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gender differences in education - Coggle Diagram
gender differences in education
external factors and gender differences in achievement
impact of feminism
changes re partly reflected in media images and messages, in 1970s, emphasises the importance of getting married and not being left on he shelf, whereas nowadays they contain images of assertive women.
these changes effect girls self image and ambitions with regard to family and careers.
changes in the family
-increase in divorce rate, - increase in number of lone parent families
increased number of female headed lone parent families may mean more women need to take on breadwinner role- this creates new role model for girls, financially independent woman
changes in women's employment
1970- equal pay act, illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value.
since 1975, pay gap halved from 30% to 15%
women are breaking through the glass ceiling, invisible barrier keeping them from higher level professional jobs.
these changes have encouraged girls to see their future in terms of paid work instead of housewives, greater career opportunities and better pay for women.
girls changing ambitions
I 1974, girls had low aspirations, believe educational success was unfeminine and that appearing to be ambitious would be unattractive. age their priorities as one marriage husbands, children, jobs and careers.
by 1990s girls ambitions had changed and had a different order priorities.
internal factors and gender differences in achievement
equal opportunrities policies,
policies such sa GIST and WISE encourage girls to pursue careers into non traditional areas such as science and engineering.
introduction of national curriculum removed one source of gender inequality by making girls and boys study mostly the same subjects.
school has become more meritocratic, so that girls who generally work harder than boys achieve more.
positive role models in schools
increase in proportion od female teachers and heads, showing girls that they ca achieve positions of importance.
GCSE and Coursework
achiveemntw as fairly constant from 1975 to 1989 then it increased sharply as this was the year GCSE was introduced, bringing coursework with it as a major part of nearly all subjects.
girls are more successful in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised than boys.
teacher attention
boys receive more attention as they attract more reprimands. disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers.
boys dominate in class discussion whilst girls work better in pair work or group work and are better at listening and co operating.
teachers see girls as cooperative and boys as disruptive.
challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks has removed a barrier to girls achievement. reading schemes portrayed women as housewives and mothers, physics books showed women frightebned by science.
selection and league tables
the introduction of exam league tables has improved opportunities for girls. boys less attractive to schools because they are more likely to suffer from behavioural difficulties and are 4 times moe likely to be excluded.
identify, class and girls achievement
symbolic capital- working c;lass girls underachieve and gain symbolic capital from their peers, this brings them into conflict with the school, preventing them from aquiring educational capital- hyper-heterosexuality, having a boyfriend and being loud
hyper heterosexual- invested considerable time, effort and money into constructing desirable feminine identities. this brought them status among their peer group. brought conflict with school, punished for too much jewellery, wrong clothing or makeup.
boys and achievement
boys and literacy- parents spend less time reading to their sons, boys leisure pursuits such as football do little to develop their language and communication skills. girls have bedroom culture centred on staying in and talking with friends.
globalisation and deline of mens jobs
significant decline in heavy industries such as iron and steel. result of globalisation of the economy. this has led to an identity crisis for men. belief that there is little prospect for getting a proper job undermines motivation and self esteem.
feminisation of education- Tony Sewell reported as claiming that boys fall behind because education has become feminised.
schools do not nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness and leadership. celebrate qualities more closely associated with girls.
shortage of male primary school teachers- lack of male role models both at home and school
only 14% of primary school teachers are male
laddish subcultures
working class boys likely to be labelled as gay is they appear to try hard in school
more concerned than girls as it is more of a threat to their masculinity than girls feminity
moral panic about boys
caused a major shift in educational policy, now preoccupied with raising boys' achievements.
narrowing equal opportunities pokey down to failing boys, ignores the problem of disavantaged working class and ethic groups
ignores other problems faced by girls, including sexual harassment and bullying, self-esteem and identity issues.
gender and subject choice.
gender role socialisation
teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative and not. be weak or behave like sissies. girls on other hand are quiet helpful, clean and tidy.
develop different tastes in reading, boys read hobby books and informational tends, whereas girls read stories about people. helps explain why boys prefer science and girls prefer subjects such as English.
gendered subject images
science teachers more likely to be men.
computer studies, involves working with machines, part of male gender domain. tasks tend to be abstract with little opportunities for group work, which girls favour.
gender identity and peer pressure
boys opt out of music and dance because such activities fall outside their gender domain and so are likely to attract negative response from peers.
in single sex schools girls more likely to choose traditional boys subjects because absence of boys may mean there is less pressure on girls to conform to restrictive stereotypes on what they can study.
pupils sexual and gender identities
verbal abuse
boys use name calling to put girls down if they behave or dress a certain way. boys call girls slags if they appeared to be sexually available and drags if they didn't.
male gaze
male gaze form of surveillance through which dominant hetereosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalues. one of the ways boys prove their masculinity to their friends.
female peer groups; policing identity
female peers police hyperheterosexual feminine identities- girls risk making themselves unpopular and being called a tramp if they do not conform.
faced tension between idealised feminine identity (loyalty to peer group being non competitive) and a sexualised identity (involved competing for boys in the dating culture)
teachers and discipline- male teachers told boys off fro behaving like girls and teased them when they gained lower marks than girls. ignore boys abuse to girls and blamed girls fro attracting it.
male teachers protective over female etchers, coming into classrooms to rescue them by threatening pupils who are disruptive- reinforces the idea that women cannot cope alone.