Gender differences [external & INTERNAL BOYS ACHIEVEMENT ]

• Official statistics (DFES 2007):  On starting school – A national curriculum authority found that girls scored higher in all tests. While 62% of girls could concentrate without supervision for 10 minutes, only 49% of boys could do this. Similarly 56% of girls could write their own name and spell it correctly, but only 42% of boys could do so. According to a DFES study 70% of children with identified special educational needs are boys.
• At key stages 1 to 3 – girls do consistently better than boys. This is especially so in English, where the gender gap steadily widens with age, but girls still do better in maths and science although the gap is much narrower
• At GCSE – the gender gap stands at around 10 percentage points (girls do better)  At AS and A level – The average A level points score in state schools was 274 for boys, but 295 for girls.  On vocational courses – A larger proportion of girls achieve distinctions in every subject, including those such as engineering and construction where girls are a tiny minority of the students. The girls’ rate of improvement has been more rapid and a significant gap has opened up, particularly at GCSE
• [The impact of feminism ]- the feminist movement has had considerable success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changes in the law. Feminism has raised women’s expectations and self-esteem.
• MCROBBIE’S [impact of feminism] comparison of girls’ magazines in the 1970s and the 1990s, in the 1970s girls’ magazines such as Jackie there was importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’, whereas nowadays they contain images of assertive, independent women. The changes by feminism may affect girls’ self-image and ambitions with family and careers which explains the improvements in their education achievement.
• [Changes in the family] increase in the DIVORCE RATE, cohabitation, lone-parent families, and smaller families, and a decrease in first marriages. AFFECTING girls’ attitudes towards education. For example, increased numbers of female-headed lone-parent families may mean more women need to take on a breadwinner role. This in turn creates a NEW ADULT ROLE MODEL FOR GIRLS therefore it suggests to girls it is unwise to rely on a husband
• DRIVER- caribbean household black single mother role model for girls to look up to positively influencing black girls achievement
• [Changes in women’s employment ] 1970 Equal pay act and the 1975 Sex discrimination act. The proportion of women in employment has risen from 47% in 1959 to over 70% in 2007. Some women are breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ – the invisible barrier that keeps them out of high-level professional and managerial jobs.
• Girls’ changing perceptions and ambitions- In 1974, the girls SHARPE interviewed had low aspirations; they felt educational success was unfeminine and believed that if they appeared to be ambitious and intelligent they would be considered unattractive. They gave their priorities as ‘love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers.
• BECK AND BECK-GERNSHEIM- changing ambitions due to a change in modern society to individualisation. Greater focus on individual success and development.
• Fuller- [girls changing ambition] girls in study believed in meritocracy and creating life they dream of and success through education
• CLASS AND GENDER- REAY: found that wc girls felt there were limited opportunities and therefore aspired low. Found traditional gender identity [ being in a couple] as attainable and a source of status. BIGGART- wc girls see motherhood as only viable option, girls in FULLER'S STUDY had low aspirations for low paid jobs.
• INTERNAL- Equal opportunities policies The introduction of the national curriculum in 1988 removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly the same subjects. [ KELLY] argues that making science part of the compulsory core curriculum for all pupils helps to equalise opportunities.
• GIST [Girls in stem and tech] WISE [women in stem and engineering] equal opportunity policies. BOALER sees the impact of equal opportunities policies as a key reason for the changes in girls’ achievement. Many of the barriers have been removed and schooling has become more meritocratic (based on equal opportunities) – so that girls, who generally work harder than boys, achieve more.
• [Positive role models in schools] In recent years there has been an increase in the proportion of female teachers and head teachers. These women in positions of authority and seniority may act as role models for girls, showing them women can achieve positions of importance and giving them non-traditional goals to aim for.
• GCSE and coursework  MITSOS and BROWNE conclude that girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.  ELWOOD argues that although course has some influence, it is unlikely to be the only cause of the gender gap, and that exams have more influence on final grades.
• [Teacher attention and classroom interaction]  SPENDER found that teachers spend more time interacting with boys than with girls. However FRENCH found that the amount of attention teacher paid to boys and girls for academic reasons were similar.
• FRANCIS also found that while boys got more [teacher attention], they were disciplines more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, who tended to have lower expectations of them.
• SWANN and GRADDOL found that boys attract the teachers gaze more often than girls, and so get more opportunity to speak. However they found the way they interacted with girls was more positive because it focused on schoolwork rather than behaviour.
• [Challenging stereotypes]. WEINER argues that since the 1980s, teachers have challenged such stereotypes. Also in general, sexist images have been removed from learning materials. This may have helped to raise girls’ achievement by presenting them with more positive images of what women can do.
• EVALUATION of challenge stereotypes- LIBERAL FEMS see it as mop. BUT radical feminists argues -sexual harassment -make headteachers exist still. ALSO, Weiner states secondary school history curriculum is still a 'women free zone'
• Selection and league tables  JACKSON notes that the introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls: high achieving girls are attractive to schools, whereas low-achieving boys are not.  SLEE argues boys are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are four times more likely to be excluded, which is why they are seen as less attractive, boys are seen as ‘liability students’ as a result
• INTERNAL 2- Boys and literacy – Boys’ leisure pursuits, such as football and computer games, do little to help develop their language and communication skills. By contrast, girls tend to have a ‘bedroom culture’ centred on staying in an talking with friends. Poor language and literacy skills are likely to affect boys’ performance across a wide range of subjects. P
• Policies to raise boys’ achievement:  [The raising Boys Achievement project] involves a range of teaching strategies, including single-sex teaching.  [ The national Literacy Strategy] includes a focus on improving boys’ reading.  [The Reading Champions scheme] uses male role models celebrating their own reading interests.
• Globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs – MITSOS and BROWNE claim that this decline in male employment opportunities has led to an ‘identity crisis for men’. Many boys now believe that they have little prospect of getting a proper job. This undermines their motivation and self-esteem to achieve
• Feminisation of education- SEWELL is reported as claiming that boys fall behind because education has become feminised. Schools do not nurture ‘MASCULINE’ traits such as competitiveness and leadership. Instead, they celebrate qualities more closely associated with girls, such as methodical working and attentiveness in class.
• SHORTAGE OF MALE PRIMARY TEACHERS– DFES shows men now make up only 16% of primary school teachers. FRANCIS found that two-thirds of 7-8 year olds believed that the gender of teachers does not matter
• ‘Laddish’ subcultures – according to FRANCIS, laddish culture is becoming increasingly widespread. She argues that this is because, as girls move into traditional masculine areas such as careers, boys respond by “becoming increasingly laddish in their effort to construct themselves as non-femininE
• eval of gender differences- DFES study found that the class gap in achievement at GCSE is three times wider than the gender gap.  Girls from the highest social class were 44 points ahead of girls from the lowest class. These figures show that class is a more important influence on a pupil’s achievement than gender. ADD REAY'S CRITIQUE
• The gender gap among black Caribbean pupils is greater than among other ethnic groups. DUE TO FSP, INSTITUITIONAL RACISM
• EVAL- need the interplay of class, gender and ethnicity into account in order to achieve a better understanding of differences in educational achievement. As CONNOLY suggests there may be an ‘'INTERACTIONS EFFECT' – so that certain combinations of gender, class and ethnicity have more effect than others