elaborated code is mainly used within educational contexts such as university and teaching, giving MC kids an advantage

since the 1960s, feminists have challenged the patriarchy and rejected the traditional stereotypes of women as inferior to men

feminists have had an impact on womens rights and oppotunities through campaigns to win changes in the law e.g. equal pay

feminists ideas are likely to influence girls self-image and aspirations, making them more motivated in education

studies show that there has been a significant shift in how girls see themselves and their future

sharpe (1994): compared two studies of WC girls in the 1970s and 90s. She found that girls in the 1970s priorities were love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers more or less in that order

however, the priorities of the 1990 girls had switched to careers and being independent

beck and beck-gernsheim (2001) argue that independence is valued more than in the past, a career has become part of womens life project

there have been major changes in the family since the 1970s:

⭐ an increase into divorce rate, about 40% of marriages end in divorce
⭐ more lone parent families, over 90% of which are female headed
⭐ more cohabitation and a decrease in first marriages
⭐ smaller families and women are staying single

these changes have cause more women to becoming financially independent, which gives more motivation for young girls to do well academically

there are now more employment oppotunities for women than before, womens employment has risen from under half of married women in 1950s to about three quarters today

changes in law have also improved the position of working women:
⭐ the 1970 equal pay act and the 1975 sex discrimination act give women more employment rights
⭐ since 1975, the pay gap between men and women has almost halved

feminist ideas are now widespread in the education system, for example the belief that boys and girls are equally capable and should have the same oppotunities is now widely accepted and it has become a social norm

this has led to policies such as:
⭐ GIST and WISE programmes to encourage girls into science and technology
⭐ the national curriculum, introduced in 1988, means that girls and boys now largely study the same subjects

meritocracy: as a result of these policies, education is now more meritocratic, now that girls have equal oppotunities, they area able to do better

some working-class girls do succeed, but Evans (2009) found they may still be disadvantaged by their gender and class identities

• girls wanted to go to uni to increase their earning power and help their families

they chose to live at home, reflecting their working-class families habitus, but the cost of living away and fear of debt was a further reason, and this limited their choices and future earning power

one reason for boys lagging behind is their poorer literacy skills
⭐ parents spend less time reading to sons and it is mainly mothers who read to young children and so reading is seen as a feminine activity
⭐ boys' leisure interests (e.g. sport and computer games) dont encourage language and communications skills, whereas girls' 'bedroom culture' does

• because language and literacy are important in most subjects, boys' poorer skills have a wide-ranging effect on their achievement

since the 1980s, globalisation has led to much manufacturing industry relocating to developing countries, leading to a decline in heavy industries like shipbuilding, mining, and manufacturing in the UK

• some argue that the resulting decline in male employment oppotunities has led to a male 'identity crisis', with a loss of motivation and self-esteem
• many boys now believe they have little prospect of getting jobs and so cease trying to get qualifications

Sewell (2006) argues that boys fall behind because education has become 'feminised'.
schools no longer nurture 'masculine' traits e.g. competitiveness and leadership
⭐ some argue that assessment has been feminised by the introduction of coursework and this disadvantages boys
⭐ lack of male primary school teachers: only 1 in 6 primary school teachers are men and over 60% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with no male teachers, this may give boys the idea that education is a feminised activity

• Read (2008) critisises the claim that only male teachers can exert the firm discipline boys need

studies show that there is peer pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being anti-school:
⭐ Francis (2001) found that boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled by peers as swots, because this threatens their masculine identity, WC culture sees non-manual work as effeminate and inferior
⭐ Epstein (1998) found that pro-school WC boys were likely to be harassed, labelled as 'gay' and subjected to verbal abuse

• as girls move into traditional masculine areas such as paid work, boys become more 'laddish' in an effort to identify themselves as non-feminine and this leads to under-achievement

concerns about boys under-achievemnt relative to girls has led to the introduction of a range of policies
these often use boys leisure interests and famous male role models and are aimed at improving boys literacy skills and motivation to achieve, examples are Raising Boys Achievement, the Reading Champions scheme and Playing for Success
the moral panic about boys - Ringrose (2013) argues that the moral panic about 'failing boys' has led to neglect of problems faced by girls e.g. sexual harassment and stereotyped subject choices

although girls have overtaken boys in achievement, there continue to be major gender differences in subject choice, girls and boys follow different 'gender routes' in their subject choices
⭐ in the national curriculum, most subjects are compulsory, but where choice is possible, girls and boys choose differently; e.g. in design and technology, girls choose food technology, boys choose resistant materials
⭐ in post-16 education, there is more choice avaliable and big gender differences emerge; e.g. boys opt for maths and physics while girls choose modern languages, English and sociology, this pattern continues into higher education
⭐ in vocational subjects, gender segregation is at its greatest; only 1% of contruction apprentices are female

several factors are responsible for gender differences in subject choice:
⭐ early socialisation and gender domains
⭐ gendered subject images
⭐ gender identity and peer pressure
⭐ gendered career oppotunities

