory)
  • Sex Discrimination Act - illegal to discriminate against women on the basis of sex or marital status, affects hiring decisions
• Impact of initiatives


  • Girls feel more motivated and supported - they work harder and achieve
  • By framing the subject around feminine interests, girls are more motivated, and therefore more likely to achieve
• Feminists have made schools focus more on equal opportunities in school
• GIST


  Girls in Science and Technology 1979-1983
• GIST


  • Investigated why girls weren't taking science
  • Encouraged them to take STEM subjects more
• WISE


  • Breaking stigma about women in STEM
  • Encouraged and celebrated female involvement in STEM
• CC4G


  • Encouraged girls to develop computing skills
  • Framed computing problems and activities in terms of stereotypical feminine interests
  • Broke stigma about women in STEM
  • Encouraged more girls to study science, etc.
• Girls do better than boys at every stage in the National Curriculum
• Impact of Feminism


  • Women's Rights movements have challenged employment law
  • Feminists have made schools focus more on equal opportunities in school
  • Women's Rights movements have raised women's self-esteem and expectations
• Feminism


  Has raised women's expectations and self-esteem
• Women are more likely to pursue a range of jobs and opportunities
• Women's rights movements have made this possible by challenging policy and employment law
• Women are less likely to focus exclusively on housewife/ mother as their main role in life (supported by Sharpe's study into teenage girls)
• Feminist research into education that highlighted the past inequalities of the education system have led to radical changes in school
• Schools have a much greater emphasis on equal opportunities
• Teachers are now more sensitive about avoiding gender stereotyping in the classroom
• Policies such as WISE, GIST, CC4G have encouraged 'girl friendliness' in male dominated areas of school
• Socialisation differences between girls and boys


  • Girls mature earlier than boys
  • Parents spend less time reading to their sons
  • It is more likely that mothers will read to their children
  • Girls are encouraged more to be neat and tidy
  • Girls are socialised to be more afraid and worry
  • Boys are socialised to be confident and assertive
  • Boys are socialised to show less emotion
• Renold & Allen (2006): 'Girls lack confidence and underestimate their abilities whereas boys overestimate theirs'
• Some boys may now believe they have little prospect of getting a proper job. This undermines their motivation and self-esteem and so they give up trying to get qualifications.
• An increase in the service sector has led to more job opportunities for women. Girls because of this are more ambitious as they see plenty of opportunities for employment.
• Many attempt to compensate for this by building self-esteem in other ways in school such as through anti-school subcultures
• Divorce rates have risen since the 1970s. In 1970, there were 58,000 divorces (ONS). In 2019 there were 108,500 divorces (ONS).
• An increase in single mothers means that women take on more of an instrumental role in the family
• More women having to work has created more employed female role models for girls to emulate. Fewer fathers in the home means fewer male role models for boys to emulate
• A decline in traditional male roles within the family have also added to the male identity crisis. This may contribute to more 'laddish subcultures in school'
• Internal factors (Gender)


  • Subject choice
  • Pupil subcultures
  • Feminisation of education
  • Teacher-pupil interactions
• There are still fairly traditional patterns of 'boys subjects' and 'girls subjects'
• Boys will be boys vs Good girls