Gender differences in education

• external reasons girls outperform boys

  -feminism

  -changes in family

  -women's employment

  -girls ambitions
• feminism as a reason for girls outperforming boys


  raised women's expectations and self-esteem. Changes in the media presentation of women from Emphasising marriage to showing independence
• changes in family as a reason for girls outperforming boys

  increased female lone parent families and divorce rates means financially independent female role models
• changes in women's employment as a reason for girls outperforming boys

  1970 Equal Pay Ac, 1975 Sex Discrimination Act, means women can break through glass ceiling and provides more incentive to gain qualifications
• girls changing ambitions as a reason for girls outperforming boys

  Sue Sharp's interview with girls found tat by 1990s, girls priority moved from love and marriage to careers. Links to individualisation of modern society
• internal reasons girls outperform boys

  -Equal opportunity policies

  -role models in school

  -GCSE and coursework

  -Teacher's attention

  -challenging stereotypes

  -league tables
• Equal opportunity policies


  GIST (girls into science and tech). National Curriculum in 1988 = meritocracy
• GCSE and coursework


  Gorard

  - Introduction of GCSEs and coursework favours girls

  - Girls more successful in coursework because they are better organised, spend more time on work, meet deadlines, take care of presentation and are better equipped
• Teacher's attention


  Jane and French found boys received more attention due to being told off and teachers had lower expectations of them while teachers more positive towards girls
• challenging stereotypes


  Weiner - since 1980s teachers challenged stereotypes and sexist images removed from textbooks, raiding girls self-esteem
• league tables


  Jackson - mean high achieving girls are more attractive to schools compared to low achieving boys = self-fulfilling prophecy
• FSM girls attainment compared with girls not on FSM in 2013


  only 41% of FSM girls achieved 5 A*-C GCSEs compared with 68% of girls not on FSM
• Archer et al - WC girls strategies to gain symbolic capital from peers


  hyper-heterosexual feminine identity

  boyfriends

  being loud
• WC girls dilemma


  either gaining symbolic capital or educational capital
• Evans - 'successful' working class girls


  studied WC sixth form girls who wanted to go to uni to increase earnings for their family.

  Often chose to live at home which restricted choices due to fear of debt or local habitus.
• globalisation and decline in traditional manual jobs


  globalisation means factories move to developing countries for cheap labour and there is a decline in male employment opportunities leading to an identity crisis for men, undermining motivation
• Feminisation of education


  Sewell - schools don't nurture 'masculine traits' and instead feminine qualities such as hard work and attentiveness, emphasised in coursework
• Yougov


  39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher but male teachers make them behave better
• Read - types of language teachers use to express criticism


  disciplinary discourse (masculine - explicit)

  liberal discourse (female - implicit authority, speaks to pupils like adults)

  Found both male and female teachers actually use disciplinary discourse so schools cannot be feminised
• Ringrose's problems with policies focusing on raising boys achievemnet


  - ignores disadvantages of WC and ethnic minority pupils

  - ignores problems faced by girls that they achieve despite of such as subject choices and sexual harassment
• Epstein - laddish subculture


  Found boys likely to be labelled negatively as academic success would lead to labelling of feminine
• Fuller


  many black girls are successful in school because they define their femininity in terms of educational achievement and independence
• vocational subject choices


  prepares students for particular careers

  Only 1 in 100 childcare apprentices is a boy
• explanations for gendered subject choices

  -gender role socialisation

  -gendered subject images

  -gender identity and peer pressure

  -gendered career opportunities
• gender role socialisation


  Norman - boys and girls dressed differently, different toys, encouraged into different activities
• Gender domains


  Tasks and activities that are seen as male or female 'territory
• Murphy


  boys are girls pay attention to different details (girls = feelings, boys = how things are made)

  This pushes them into different subjects
• Gendered subject images

  science teachers more likely to be men and textbooks draw on boys interests. However, single sex schools tend to hold less stereotyped subject images and girls are 2.4 times more likely to take A-level physics.
• Gender identity and peer pressure


  activities that fall outside of their gender domain are likley to attract negative responses
• Gendered career opportunities

  Jobs are sex-typed as either male or female

  Due to this boys may not choose subjects that will get them the careers in "female" areas.
• hegemonic masculinity


  Connell - dominance of heterosexual masculine identity
• Double standards


  Lees: Boys boast about their own sexual exploits but calls girls 'slags'. An example of a patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women.
• Verbal abuse


  name-calling as a way to shape gender identity and maintain male power. Police sexual identities, reinforcing gender norms
• The male gaze


  Mac an Ghaill - form of surveillance through which femininity is devalued and boys display heterosexuality to avoid being labelled gay
• Male peer groups


  Use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity which changes in sixth form changes from macho lads to real Englishmen
• female peer groups


  police feminine identities. Tension between idealised feminine identity (friendship culture) and a sexualised identity (dating culture)
• A 'boffin' identity


  girls who want to succeed may feel the need to conform to an ideal feminine pupil identity of asexual and lacking interest in fashion
• Teachers and discipline


  Teachers help reinforce gender identities as male teachers have told boys off for 'behaving like girls' and male teachers often 'rescue' female colleagues from disruptive students.