Gender - Boys

• • Mitsos and Browne believe that boys are underachieving in education, although believe girls are disadvantaged
  • Girls do better in every stage of the National Curriculum SATs and outperform boys - except physics
  • Atkinson and Wilson's research shows that the gap between girls and boys achievement at school grows between 7 and 16
• External - boys' poorer literacy skills

  • Bedroom culture - girls are more likely to spend their leisure time in ways which complement their education and contribute to educational achievement
  • Boys activities involve football and outdoor leisure
  • Mitsos and Browne place considerable emphasis on reading. Women are more likely to read than men, and mothers are more likely to read to their children than fathers - viewed as a feminine activity and girls have this same sex role model
  • 1998 - National Literacy Strategy improved literacy rates of boys and closed the gap
• External - the decline of traditional male jobs

  • Results in working class boys lacking motivation
  • Mitsos and Browne argue that this has led to a crisis of masculinity - many boys believe they cannot get a proper job
  • Undermines their self-esteem and give up trying to gain qualifications
  • Due to globalisation and primary and secondary employment being moved to LICs
• External - unrealistic expectations

  • Research indicates boys are often surprised when they fail exams and tend to put their failure down to bad luck rather than lack of effort
  • Becky Francis points out that boys have unrealistic career aspirations that require few formal qualifications eg. professional footballer
  • Girls aspirations tend to require academic effort and have a great commitment to schoolwork
  • EVALUATION - Archer's study of hyper-heterosexual feminine identities
• Internal - feminisation of education

  • According to Sewell, schools do not nurture 'masculine traits' such as competitiveness and leadership but celebrate feminine qualities such as methodical working and organisation instead - this disadvantages boys
  • Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in achievement and says it should be replaced by final exams and greater emphasis should be put on outdoor adventure in the curriculum
  • Some argue that the culture of primary schools have become feminised - staffed by female teachers who are unable to control boys behaviours
• Evaluation of the feminisation of education

  • The absence of male teachers may not be a major factor in boys underachievement - Francis found 2/3 of 7-8 year olds believed the gender of the teacher does not matter
  • Read studied language used by teachers and criticised that male teachers are not needed for discipline - female teachers use the 'masculine disciplinarian discourse' to control behaviour
  • Male teachers have a 1 in 4 chance of gaining headship compared to 1 in 13 chance for females
• Internal - teacher interaction

  • Barber - girls feedback was more focused on their work but for boys feedback is more focused on behaviour
  • The low expectations of girls in science reinforced their own self images; boys frequently overestimated their abilities
  • Negative teacher labelling for boys undermined their confidence and interest in school.
  • Low motivation = low achievement
  • Teachers tend to be less strict with boys giving them more leeway with deadlines and expecting lower standards with work - leads them to underachieve by failing to push them to reach their potential
• Internal - laddish subcultures

  • Epstein found that W/C boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as 'sissies' and subjected to homophobic verbal abuse if they appear to be 'swots' - this threatens masculinity and W/C culture equates this with being tough and doing manual work
  • Boys reject schoolwork to avoid being called 'gay' by peers
  • Mac an Ghaill identified the pupil subculture of 'macho lads' which was hostile to school authority and learning - similar to Willis study
  • Willis argued physical work was essential to developing a sense of identity
• • By the 1980s globalisation rid the country of manual labour and unemployment soon became the norm for W/C boys
  • Jackson found that laddish behaviour was based on the idea that it is uncool to work hard at school and rejected the 'femininity' of schoolwork
• Evaluation of laddish subcultures

  • Weiner, Arnot and David argue that the media have created a misleading moral panic which view black and working class underachievement as a particular problem because it is likely to lead to them turning to crime
  • Ringrose argues that educational policy brought in by the government is becoming preoccupied by 'failing boys' and ignoring other issues in schools such as sexual harassment and bullying
  • Cohen argues why has boys underachievement only become a concern now? It perpetuates the historical process which has always assumed boys to have special potential