Differential educational achievement

• Gender - External factors

  Feminism

  Changes in the family

  Changes in women employment

  Changing girls ambitions
• Gender - External factors - feminism

  Improved rights of women and raised expectations and self esteem of women

  Women no longer only 'mother/housewife role'
• SUE SHARPE


  Interviewed girls on career aspirations in 70s and due to increases employment opportunities females have become more ambitious
• MCROBBIE


  Magazines before emphasise importance of marraige for women but now show womens independence
• Gender - External factors - Changes in the family 


  Primary socialisation of female more suited to education

  BEDROOM CULTURE - girls are quiet and submissive which is ideal pupil
• Gender - External factors - Changes in the family

  More lone parent families headed by women and duel earning families raised girls aspirations
• Gender - External factors - Changes to women employment 


  Decline in traditional gender roles - LINK POLICY (equal pay / sex discrimination)

  Breaking the 'glass celing'
• Gender - External factors - Changes in the family

  Crisis of masculinity - decline in traditional masculine professions - women as breadwinner and have financial independence

  Increased divorce rate

  Increased cohabitation

  Increased lone parent family

  Smaller families
• MITSOS AND BROWNE


  'feminised career opportunities for women in service sector (hospitality, healthcare, teaching)

  push women to have bigger future in career and financial independence

  Aspirations to get the jobs push girls to achieve in school
• Gender - External factors - Changing girls ambitions 


  Decline in traditions - more family diversity

  Educational success is recognised as necessary for girls to achieve independence
• BECK AND BECK 


  independence more valued - girls recognise they need an education to be independent
• GENSHEIM


  Independence highly regarded in modern society to gain recognition and status
• Gender - External factors Evaluation

  Glass ceiling still exists

  Gender pay gap still exists

  Traditional gender roles exist in motherhood

  Myth of Meritocracy
• Gender - Internal factors - Equal opportunities

  Government policies create opportunities for girls (GIST/WISE) - create meritocracy (BOALER)

  National curriculum made boys and girls study the same subjects
• BOALER (Gender / internal)

  education policies key reason for changes in girls achievement - remove barriers and create meritocracy
• Gender - Internal factors - Role Models

  Females take up senior and head teacher position roles - girls achieve position of importance / power therefore girls work harder in education to achieve goals
• Gender - Internal factors - GCSE + coursework


  Coursework suit girls more leading to girls outperforming boys (GORARD)

  MITSOS AND BROWNE - girls better at coursework due to being conscientious and organised
• Gender - Internal factors - Teacher attention

  Teachers interact with boys and girls different - boys get more attention but its negative. due to girls having positive interactions it could explain achievement by self fulfilling prophecy

  Boys also dominate class discussions
• Gender - Internal factors - Challenging stereotypes

  Removal of stereotypes in textbooks, reading schemes- remove barrier for girls aspirations

  Textbooks in 70s portrays women at home which reinforces the role

  Challenged in 80s - positive images of what girls can achieve led to change (WEINER)
• Gender - Internal factors - League tables / selection

  Girls get better grades = more desirable to schools
• Gender - Internal factors - Equal opportunities 


  SLEE - boys more likely to have behavioural issues and be excluded
• Gender - Internal factors Evaluation

  Liberal feminist - need more equal opportunity policy, more positive role models for true equality

  Radical feminist - girls are achieving more in spite of the patriarchal nature of the education system (still gendered subject choice)
• DEA - Girls and identity - symbolic capital (ARCHER)

  Status, recognition and sense of worth girls receive from others. WC girls gained symbolic capital from peers but it put them in conflict with the school ethos.

  The conflict led to girls failing in education and economic capital and repeating the cycle
• DEA - Girls and identity - hyper heterosexual feminine identity (ARCHER)

  Girls gain symbolic capital through hyper heterosexual feminine identity - combine black urban styles with 'sexy' clothes and makeup

  This conflict school as there is a preoccupation with appearance and breaking of school rules
• BOURDIEU (DEA - Girls and identity)


  Symbolic violence is the harm done by denying someone symbolic capital
• DEA - Girls and identity - Boyfriends 


  gain symbolic capital through having a boyfriend.

  ARCHER - found boys lower girls aspirations and their aspirations changes
• DEA - Girls and identity - being loud 


  WC girl gain symbolic capital through being loud, assertive and outspoken and challenging school and teacher

  Behavior interpreted as aggressive lead to girl being removed
• Social class on girls achievement

  girls in general achieving more than boys
• DEA - Girls and identity - wc dilemma (ARCHER)


  WC dilemma of either gaining symbolic capital or educational capital by rejecting their wc identity and accepting and conforming to mc habitus
• DEA - Girls and identity - SKEGGS


  Caring is crucial to wc girl identity girls stay home to support family
• DEA - Boys and identity - Literacy (internal)

  DfCSF - Literacy 'feminised' creates a 'gender gap' - bedroom culture (girls socialised to talk increases vocab)

  Vocab limit language codes

  National literacy strategy

  Reading champions - male role model readers
• DEA - Boys and identity - Feminisation of education (internal) - SEWELL


  School not nurture masculine traits (competitiveness) but celebrate attentiveness so boys become bored with school
• DEA - Boys and identity - Lack of male primary teachers (internal)


  Teaching feminine ad school lack male role models. Explain boys thinking learning is 'girly' and and therefore not worth their time
• DEA - Boys and identity - Laddish subcultures (internal)


  boy gain symbolic capital through antisocial subcultures

  More disruptive = likely excluded and seek status through exclusion

  which leads to underachievement
• DEA - Boys and identity - Crisis of masculinity (external)


  Globalisation led to decline in heavy industry - decline in male (manual) employment opportunities - identity crisis

  MITSOS AND BROWNE - 'crisis of masculinity'

  Belief they cannot get a job = low self esteem and motivation to achieve
• DEA - Boys and identity - Overestimated ability (external)


  BARBER - boys see self as more capable than they are - overconfidence in patriarchal society (assume they will succeed over women) lead to underachievement as they lack preparation for work
• DEA - Gender and subject choice - trends

  GCSE - boys take more vocational and practical subject and girls humanities

  A LEVEL - Boys take technical subject and girls taking sociology and English etc.
• DEA - Gender and subject choice - gender role socialisation (EXTERNAL)


  NORMAN - girls and boys encourages to dress different and take different activities - family start gender roles and reinforced in school

  MURPHY AND ELWOOD - socialisation lead to different reading styles - explain subject choice

  BROWNE AND ROSS - gender domains around early experience
• MURPHY AND ELWOOD - socialisation lead to different reading styles - explain subject choice
• BROWNE AND ROSS - gender domains around early experience