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Gender Differences in Education - Coggle Diagram
Gender Differences in Education
Gender gap in achievement:
Official states evidence of differences of girls and boys at important stages of education:
Starting school: 2013, teacher assessments end of year = girls ahead of boys between 7 and 17 % points in all seven learning assessed areas. Girls better at concentrating. DfE (2013) study - in state primary schools, boys 2.5x to have statements of specialist educational needs
Key Stage 1 to 3: girls do consistently better - especially in English gender gap widens with age. Science and maths gap is narrower
GCSE: gender gap around 10 % points
AS and A Level: girls more likely sit, pass and get higher grades, gap narrower than GCSE. 2013, 46.8% girls gained A or B A level, only 42.2% boys
Vocational courses: larger proportion girls achieve distinctions, including engineering and construction
External factors and gender differences in achievement
Impact of feminism:
Since 1960s, feminist movement challenged traditional stereotype women's role solely as mother and housewife in patriarchal nuclear family and inferior to men in work, education, law
Feminists argue not achieved full equality - feminist movement improved women's rights and opportunities through law changes - raised women's expectations and self-esteem
Changes reflected in media images and messages. McRobbie (1994) study girls' magazines - 1970s emphasised importance marriage and not being 'left on the shelf' , now images of assertive, independent women
Changes affect girls' self-image and ambitions with regard to family and careers - improvement in educational achievement
Changes in the family:
Changes since 1970s: - increase divorce rate, increase cohabitation and decrease number of first marriages, increase number lone-parent families, smaller families
Affect girls' attitudes towards education.
E.g. increased number female-headed lone-parent families = more women need to take on breadwinner role. New adult role model for girls - financially independent woman. To achieve this need well-paid jobs and qualifications
Increase in divorce - unwise to rely on husband to be provider
Changes in women's employment:
1970 Equal Pay Act: illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value. 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws discrimination at work
Since 1975, pay gap between men and women halved - 30% to 15%
Proportion of women in employment risen from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013 - growth of service sector and flexible part-time work offered more opportunities for women
Some women breaking through 'glass ceiling' - barrier keeping them out of high-level professional, managerial jobs
Girls see future in terms of paid work rather than housewives. Greater career opportunities, better pay, role models = incentive to gain qualifications
Girls' changing ambitions:
Sharpe (1994) - interviews girls in 1970s and 1990s = major shift in way see their future
1974 = low aspirations - educational success was unfeminine, appearing to be ambitious was unattractive. Priorities = 'love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers, more or less in that order'
1990s - careers main priority to support themselves. More likely to see future as independent woman with career
O'Connor (2006) - study 14-17 year olds - marriage and children not major part of life plans
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (2001) - trend towards individualisation in modern society - independence valued more strongly than in past, career part of woman's life project as prioritises recognition and economic self-sufficiency
Fuller (2011) - educational success central aspect of their identity. Saw themselves as creators of their own future, had individualised notion of self. Believed in meritocracy and aimed for professional career to support themselves
Class, gender and ambition:
Some WC girls has gender-stereotypes aspirations for marriage and children, expect to go into traditional low paid women's work
Reay (1998) - reflects reality of girls' class position. Limit aspirations reflect limited job opportunities perceive as being available to them. Traditional gender identity is attainable and offers source of status
Biggart (2002) - WC girls more likely to face precarious position in labour market and see motherhood as only other viable option for future - less point in achieving in education. Most low-aspiring WC girls in Fuller's study not interested in staying on at school and expressed desire for a low-level job
Internal factors and gender differences in achievement
Equal opportunities policies:
Feminist ideas major impact on education system - policymakers more aware of gender issues and teachers more sensitive to avoid stereotyping, Belief boys and girls entitled to same opportunities part of mainstream thinking and influences educational policies