⭐ in the family, from an early age, boys and girls are dressed differently and given different toys, while boys are rewarded for being active and girls being passive
⭐ at school, Bryne (1979) found, teachers encourage boys to be so tough and show initiative, while they expect girls to be quiet, helpful, clean and tidy
⭐ leisure reading and subject choice, Murphy and Elwood (1998) found that boys read hobby books and information texts and so prefer science subjects, while girls read stories about people and prefer english

related to gender domains, subjects have a gendered image - they are seen as male or female

• for example, science is mainly taught by men and textbooks traditionally use boys interests as examples, as a result it is seen as a masculine subject, part of the male gender domain, so is taken mostly by boys

other boys and girls pressurise individuals to conform

• boys often opt out of music because of negative peer response, while girls who choose sport have to contend with accusations from boys of being 'butch' or 'lesbian'
• this also links to subject image and gender domain - sport is seen as masculine and music is seen as feminine

many job are seen as either 'mens' or 'womens' and tend to be dominated by one gender - e.g. nursing and construction work

• vocational courses prepare young people for specific careers, therefore also tend ot be dominated by one gender or the other
• WC pupils may make decisions about courses based on traditional gender identity

pupils school experiences may reinforce their gender and sexual indentities
⭐ Connell (1995) argues that school reproduces 'hegemonic masculinity' - the dominance of heterosexual masculine identity and subordination of female and gay identities
⭐ feminists argue that experiences in school act as a form of social control to reproduce patriarchy, male domination and female subordination
⭐ this happens in many of the following ways:

name calling puts girls down if they behave in certain ways and acts as a form of social control to make them conform to male expectation
⭐ Lees (1986) notes that boys call girls 'slags' if they appear sexually avaliable, but there is no equivilant form for males
⭐ Mac an Ghaill (1992) found that anti-school WC boys' subcultures use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity, they called other WC boys who worked hard 'dickhead achievers'

Haywood and Mac an Ghaill (1996) found that male teachers reinforced gender identities by telling off boys for 'behaving like girls' and ignoring boys verbal abuse of girls

the male gaze is a form of social control where male pupils and teachers look girls up an down as sexual objects, boys who dont participate may be labelled as 'gay' - also a form of social control

this exists when one set of moral standards is applied to one group but a different set to another group

• for example, Lees (1933) found that boys boast about their own sexual exploits, but label girls negatively for the same behaviour

Archer found working-class girls gain symbollic capital by performing a hyper-heterosexual identity

• female peers police this identity and girls risk being called a 'tramp' if they fail to conform
• Ringrose (2013) found WC girls faced tension between an idealised feminine identity (loyalty to the peer group) and a sexualised identity (competing for boys)
• slut-shaming and frigid-shaming are social control labels with which they police each other's identities

educational policies are government strategies for education, introduced through legal changes and instructions to schools

• until the 19th century, education was only provided by church or private schools
• however, industrialisation created a need for an educated and trained workforce and this led to the development of complusory state-run education

the tripartite system introduced in 1944 had two main types of secondary school, with selection by the 11+ exam

• most middle-class pupils passed 11+ and went to grammar schools, which had an academic curriculum
• most WC pupils failed and attended secondary modern schools, which had a practical skills curriculum, that all pupils took the same test
  legitmated the resultant class inequality
• the comprehensive system introduced from 1965 abolished the 11+ , all pupils attended the same local comprehensive schools, but some area did not go comprehensive and there are still 164 grammar schools in england
  ⭐ functionalists see comprehensives as metrocratic because they give pupils longer to develop by not selecting at elevens, some see comprehensives promoting integration by bringing all social classes together in one school
  ⭐ marxists see comprehensive reproducing inequality through streaming and labelling, they legitimate inequality by the 'myth of mertiocracy', making it look like everyone has an equal opppotunity

marketisation means introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition into areas run by the state such as education, creating an 'education market'

marketisation policies have become a central theme since the 1988 Education Reform Act, they include league tables, open enrolment, formula finding, opting out of LEA control, free schools, academies, business sponsorship
parentocracy supporters claim these policies give parents greater choice and raise standards

