Gender differences

• Starting school gender gap

  Girls are ahead of boys between 7-17 percentage points in areas of learning assessment

  
  

  70% of those identified with SEND needs are boys

  
  

  62% of girls can concentrate for 10min unsupervised, only 49% of boys

  
  

  59% of girls can write name correctly, only 49% of boys
• KS1-3 gender gap

  Girls consistently better than boys, espec in English where gap widens with age

  
  

  Girls do better in maths/science but gap narrows
• GCSE gender gap

  10 percentage points
• A-level gender gap

  Girls more likely to sit/pass/get higher grades and do better in 'boys' subjects'

  
  

  Girls more likely to gain A-C grades
• External factors for gender gap in education

  -Feminism

  -Changes in the family

  -Changes in women's employment

  -Girls' changing ambitions
• Feminism

  Challenged stereotypeof women being typical housewife/ mother by encouraging edu to get a job

  Improvement of rights/opportunities has raised self-esteem andexpectations

  Media representationsnow show assertive/indep working women

  Changes which resulted from feminismencouraged ambitions

  Feminist goal of equality between sexes influence policy to better lives of women, allowing them to work more, creating role models for girls to want to achieve
• Changes in the family

  In single parent families women need to take on breadwinner role, creating a newrole model for girls

  To befinan indepwomen need well-paid jobs and good qualifications to get these jobs

  Divorcehas shown that girls do not need to be reliant on husband

  Girls seeing family diversity show they have options for what they can do in life, they will not have to be reliant on a man and can work
• Changes in women's employment

  1970 Equal Pay Act:makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value

  1975 Sex Discrimination Act:prohibited discrimination at work

  Since1975 pay gap halved from 30% to 15%

  More women could go out and work, creating more role models for girls, encouraging them to do well in school to gain good qualifications to go out and get good jobs
• Girls' changing ambitions

  Sue Sharpe's 'Just like a girl' interviewsin 1994 and 1970s showed the difference in girls' ambitions-1970s: love/marriage/babies-1994: jobs/qualifications/finan independence

  Positive role models have influenced these changes
• Internal factors for gender gap in education

  -GCSEs and coursework

  -Challenging stereotypes

  -Equal Opportunities Policies

  -Positive Role Models

  -Selection and League Tables

  -Teacher attention
• GCSEs and coursework

  Gorard (2005)observes that gender gap in achievement sharply increased after 1988 when GCSEs were introduced as coursework was a major part of most subjects, claiming that thegap in achievement is a product of a changed system rather than the failing of boys

  Mitsos and Browne (1998)conclude that girls are better at coursework because they are better organised and spend more time on work, as they have been socialised to be neat/ tidy/patient

  Criticism:Elwood (2005)argues coursework has some influence but is not only cause of gender gap, exams also have influence on final grades
• Challenging stereotypes

  Negative stereotypesof women in passive roles have beenremovedfrom textbooks and resources
• Equal Opportunities Policies

  Feminismmade schools more aware of issues

  GIST and WISEgot more girls to do science

  1988 National Curriculumgot everyone to do the same subjects
• Positive Role Models

  Increase in female headteachers

  More women teachers generally
• Selection and League Tables

  Cream-skimming for high achieving girls to top schools leads to sfpas they have been told they're good enough to go to good school so will do well

  Silt-shifting bod boys as they weaken resultsfor LT
• Teacher attention

  Boys receive more attention which tends to be negative

  
  

  Teachers have lower expectations for boys

  
  

  Interactions with girls are more positive to encourage them to do better
• Views on girls' achievement

  Liberal feminists:Celebrate the progress made so far and believe that further progress will be made through continued equal opportunity policies-This is similar to the functionalist view that education is meritocratic where all students are given equal opportunity to succeed

  Radical feminists:Recognise that girls are achieving more but say that the system is still patriarchal due to:-Sexual harassment of girls continues at schools-Education still limits girls choice and career options-More female heads but male teachers are more likely to become heads

  Archer (2006)argues the underachievement of boys masks the problems girls still face:-High-achieving Asian/Chinese girls are labelled as robotsby teachers-Black w-c girls are labelled as loud/aggressive
• How does symbolic capital influence girls' achievement?

  Archer et al (2010)found that by performing w-c feminine activities (hyper-heterosexual feminine identity/boyfriends/being 'loud') girls gained symbolic capital from their peers, but conflicted with school preventing them from acquiring edu capital (qualifications) and econ capital (m-c careers)W-C girls must choose between gaining symbolic capital from peers or edu capital by rejecting w-c identity to conform to m-c ideal pupil

  Hyper-heterosexual feminine identity:-Punished for wrong appearance (jewellery/clothing/make-up)-Symbolic violence occurred when school labelled as incapable of success so saw as less worthy of respect-Archer:school's ideal female pupil is desexualised and m-c

  Boyfriends:-Having a boyfriend got in the way of schoolwork and lowered girls aspirations-These girls aspired to settle down rather than going to uni/ jobs

  Being loud:-'Loud' feminine identities led them to be outspoken and questioning teacher's authority (conflict: teacher v girl)

  Evans (2009)found for w-c girls to be 'successful' they wanted to go to uni to gain power to help their families, through w-c feminine identities of remaining at home for family, but also an econ necessity of living at home limiting their choice of uni
• Reasons why boys underachieve

  -Boys and literacy

  -Decline of trad men's jobs

  -Feminisation of edu

  -Teacher expectations

  -Shortage of male role models

  -Laddish subcultures

  -Moral panics
• Boys and literacy

  Parents spend less time reading to boys

  Boys associate reading as feminine because mothers read to them more

  Gov policies to improve boys' literacy:-National literacy strategy focuses on improving boys' literacy-Dads and sons campaignencourages dads to get more involved in son's education-Playing for successused sports stars to boost learning skills
• Decline of trad men's jobs