Policies like GIST and WISE encourage girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas. Female scientists visit schools = role model, efforts made to raise science teachers' awareness of gender issues, non-sexist careers advice, learning materials in science reflecting girls' interests
National curriculum in 1988 removed source of gender inequality by making study same subjects
Boaler (1998) - impact of equal opportunities in policies = key reason for changes in girls' achievement. Many barriers removed and schooling become more meritocratic
Positive role models in schools:
Increase in proportion of female teachers and heads - women in senior positions act as role models for girls, show women can achieve positions of importance and give non-traditional goals to aim for
Women teachers important role model in educational achievement as must undertake lengthy and successful education
GCSE and coursework:
Changes in way pupils are assessed favoured girls and disadvantaged boys. E.G. Gorard (2005) - gender gap in achievement fairly constant from 75-89 when it increased sharply. Year GCSE introduced, and coursework as major part of lots of subjects - gender gap = 'product of the changed system of assessment rather than any more general failing of boys'
Mitsos and Browne (1998) - girls more successful in coursework as more conscientious and organised
Greater use of oral exams - benefit girls as generally develop better language skills
Characteristics and skills result of early gender role socialisation in family. E.g. girls encouraged to be neat, tidy and patient - advantage in today's assessment system = greater success than boys
Elwood (2005) - although coursework has some influence, unlikely to be only cause of gender gap as exams have more influence than coursework on final grades
Teacher attention:
Teacher interactions differ
French (1993) analysed classroom interaction - boys receive more attention as attract more reprimands.
Francis (2001) - while boys got more attention, disciplined more harshly and felt picked on by teachers, tended to have lower expectations
Swann (1998) - gender differences in communication styles - boys dominate whole class discussion, girls prefer pair/group work and are better at listening and cooperating. In groups girls speech involves turn taking, boys is hostile interruptions
Teachers respond more positively to girls who're seen as cooperative than boys seen as disruptive. May lead to SFP - promote girls' self-esteem and raise achievement levels
Challenging stereotypes in curriculum:
Removal of stereotypes from textbooks, reading schemes and learning material in recent years removed barrier to girls' achievement.
Research 70s and 80s - reading schemes portrayed women mainly as mothers and housewives, maths books depicted boys as more inventive
Weiner (1995) - since 80s, teachers challenged stereotpyes. In general, sexist images removed from learning materials - raise girls' achievement by presenting more positive images of what women can do
Selection and league tables:
Marketisation - more competitive climate schools see girls as desirable recruits as achieve better exam results
Jackson (1998) - introduction of exam league tables improved opportunities for girls - high achieving girls attractive to schools, low achieving boys not - SFP - girls more likely recruited by good schools = do well
Slee (1998) - boys less attractive as more likely to suffer behavioural difficulties and 4x more likely to be excluded
Boys seen as 'liability students' - obstacles to school improving league table scores. Give school a 'rough, tough' image deterring high-achieving girls
Two views of girls' achievement:
Liberal feminists: celebrate progress made in improving achievement. Further progress will be made by continuing development of equal opportunities policies, encouraging positive role models and overcoming sexist attitudes and stereotpyes
Functionalist - education is a meritocracy where all individuals are given equal opportunity to achieve
Radical feminists: more critical view. Recognise girls achieving more, emphasise system remains patriarchal and conveys clear message still a man's world.
Sexual harrassment of girls continues at school
Education limits girls' subject choices and career options
More female headteachers, male teachers more likely to become heads of secondary schools
Women underrepresented in many areas of curriculum - e.g. contribution to history is largely ignores. Weiner (1993) - secondary school history curriculum as a 'women free zone'
Identity, class and girls' achievement
2013, only 40.6% girls from poorer families (FSM) achieved five A* - C GCSEs, over 2/3 (67.5%) not FSM did
Symbolic Capital:
Feminists, Archer et al (2010) - differences is conflict between WC girls' feminine identities and values/ethos of the school.