⭐ league tables mean schools with good results can 'cream-skim' the best pupils

• less successful schools end up with less able pupils
  ⭐ the funding formula, schols are funded on how many pupils they recruit, so good schools get more money, can improve staff/facilities and attract more pupils
  ⭐ parental choice, Gerwirtz identifies MC privileged-skilled choosers with the economic and cultural capital to take advantage of the system; WC disconnected-local choosers who lack capital and have to settle for the nearest school; and ambitious WC semi-skilled choosers frustrated by their inability to get the school they wanted
  ⭐ the myth of parentocracy, marketisation also legitmates inequality, by making it look as if all parents are equally free to choose a good school

new labour maintained marketisation policies to reduce inequality, these included city academies, Education Action Zones and aim higher programs in disadvantaged areas; education maintainance allowances for poorer 16-18 year olds and increase spending on state education

⭐ the policies are contradictory e.g. EMAs help poorer pupils stay on post-16, but they now have to pay university tuition fees
⭐ new labour has lef the private education system untouched
⭐ 'choice' and 'diversity' are just nice ways of saying 'inequality' - the education market ensures WC pupils remain disadvantaged
⭐ on the other hand, more education spending and a focus on a 'learning society' have been genuine achievements, evidence that academies have raised standards is mixed - some show improved results, others dont

there are two types of marketisation: an internal market within the education system and the privatisation of state education, here the state ceases to be the provider of education, instead it commissions private companies to provide services. privatisation has been a growing trend in years
⭐ academies, all schools are encouraged to become academies funded by central government, some academies are part of privately-owned chains, removing academies from local authority control means loss of democratic accountability
⭐ free schools are state funded but set up and run by parents, teachers religious groups or businesses
⭐ fragmented centralisation - Ball argues that we now have a fragmented patchwork instead of the comprehensive system, leading to greater inequality. education is also now more centralised: government can require schools to become academies and allow free schools to be set up
⭐ spending cuts, since 2010 there have been major cuts in government spending e.g. on Sure Start, school building, the EMA, plus increases in university fees. In some cases, cuts have cancelled out the Pupil Premium schools receive for disadvantaged pupils

⭐ Education as a privatised commodity Ball argues that education is ceasing to be a public good, instead it is being privatised: turned into a commodity owned by private companies and bought and sold in an education market. Education becomes a source of profit for capitalists, including school building, Ofsted inspections, providing supply teachers, even running entire local education authorities. Hall sees this as the 'long march of the neoliberal revolution'
⭐ Blurring the public/private boundary Many senior public sector employees, such as senior civil servants and head teachers, move into private sector education businesses, bringing 'insider knowledge' to hep win contracts
⭐ Globalisation of policy Many education companies are foreign-owned. Some UK edu-businesses work overseas, privatising and exporting UK education policy for sale abroad. Nation-state are becoming less important in policy-making, which is becoming globalised
⭐ Cola-isation of schools The private sector sells to pupils through vending machines in schools, develops brand loyalty through logos, sponsorships and voucher schemes. However, the benefit to schools are often limited

⭐ Policies relating to ethnicity have gone through three stages. In the 1960s and 70s, the aim was to encourage assimilation e.g. through English as a Second Language programmes. In the 1980s and 1990s, the aim switched to valuing all cultures through multi-cultural educational policies such as black studies in the mainstream curriculum. More recently, the focus has been on social inclusion, e.g. the legal duty on schools to promote racial equality, but Mirza critisises even the more recent policies as being too limited in scope.
⭐ Gender and policy There are have been a number of important policies aimed at reducing gender inequalities in achievement and at promoting non-traditional subject choices

⭐ Cultural deprivation theory claims that children from low-income black families lack intellectual stimulation. As a result, they fail to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills
⭐ Bereiter and Engelmann claim that the language of poorer black Ameircan families is ungrammatical and disjointed. As a result, their children are unable to express abstract ideas - a major barrier to educational progress
⭐ some claim that children who do not speak English at home may be held back educationally. However, this is not a major factor

