Internal factors

• Equal opportunities effecting achievement


  Teachers are anxious to not stereotype girls and effect achievement, so have introduced programs to ensure girls achieve.

  The Education Reform Act '88 made science a compulsory subject
• Ways equal opportunities are promoted in school;


  -fair split of time between girls and boys

  -be aware of rigid sex stereotypes, i.e. cooking for girls

  -avoid unnecessary historical gender differences
• The impact of female role models on girls achievement


  Many teachers are girls, this allows for girl students to see there is a chance to be successful through education
• <Gorard> The effect of GCSE and coursework on girls achievement;


  Found between '75 to '89 it was generally not very divided in achievement, however a sharp turn came, the year that GCSE and coursework was introduced
• <Mitsos and Brown> Coursework and girls achievement

  Girls benefitted from coursework because;

  • they spend more time on it
  • care about presentation
  • bring right equipment
  • schedule for a deadline
  • mature earlier with longer attention span
• GCSE and Coursework and girls achievement


  Girls also benefit from oral assessments, because their language skills are better developed to boys of an equivalent age
• <EVAL> - Mitsos & Brown

  -Coursework is not used that much anymore

  -Elwood said exams have more influence then coursework on a grade
• <French & French> Teacher attention on girls achievement

  Found boys receive more negative attention
• <Francis> Teacher attention on girls achievement

  Discipline boys harder and often 'pick on' boys
• Teacher attention on girls achievement

  A self-fulfilling prophecy is created because teachers believe girls are better behaved, so they begin to act better behaved
• Challenging stereotypes in Curriculum on girls achievement


  A barrier has been removed by depicting girls in more academic textbooks, i.e. science books either showing no gender or girls
• <Weiner> Challenging stereotypes in Curriculum on girls achievement


  found since the '80s teachers have growingly challenged stereotypes about girls
• Selection and League tables on girls achievement


  Jackson argues schools view girls as better achievers, so what them to apply, therefore making the girls better achievers
• <Slee> Selection and League tables on girls achievement

  Boys are less attractive to schools because they are 4x as likely to be excluded and are seen as 'liability students'