gender/feminism

• Feminism and education:

  • Lack of education is a form of social control.
  • Denying women education full access to education makes it hard for them to compete in the traditionally male world of work.
  • Women are still more likely to be involved in child-rearing and in taking on female-dominated work. - The four C's: cooking, cleaning, childcare and check outs.
  • This leaves women vulnerable to explotation.
• Gender attainment data: A-levels 2022

  • In maths 79.9% of females achieved grades A*-C compared to 77.6% of boys.
  • In psychology 82.2% of females achieved grades A*-C compared to only 71.3% of boys.
  • In sociology (the fifth largest subject by exam entry at A-level in 2022) 83.6% of females achieved grades A*-C compared to 77.4% of males.
• Feminism: 1940s-50s:

  • The pass mark of the 11+ exam in the triparite system was lower for boys.
  • Boys and girls studied separate subjects.

  Institutional sexism:

  • Today, girls are outperforming boys (but with equal grade boundaries).
  • School subjects are open to all (even though there are gendered subject images and preferences).
• Feminism: Patterns of attainment by gender:

  Historically:

  • girls underachieved
  • lower expectations for girls
  • gendered subject choices
  • different career paths
  • socialisation (girls- expressive roles)
• feminism: patterns of attainment by gender:

  1980s:

  • girls underachievment started to overtake boys
  • rise of feminism
  • career aspiration
  • feminisation of education
  • educated female role models
• feminism: patterns of attainment by gender:

  Sue Sharpe: 'just like a girl' 1976 and 1994

  • study of: working class girls in London, comaprison of attitudes.
  • when? 1970s and 1990s
  • how? interviews and questionaires
• feminism: pattern of attainment by gender:

  Sue Sharpe: 'just like a girl' 1976 and 1994

  Findings in the 1970s:

  • Early socialisation meant girls did not prioritise education.
  • When listing priorities, career came at the bottom (love, marriage and children were high; job was just above career)
• feminism: pattern of attainment by gender:

  Sue Sharpe: 'just like a girl' 1976 and 1994

  Findings in the 1990s:

  Gender quake had occurred.

  Priorities had reversed: career came before love and marriage.

  Girls were now more confident, ambitious and assertive.

  They were committed to gender equality.
• feminism: pattern of gender attainment:

  Sharpe in 1990s:

  • still concerned about situation-ship for girls.
  • Girls' aspirations and expectations would probably not match the reliability.
  • Society's expectations would still prioritise family over career.
  • However, change in attitude could have reflected improvement in the girls' attainment.
  • Acknowledged that the changes in the law had an impact on attitudes and attainment.
• Feminism: Experiences of different genders

  • feminists would argue that differing experiences are still a problem in education.
  • Harassment and the 'male gaze': not dealt with as seriously as other forms of bullying.
  • higher expectation of behaviour for girls.
  • rigid controls of girls' behaviour.
• Feminism: experiences of different genders:

  What evidence is there for different expectations (connected to labelling)

  John Abraham:

  • Typical girl: well behaved and studious.
  • Typical boy: trouble makers: negative feedback from teachers reinforced boys' notions of masculinity.
• Feminism: experiences of different genders:

  Becker:

  • Labelling and the ideal student.

  Louis Archer:

  • Nike identities

  Mac An Ghail:

  • the male gaze.
• Feminism: Gender socialisation

  • girls are more controlled by parents and teachers.
  • girls have less freedom.
  • canalisation of educational toys
  • Books and imagery
  • masculinity
• Feminism: gender socialisation

  • Girls are more controlled by parents and teachers.
  • Pereira: girls 'play dumb'.
  • girls have less freedom.
  • Angela mcrobbie: 'bedroom culture'
  • Canalisation of educational toys
  • Ann Oakley
  • Books and Imagery
  • Glenys Lobban
• Formation of gendered identities:

  • schools formed traditional feminine identities
  • uniform regulations sexual behaviours
  • verbal abuse
  • sports
• Formation of gendered identities:

  • Schools reinforce traditional feminine identities:
  • Mac An Ghail (1988): male teachers told boys off for 'acting like girls' in the classroom.
  • Chris Haywood (1996): echoed Mac An Ghail and found teachers teased boys when they gained lower marks in tests than girls.
• Feminism: formation of gendered identities:

  Uniform regulations:

  • Louise Archer: Nike identities
  • For most girls, constructing and performing a heterosexual, sexy feminine image was the most important thing to them.
  • They spent money and time on their appearance; looking sexy and feminine gave girls a sense of power and status.
  • The peer group policed this.

  Carolyn Jackson:

  • Ladette subcultures: girls seem not to care about education.
• feminism: formation of gendered identities:

  sexual behaviours:

  • Sue Lees 1981: 'slags' and 'drags'.

  Sports:

  • Ann Oakley: socialisation through activities.
• feminism: gendered subject images:

  • traditional male/female gender domains
  • feminism has led to challenged to this:
  • GIST: girls in science and technology
  • WISE: women in science and engineering
  • This has not been replicated for males and the 'girly' subjects.
  • The feminine domain has less value e.g. art is less valuable than science.
• Feminism: gendered subject images:

  Alison Kelly 1987: girls choose biology over other sciences because of teachers being male; resources tend to centre around men and their interests.
• feminism: gendered subject images:

  Leonard 2006:

  • single sex schools tend to have less stereotypical subject images and make less traditional subject choices.
  • She found that girls in girls' schools were more likely to take maths and science A-levels compared to girls in mixed schools and boys in boys' schools were more likely to take english and languages than boys from mixed school.
• Ineraction and gender:

  • Popular theory among feminists
  • Jones and Dinda (2004)- teachers praise boys more
  • Stanworth (1938) careers advice is often gendered.
  • Becky Francis- boys today often negatively labelled.