Study WC girls - by performing their WC feminine identities, gained symbolic capital from peers. Brought conflict with school - prevent acquiring educational capital and economic capital
Identifies strategies girls followed for creating valued sense of self
Hyper-heterosexual feminine identities:
Many girls invested time, effort and money in constructing desirable and glamorous hyper-heterosexual feminine identity - one girl spent £40 week on her appearance. Constructed identities that combined black urban American styles with unisex sportswear and sexy clothes, makeup and hairstyles
Performance of identity brought status from female peer group and avoided being ridiculed or called tramp for wearing wrong brand
Often punished wrong appearance (jewellery, clothes, makeup etc) - teachers saw preoccupation with appearance as distraction that prevented engaging with education
Led to school 'othering' the girls - defining as not one of us, incapable of educational success, less worthy of respect.
Bourdieu - process = symbolic violence
Archer - from schools' POV ideal female pupil identity is de-sexualised, MC - excludes many WC
Boyfriends:
Boyfriend = symbolic capital, got in way of schoolwork and lowered aspirations
Loss of interest in uni, studying masculine subjects, gaining professional career
Aspired to settle down, children, work locally in WC feminine jobs
One girl had to drop out of school after becoming pregnant
Being 'loud':
Adopted loud feminine identities - outspoken, independent, assertive - question teacher authority
Fail to conform to school stereotype of ideal female pupil identity (passive and submissive) = conflict with teachers, interpreted behaviour as aggressive
WC girls' dilemma:
Either gain symbolic capital - from peers by conforming to hyper-heterosexual feminine identity
Or gain educational capital - rejecting WC identity, conform schools' MC notions
Some tried to cope by defining themselves as 'good underneath' - reflects struggle of self-worth within education system that devalues WC feminine identities
Archer - WC girls' investment in identities major cause of underachievement due to conflict caused
Successful WC girls:
Evans (2009) study 21 WC sixth form girls in south London comprehensive school - girls wanted to go to uni to increase earning power, was not for them but to help families. 'Only thing I want to do is to give something back to my family really'
Girls' motivation reflected WC feminine identities - Skeggs (1997) - 'caring' crucial part of identity, girls in Evans study wished to stay home to contribute to families
Economic necessity = reason to live at home. Cost and fear of debt. Living at home made higher ed more affordable, limited choice of uni and market value of degree
Archer (2010) - preference for local is key feature of WC habitus - girls' showed strong preference for local and familiar over distant
Gender identity of WC girls may play part in lack of success compared to MC. Evans - even more successful WC girls, caring aspect produces desire to live at home whilst studying - self exclusion from elite unis = limit on success
Boys and achievement
Boys and literacy:
DCSF (2007) - gender gap mainly result of boys' poorer literacy and language skills - parents may spend less time reading to sons, mothers do most of reading to young children = feminine activity
Boys' leisure pursuits do little to help develop language, communication skills. Girls tend to have bedroom culture centred on staying in and talking with friends
Poor language and literacy skills likely affect boys' performance across subjects - gov introduced range of policies to improve boys' skills i.e. raising boys' achievement project, national literacy strategy, reading champions scheme
Globalisation and the decline of traditional men's jobs:
Since 80s, significant decline in heavy industries - partly result of globalisation of economy = manufacturing industry relocating to developing countries (China - take advantage of cheap labour)
Mitsos and Browne - decline in male employment opportunities led to identity crisis for men. Many boys now believe little prospect of getting proper job, undermines motivation and self-esteem - give up trying to get qualifications
Decline largely been in manual WC jobs that require fewer qualifications - unlikely disappearance of jobs would have much impact on boys' motivation to obtain qualifications
Feminisation of education:
Sewell - boys fall behind because education has become feminised. Schools don't nurture masculine traits (competitiveness, leadership), celebrate qualities associated with girls (methodical working, attentiveness)
Sewell - coursework major cause of differences in achievement. Should be replaced with final exams and greater emphasis placed on outdoor adventure in curriculum. 'thrown the boy out with the bath water'