  Globalisationhas relocated manufacturing industries to developing countries for cheap labour, declining iron/steel/ shipbuilding industries since the 1980s

  Mitsos and Browneidentify this decline has impacted boys' achievement as they now believe they have little prospect of getting a proper job, undermining their self-esteem

  Mac an Ghaillargues this has led to acrisis of masculinityas boys are unsure of future jobs so see no point in edu

  Criticism:-You have to work harder to get a good job because there are less jobs-You did not need qualifications for manual male jobs
• Feminisation of edu

  Sewell (2006)arguesedu has become feminised as schools do not nurture 'masculine' traitsthe same way they do for feminine-Coursework should be replaced with outdoor adventure to fix this
• Teacher expectations

  Interpretivistsargue teachers have lower expectations of boys, leading to a sfpof poor behaviour
• Shortage of male role models

  Yougov (2007):-Only14% of prim school teachers were male-39% of 8-11 boys have no lessons with a male teacher, if they did 42% of them said they worked harder

  Hueyargues women are inadequate to be teaching boys as they cannot control boys' behaviour
• Laddish subcultures

  Epstein (1998)found thatw-c boys are likely to be harrassed/ subject to homophobic verbal abuse if appear to be swots-'Real boys don't work
• Moral panics

  Critics of feminism argue policiespromoting girls' edu are no longer needed as girls have succeeded at the expense of boys, who are now disadvantaged

  Ringrose (2013)argues 'failing boys' may grow up to become dangerous/unemployable

  Ringrose (2013)criticisms of edu policy:-Equal opportunities narrow down to 'failing boys', ignoring w-c and minorities-Only focusing on achievement gaps ignores other problems girls face at school

  Osler (2006)notes that focusing on underachieving boys has led to a neglect of girls

  Crisis of masculinitydue to differences in exam results, stuff must be done to help
• Explanations of gender differences in subject choice

  -Gender role socialisation

  -Gendered subject images

  -Gender identity and peer pressure

  -Gendered career opportunities
• Gender role socialisation

  Process of learning behaviour expected of males/females

  Norman (1988)notes that early socialisation shapes children's gender identity through being dressed differently/given different toys

  Byrne (1979)shows that teachers encourage girls and boys to behave differently

  As a result of socialisation boys and girls develop different tastes in reading-Murphy and Elwood (1998)show how these lead to different subject choices
• Gendered subject images

  Gender image of a subject affects who will choose it

  Kellyargues science is seen as a boys' subject:-Science teachers more likely to be men-Examples tend to draw on boys' interests

  Colley (1998)argues computing is seen as a masculine subject as it involves working with machines (part of male gender domain)
• Gender identity and peer pressure

  Peers apply pressure to an indiv if they disapprove of their choice

  Paechter (1998)found that sport is seen as male gender domain so girls interested in sports contradict the conventional gender stereotype

  Dewar (1990)found that in America college male students would call girls lesbian/butch if appeared interested in sport

  Absence of peer pressure from opposite sex may explain why in all-girls schools they are more likely to choose trad boys' subjects, less pressure to conform to restrictive stereotypes
• Gendered career opportunities

  Women's jobs often have similar work to being a housewife

  -Over 50% of all women's employment falls within secretarial/ cleaning/clerical occupations

  
  

  This sex typing of occupations affects children's ideas about what kinds of jobs are possible/acceptable
• Pupil's sexual and gender identities

  -Verbal abuse

  -Male peer groups

  -Teachers and discipline

  -Male gaze

  -Double standards

  -Female peer groups
• Verbal abuse

  Boys use name-calling to put girls down if they behave/dress in a certain way-Lees (1986)found that boys called girls 'slags' if they appeared sexually available and 'drags' if they didn't

  Parker (1996)found boys labelled gay simply for being friendly with girls/female teachers

  Function of verbal abuse is to reinforce gender norms/ identities
• Male peer groups

  Use verbal abuse to reinforce definitions of masculinity

  Anti-school subcultures accuse boys who want to do well at school as being gay/effeminate

  Mac and Ghaill's (1994) study of Parnell Schoolexamines how peer groups reproduce class-based masculine gender identities

  Redman and Mac an Ghaill (1997)find that the dominant definition of masculine identity changes from 'macho lads' in lower school to 'real Englishman' in Sixth Form
• Teachers and discipline

  Teachers help to reinforce dominant definitions of gender identity

  Haywood and Mac and Ghaill (1996)found that male teachers told boys off for 'behaving like girls' and teased them for lower marks than girls

  Teachers ignore boys' verbal abuse of girls and blamed them for attracting it

  Askew and Ross (1998)show how male teachers' behaviour can subtly reinforce messages about gender
• Male gaze

  One of main ways boys 'prove' masculinity to friends is through displaying male gaze and telling stories of sexual experiences
• Double standards

  Lees (1993)explains how boys can boast about sexual exploits but a girl is called a slag if act in certain way

  Sexual conquest is approved of and given status by male peers, but female promiscuity attracts negative labels

  Double standards can be seen as form of social control reinforcing dominant gender ideology
• Female peer groups

  Ringrose's (2013) studyfound that being popular was crucial to w-c girl's identity

  Currie et al (2017)acknowledges that girls perform a balancing act between being too competitive they risk slut-shaming and not competing and being frigid shamed

  Reay (2001)identifies that girls who wish to achieve edu success may feel need to adopt a 'boffin identity' by presenting themselves as lacking any interests in boyfriends/ fashion-As a result they are excluded by other girls
• 30 marker