Subject choice

• Gender role socialisation (EXTERNAL)


  Gender role socialisation is a process of learning the behaviour expected of males and females in society.

  Norman notes from an early age boys and girls are dressed differently, given different toys and encouraged to take part in different activities.

  Murphy and Elwood demonstrate how this can result in different tastes in reading and therefore subject choice. Boys read hobby books and information texts while girls are more likely to read stories about people. Hence why boys prefer science subject and girls subjects such as English.
• Gendered subject choice (INTERNAL)


  Kelly argues that science is seen as a boys’ subject because:

  Science teachers are more likely to be men.

  The examples used to teach concepts often draw on boys’ rather than girls interests (such as using sports balls to demonstrate the orbit of the planets).

  In Science lessons, boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the lessons.
• Gender identities within school (INTERNAL)


  Pupils’ experiences in school reinforce their gender identities, reinforcing ‘hegemonic masculinity’.

  Verbal abuse – abusive lang between pupils reinforces dominant gender identities. Parker found a boy will be called ‘gay’ if he's is friendly and gets on well with girls and female teachers.

  The male gaze – Mac an Ghaill = the way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance is a form of surveillance where dominant masculine identities are reinforced.
• Gender identities within school (INTERNAL)


  Double standards – Lees (1993) argues that boys will boast about their own sexual exploits but if girls do the same they will be called ‘slags’.

  Teachers and discipline – Mac an Ghaill (1988) found that teachers play a part in reinforcing gender identities. Male teachers have told boys off for ‘behaving like girls’ in the classroom. This therefore results in segregation of the genders within school which ultimately leads to girls opting for typically feminine subjects such as English and boys opting for typically masculine subjects such as Maths.
• Evaluation of gender identities in school


  Leonard (2006) argues that single sex schools tend to hold less stereotypes subject images and make less traditional subject choices. She found that girls in girls’ schools were more likely to take maths and science at A Levels compared to girls in mixed schools and boys in boys’ schools were more likely to take English and Languages than boys from mixed schools.
• Equal opportunities policies


  Much of the research into gender differences in subject choice has not taken into account the impact of equal opportunities policies such as GIST and WISE that encourage women into more male dominated professions. These policies have ensured female scientists visit schools; non-sexist career advice is given and even reviewed learning material in science subjects. All of these initiative have gone some way to ensure a more equal split of genders in subject choice