Shortage of male primary school teachers:
Lack male role models at home and school = underachievement. E.g. large number boys brought up in 1.5 million female-headed lone parent families in UK
Only 14% primary school teachers are male. Yougov (2007) - 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with a male teacher, yet most boys surveyed said presence of male teacher made them behave batter and 42% said made them work harder
Argue because of culture of primary school has become feminised as a result of being staffed by female teachers, unable to control boys' behaviour. Male teachers better to impose strict discipline boys need in order to concentrate
Are more male teachers needed:
Research - absence male teachers may not be major factor in underachievement. Francis (2006) - 2/3 of 7-8 year olds believed gender teachers doesn't matter
Read (2008) - critical of claims culture of primary school becoming feminised and only male teachers can exert firm discipline boys need to achieve
R studied type of language teachers use to express criticism or disapproval of work and behaviour. Identified two types of language:
disciplinarian discourse - teachers' authority made explicit and visible
liberal discourse - teachers' authority is implicit and invisible - child-centred discourse involves 'pseudo-adultification'
Disciplinarian usually associated with masculinity and liberal with femininity
Study of 51 primary school teachers (25 male, 26 female) - most teachers used supposedly masculine disciplinarian discourse to control behaviour
Two conclusions:
most teachers favour masculine disciplinarian of control disproves claim culture of primary school feminised
female as likely to use masculine discourse disprove claim only male teachers can provide stricter classroom culture where boys thrive
Haase (2008) - although women make majority of primary teachers, better to think of primary school as male-dominated or 'masculinised educational structure that is numerically dominated by women'
Jones (2006) - male teachers in UK have 1/4 chance gaining headship, women only 1/13
Laddish subcultures:
Epstein (1998) - examined way masculinity constructed within school - WC boys likely to be harassed, labelled as sissies and subject to homophobic verbal abuse is appear to be swots
Francis (2001) - boys more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers as swots - threat to masculinity
Because WC culture, masculinity equated with tough and doing manual work. Non-manual, schoolwork = effeminate and inferior. - WC boys reject schoolwork to avoid being called gay. Epstein observed - 'real boys don't work' - if they do they get bullied
Epstein finding parallel to Mac an Ghaill and Willis
Francis - laddish culture becoming increasingly widespread - girls move into traditional masculine areas, careers etc, boys respond by 'becoming increasingly laddish in their effort to construct themselves as non-feminine'
Moral panic about boys:
Critics of feminism - policies to promote girls' education no longer needed - girls having it all and taking men's jobs - girls succeeded at expense of boys = new disadvantaged
Feminists, Ringrose (2013) - views contributed to moral panic about failing boys - reflects fear underachieving WC boys will grow up to be dangerous, unemployable underclass that threaten social stability
Ringrose - moral panic caused shift in educational policy - preoccupied with raising boys' achievement. Policy shift = 2 negative effects:
narrowing equal opportunities policy down to failing boys - ignores problem of disadvantaged WC and minority ethnic pupils
narrowing gender policy to issue of achievement gaps - ignore problems faced by girls in school - sexual harassment, bullying, self-esteem and identity issues, stereotyped subject choices
Osler (2006) - focus on underachieving boys led to neglect of girls. Girls disengage from school quietly. Boys disengagement = public displays laddish masculinity attracting attention - mentoring schemes aimed at reducing school exclusions among black boys. Ignore problem of exclusions among girls, increasing rapid. Excluded girls less likely to place in referral units. Official exclusion rates masks wider, hidden problem of exclusion among girls, self-exclusion and internal exclusion
Gender, class and ethnicity:
Performance both sexes improved in recent years - boys may be behind girls but are achieving more than in the past
McVeigh (2001) - similarities in girl and boy achievement greater than differences, especially when compared to class or ethnic differences - class gap achievement at GCSE 3x wider than gender gap
Girls and boys same social class achieve similar results - GCSE in typical year, gender gap in any social class in rarely greater than 12 % points. Pupils same gender different social class = widely difference results - girls highest social class can be 44 points ahead girls lowest class - class more influential than gender on achievement
