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Gender
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Education - Coggle Diagram
Gender
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Education
External
Attitudes Changing - by the family changing as well as employment, this then affects girls' goals.
Sharpe (1994) 'Just like a girl: How girls learn to be women - interviewed schoolgirls and found that 67% wanted to leave at 16, had low ambition and prioritised love, marriage and children. By 1994, it had completely changed as 67% now wanted to stay in school until 18 as their career is top priority.
Changes in the family - with the family structure changing women are now seen as the independent breadwinner and financially independent. 90% of single parent households headed by women. Meaning now there is a need for well paid jobs and good qualifications. Therefore, girls put more in the education system to fulfil this role.
Changes in employment - 1970 Equal Pay Act: a rise in women being employed (75% of women have a form of employment). There are more women in managerial positions, breaking the 'glass ceiling'. These changes encourage girls to seek a future in paid work rather than unpaid domestic labour.
Impact of feminism - since the 1960s the feminist movement challenged traditional stereotypes that women should be housewives, this helped to raise women's expectations of themselves, and are no longer expected to settle for the housewife role. McRobbie (1994) compared two editions of 'Jackie' a women's magazine from the 1970s with an emphasis on marriage and the 1990s, where the emphasis was on being independent.
Internal
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GCSE and Coursework
Gorard - He found that the gender gap in achievement was fairly consistent between 1975 & 1989 until it increased sharply, this was in the year GCSEs were introduced along with coursework, being a major part of most subjects. He concludes that the gender gap is a 'product f the changed system of assessment rather than any more general failings of boys'.
Mitsos & Browne - support Gorard's view and conclude they conclude that girls are more successful in coursework because they:
- Spend more time on their work
- Take more care with the way it is presented
- Better at meeting deadlines
- Bring the right equipment and materials to lessons
They also argue that these factors helped girls to benefit from the introduction of coursework at GCSE, AS and A levels. Girls are better at oral exams as they generally have better-developed language skills.
Teacher Attention
French - they did an analysis of classroom interaction and found that boys received more attention because they attracted more reprimands.
Swann - found gender differences in communication styles, as boys dominate whole-class discussions, whereas girls prefer pair or group work and are better at listening and cooperating with each other as well as taking turns to talk and no interruptions, which are characteristics in boys speech. This could help to explain why teachers respond positively to girls as they see them as cooperative than to boys whom they see as potentially disruptive. This may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which successful interactions with teachers promote girls' self-esteem and raise their achievement levels.
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Feminist Explanations
- Sociologists differ in their interpretation of the importance of the changes that have contributed to the success of girls in the education system.
. There are two main views:
- Liberal Feminists
- Celebrate the progress made so far in improving achievement.
. They believe further progress will be made by the continuing development of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models, and overcoming sexist attitudes.
- This is similar to the functionalist view that education is a meritocracy where all individuals regardless of gender, ethnicity or class are given an equal opportunity to achieve.
- Radical Feminists
- While they recognize that girls are achieving more, they emphasize that the system remains patriarchal and conveys the clear message that it is still a man's world.
Archer (2010)
- Whilst girls on average achieve more highly than boys, this does not mean that all girls are successful.
. Female achievement can also be linked to social class, which impacts their success in school
For example, in 2013 only 40.6% of girls eligible for free school meals achieved five A*-C GCSEs, compared to 67.5% of those not eligible for free school meals.
- He uses the concept of symbolic capital to explain why WC girls don't do as well.
. Symbolic capital refers to the status, recognition and sense of worth that we obtain from others.
- Archer argued that WC girls gain symbolic capital from their peers by portraying a specific WC feminine identity.
. Key traits of this working-class feminine identity include adopting a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity, having a boyfriend and being 'loud'.
- Archer argues that WC girls face a dilemma:
. Either gain symbolic capital from their peers by conforming to a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity.
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. Gain educational capital by rejecting their WC identity and conforming to the schools' MC notions of being respectable, ideal female pupils.
- Some girls try to cope with the dilemma by defining themselves as 'good underneath'
. This reflects the girls' struggle to achieve a sense of self-worth within an education system that devalues their WC idenities.
- Archer concludes that WC femine identities and educational success conflict with one another.
. This is the maincause of their underachievement.
Boys + education
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Boys Literacy - According to DCSF, one reason for this is that parents spend less time reading to their sons. Another is that because mothers do most of the reading to young children, they then see reading as a feminine activity. Boys pursue leisure (football) but do little to develop their language and communication skills. Whereas girls tend to have a bedroom culture. This then affects boys' achievement across a range of subjects, in response to this, the government introduced policies to help improve those skills.
Laddish subculture - 'Laddish' subcultures have contributed to boys' underachievement.
Epstein (1998) looked at the way masculinity was constructed in school. She found that the WC boys are likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies and subjected to homophobic (anti-gay) verbal abuse if they appear to be 'swats'.
Feminisation of education - They say that school doesn't nurture masculine traits, like competition and leadership and celebrate qualities that are closely associated with girls such as, methodical working and attentiveness.
Crisis of masculinity - this means that men are having a crisis due to the lack of male jobs, meaning that they are no longer the breadwinner of the family. This therefore causes them to have no clear identity.
Decline of Masculine Jobs - Since the 1980s there has been a decline in heavy industry jobs which has led to an 'identity crisis of me'. Many boys now believe little prospects for getting a proper job, undermining their motivation and self-esteem, so they give up trying to get qualifications.
Moral Panic - there needs to be less focus on girls achievement
Ringrose (2013)
- There are fears that boys low achievment will lead them to a life of crime.
- Moral panics blind us to other issues.
. Results in ignoring WC and minority pupils.
. Ignores issues of sexual harassment in schools.
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Pupil Sexual Identity - Connell argued that all these experiences reinforce the 'hegemonic masculinity: the dominance of heterosexual males and the subordination of females and gay identities.
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