gender differences (internal factors)

• GCSE and Coursework (girls)

  • Mitos and Brown found that girls do better than boys in coursework because they are better organised
  • Gorad found that the gender gap in achievement increased drastically when GCSE was introduced in 1988
• Equal opportunities policy (girls)

  • GIST and WISE programmes to encourage girls into science and technology
  • National curriculum; girls and boys largely study the same subjects
  • e.g. by making science compulsory
• Role models (girls)

  • there are more female teachers, which feminises the learning environment
  • this encourages girls to see school as part of a ‘female gender domain’
• Teacher attention (girls)

  • Swann found that boys dominate class discussions whereas girls are better at listening and cooperating
  • teachers respond more positively to girls and encourage them more
  • French and French found that boys recieved more attention overall because they were disciplined more often
• Selection and League Tables

  • Marketisation policies led to increased competition between schools
  • Schools therefore have the incentive to recruit more able students
  • Girls are generally more successful than boys, so are more attractive to schools
• Feminisation of schooling

  • Boys fall behind as education has been 'feminised', meaning schools no longer nurture masculine traits
  • the introduction of coursework disadvantages boys
  • lack of male primary school teachers - only 1 in 6 primary school teachers are male
• Laddish Subcultures

  • there is peer-pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being 'anti-school'