Gender gap among black Caribbean greater than other ethnic groups. Fuller - many black girls successful at school as define feminine identity in terms of educational achievement and independence. Sewell - some black boys fail as define masculinity in opposition of education, seen as effeminate
Need interactionist approach class, gender and ethnicity to understand educational achievement differences
Connolly (2006) - certain combinations of gender, class and ethnicity more effect than others. Being female raises performance more when added to black Caribbean than to being white
Gender and subject choice
National curriculum options:
where there is choice in NC options, girls and boys choose differently - although design and technology is compulsory, girls tend to choose food tech whilst boys choose graphics and resistant materials
AS and A-levels:
gendered subject choices become more noticeable after 16, have more choice - three big differences for entry in a-level subjects - boys opt for maths and physics, girls choose sociology, english and languages. Mirror subject choices at uni
Institute of Physics (2012) - proportion of a-level physics students who are girls has been 'stubbornly consistent', around 20% for over 20 years
Question effectiveness of policies like WISE and GIST - aim encouraging girls to take up subjects like physics
Vocational courses:
Prepare students for specific careers - gender segregation noticeable feature of vocational training - only 1/100 childcare apprentices are boys
Explanations of gender differences in subject choice
Gender role socialisation:
Early socialisation shapes children's gender identity. Norman (1988) - from early age, boys and girls dressed differently, given different toys, encouraged to take part in different activities
Schools play part - Byrne (1979) - teachers encourage boys to be tough and show initiative, not weak or behave like sissies. Girls - quiet, helpful, clean and tidy
Boys and girls develop tastes in reading. Murphy and Elwood (1998) - lead to different subject choices. Boys read more hobby books and info texts, girls more stories about people.
Gender domains:
Browne and Ross (1991) - children's beliefs about gender domains shaped by early experiences and expectations by adults
Children more confident when engaging in tasks seen as part of own gender domain
Murphy (1991) - boys and girls pay attention to different details even when tackling the same task - girls = how people feel, boys = things made and work. Why girls choose humanities and arts whilst boys choose science
Gendered subject images:
Gender image of a subject affects who wants to choose it.
Kelly - science seen as boys' subject for several reasons:
Science teachers more likely male
Examples teachers use, and in textbooks, often draw on boys rather than girls interests
Science lessons, boys monopolise the apparatus and dominate the lab
Colley (1998) - computer studies seen as masculine:
Involves working with machines - male gender domain
Way taught off-putting to females. Tasks are abstract and teaching styles formal - few opportunities for group work
Single-sex schooling:
Attend single-sex schools tend to hold less stereotypes subject images and make less traditional subject choices
Leonard (2006) - analysing data 13,000 individuals - compared to mixed schools, girls in girl schools more likely to take maths and science A-levels, boys in boys more likely to take english and languages. Girls single sex more likely to study male-dominated subjects at uni
Leonard findings supported by Institute of Physics study - girls single sex state schools 2.4x more likely to take a-level physics than mixed schools - same study found perceptions of physics formed outside classroom and inside - lack female physicists on TV
Gender identity and peer pressure:
Boys tend to opt out of music and dance as they fall outside gender domain and are likely to attract negative responses from peers
Paechter (1998) - because pupils see sport as mainly in male gender domain, girls who are 'sporty' cope with image contradicts conventional female stereotype
Dewar (1990) - study American college students - male students would call girls lesbian or butch is appeared interested in sport
Institute physics - 'something about doing physics as a girl in a mixed setting that is particularly off-putting'
Peer pressure powerful influence on gender identity and how pupils see themselves in relation to particular subjects. Mixed schools police choices so girls and boys adopt appropriate gender identity
Absence of peer pressure may explain why single sex school girls more likely choose traditionally boy subjects - absence boys = less pressure to conform to restrictive stereotypes
Gendered career opportunities:
Jobs types as women's or men's.
