Boys Achievement

Literacy - DCSF

Internal - Argue that the gender gap is the result of poor literacy amongst males - reading is seen as feminine as mothers would read to their children
Bedroom culture - girls are socialised to talk + discuss increasing their vocabulary


Ev - Deterministic as assumes all males/ females raised the same

Crisis of Masculinity - Mitsos + Browne

External - Due to globaslisation there has been a decline in heavy industries such as iron and steel


Decline in male employment opportunities lead to identity crisis


Ev - Out of date concept so not valid

Lower vocabulary limits achievement through language code + students expressing ideas coherently

Results in belied that they will not get proper job so low self esteem resulting in less motivation to get good grades


Jobs in manual labour don't need qualifications so this shouldn't have an impact

Feminisation of education - Sewell

Internal - students don't nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness + leadership. Thinks coursework should be replaced with exams - emphasis on outdoor education in cirriculum


Ev - Deterministic as assumes all schools/ teachers think the same

Boys become bored with school

Lack of male Primary Teachers - Read

Ladish Subcultures - Epstein

Moral Panic - Ringrose

Policies to improve boys achievement

Internal - Teaching is a feminine profession and schools lack many 'real' men role models and this is especially critical at primary schools where women dominante


Ev - Doesnt take into consideration class and ethnicity that have impact

This could explain why learning is seen as girly by many boys and not worth their time

Internal - Boys gain symbolic capital amongst peers by joining anti - school subcultures. More disruptive and boys tend to get excluded more and seek status from exclusion


Ev - Out of date and so not as valid

Exclusion from school leads to underachievement

Internal - w/c boys will grow up and be dangerous to social stability, moral panic has caused a shift in education which leads to boys disengagement


Ev - Small sample so cant be generalised

narrowing equal opportunities to boys only and neglect of girls

Raising boys achievement project
National literacy strategy
Reading Cahmpions
Playing for success
Dad and sons
Recruitment of male teachers