Over half women's employment falls in four categories: clerical, secretarial, personal services and occupations (cleaning)
Sex-typing can affect ideas about what job is possible and acceptable - boys get message nursery nurses are female = less likely opt course in childcare
Vocational courses more gender-specific than academic courses
Gender, vocational choice and class:
WC pupils pupils may make decisions about vocational courses based on traditional sense of gender identity
Fuller (2011) - most WC girls had ambitions to go into jobs in childcare, hair and beauty. - Reflect WC habitus
Ambitions arise out of work experience - gendered and classed
Fuller - placements in feminine WC jobs (nursery nursing, retail) norm for girls in her study
School implicitly steering girls to certain job types through work experience placements offered
Pupils' sexual and gender identities
Experiences in school may contribute to Connell (1995) - 'hegemonic masculinity' - dominance of heterosexual masculine identity and the subordination of female and gay identities
Double standards:
Lees (1993) - double standard of sexual morality - boys boast about own sexual exploits, call girl slag if she doesn't have a steady bf or dresses/speaks in certain way
Sexual conquest approved of and given status by male peers and ignored by male teachers, but 'promiscuity' among girls attracts negative labels
Feminists - double standards example of patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and devalues women - double standards seen as form of social control that reinforces gender inequality by keeping females subordinate to males
Verbal abuse:
Connell - 'a rich vocabulary of abuse' - reinforce dominant gender and sexual identities - boys use name calling to put girls down
Lees (1986) - boys often call girls slags if appeared to be sexually available and drags if they didn't
The male gaze:
Mac an Ghaill - way male pupils and teachers look girls up and down, seeing them as sexual objects and making judgements about their appearance
See male gaze as form of surveillance through which dominant heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued. Way boys prove masculinity to friends and often combined with constant telling and retelling of stories about sexual conquests
Male peer groups:
use verbal abuse to reinforce definitions of masculinity - Epstein and Willis - boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well at school of being gay or effeminate
Mac an Ghaill (1994) - study Parnell school examines how peer groups reproduce range of class based masculine gender identities - WC 'macho lads' were dismissive of other WC boys who worked hard and aspired to MC careers, referring to them as the 'dickhead achievers'. MC 'real Englishmen' project image of effortless achievement
Redman and Mac an Ghaill (1997) - dominant definition of masculine identity changes from macho lad in lower school to real englishman in sixth form
Shift from WC definition based on toughness to MC based on intellectual ability - more MC composition and atmosphere of sixth form
Female peer groups: policing identity:
Archer - WC girls gain symbolic capital from female peers by performing hyper-heterosexual feminine identity - nike identity. Female peer police identity and girls risk being unpopular and tramp if fail to conform
Ringrose (2013) - small-scale study 13-14 year old WC girls peer groups in South Wales school - being popular crucial to girls identity. As girls made transition from grirls friendship culture to heterosexual dating culture faced tension between:
idealised feminine identity - loyalty to female peer group, being non-competitive and getting along with everyone in friendship culture
sexualised identity - competing for boys in dating culture
Currie et al (2007) - while relationships confer symbolic capital, high risk game - forced to balance two identities:
too competitive/ think better than peers risk slut shaming and exclusion
don't compete face rigid shaming by other girls
Shaming - social control device which school girls police, regulate and discipline identities
'Boffin' identity - want to be successful educationally may feel need to conform to school's notion of ideal feminine pupil identity - Reay (2001), involved girls having to perform asexual identity - present as lacking interest in boyfriends or popular fashion
Risk boffin identity and exclusion by other girls. Francis (2010) - MC female boffins may respond by defining other WC girls as chavs
Teachers and discipline:
Research - teachers play part in reinforcing dominant definitions of gender identity.
Haywood and Mac an Ghaill (1996) - male teachers told boys off for behaving like girls and teased them when they gained lower marks in tests than girls. Teachers tended to ignore boys verbal abuse of girls and blamed girls for attracting it
Askew and Ross (1988) - male teacher behaviour can subtly reinforce gender messages - male teacher often have protective attitude to female colleagues, come to classes to 'rescue' from threatening pupils who are being disruptive - reinforce idea women can't deal alone