Differences in attitudes and values towards education may be the result of differences in socialisation. Most children are socialised into the mainstream culture which instils competitveness and a desire to achieve, thus equiping them for success in education
⭐ Fatalism and immediate gratification Cultural deprivation theorists claim that the subculture into which some black children are socialised is fatalistic and focused on immediate gratification, resulting in a lack of motivation to succeed
⭐ The lack of a male role model at home for many African-Caribbean boys may encourage them to turn an anti-educational macho 'gang culture'. The New Right thinker Murray (1984) argues that the high rate of lone parenthood and a lack of positive male role models lead to the under-achievement of some minority pupils
⭐ Culture of poverty Moynihan (1965) argues that Black Caribbean culture is less resistant to racism because of the experience of slavery. As a result, many black pupils have low self-esteem and under-achieve
⭐ Asian families Sewell argues that Chinese and Indian pupils benefit from supportive families with an 'Asian work ethic'. He contrasts this with black lone-parent families
⭐ Fathers, gangs and cultures Sewell (2009) argues that lack of fatherly nuturing leads to black boys underachieving. Street gangs offer them alternative perverse loyalty and love. Academically successful black boys felt the greatest barrier to success was peer pressure. Speaking Standard English and doing well at school were seen as 'selling out'

Most researchhas focuses on ethnic minority families, but white working class pupils also under-achieve. This may be because they have lower aspirations than many other ethnic groups and this may be the result of white WC culture, including a lack of parental support. There is evidence to support this view.
⭐ Lupton (2004) studied four mainly WC schools with different ethnic compositions. Teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white WC schools, which they linked to lower levels of parental support and the negative attitudes of white WC parents towards education
⭐ Evans (2006) argues that street culture in white WC areas can be brutal and brought into school. The result is a strong pressure to reject education.

Compensatory education is an educational policy that aims to counter the effects of cultural deprivation
⭐ Operation Head Start in the USA was established to compensate children for the cultural deficit they are said to suffer because of deprived backgrounds
⭐ Sure Start in the UK aims to support the development of pre-school children in deprived areas

⛔ Victim-blaming Keddie argues that it is a victim-blaming explanation. Minority ethnic group children are culturally different, not culturally deprived, and they under-achieve because schools are ethnocentric - biased in favour of white culture
⭐ Cultural exclusion Ball argues that minority ethnic group parents are at a disadvantage because they are less aware of how to negotiate the British education system. This results in 'cultural exclusion' rather than cultural deprivation. According to Gerwirtz, complex school application forms are an example of cultural exclusion practices in some schools
⭐ Cultural domination Compensatory education imposes the dominant white middle-class culture on minority ethnic group pupils. own culture

Material deprivation (or poverty) is a lack of the physical or economic resources essential for normal life in society. Material deprivaion explanations of ethnic differences in achievement argue that educational failure is the result of material factors such as substandard housing and low income. Ethnic minorities are more likely to face these problems. For example:
⭐ Half of ethnic minority children live in low income households
⭐ Ethnic minorities are almost twice as likely to be unemployed
⭐ Minorities face discrimination in the housing and labour markets

While material deprivation among minority ethnic groups clearly affects pupils achievement, it may itself be the product of racism in wider society. Members of minority ethnic groups face direct and indirect discrimination at work and in the housing market.
As a result, they are more likely to have low pay or be unemplyed, and this affects their children's educational oppotunities

Interactionists focus on small-scale, face-to-face interactions, such as those between pupils and teachers. They are interested in the impact of the labels that teachers give to children from different ethnic backgrounds e.g. black pupils are often seen as disruptive and Asian pupils as passive.
As a result of these negative racist labels, teachers may treat ethnic minority pupils differently, disadvantaging them and bringing about a self-fulfilling prophecy that leads to their under-achievement. Sociologists have studied labelling in relation to both black and Asian pupils.

⭐ Gillborn and Mirza (2000) found that in one area, black children were the highest achievers on entering primary school (20 points above average), yet by the time it came to GCSE, they had fallen to 21 points below the average. This suggests schooling, not background, is to blame
Gillborn and Youdell found teachers had 'radicalised expectations' (labels) about black pupils and expected more discipline problems and saw their behaviour as threatening. Black pupils were more likely than others to be punished for the same behaviour. The pupils felt that their teachers underestimated their ability and picked on them.
Gillborn and Youdell conclude that conflict between white teachers and black pupils stems from the racist stereotypes that teachers have, rather than from the pupils actual behaviour. This can cause underachievement because it leads to:

• Higher levels of exclusions of black boys
• Black pupils being placed in lower set or streams

⭐ Wright (1992) found that Asian primary school pupils were stereotyped by their teachers and treated differently:

• Teachers assumed the children would have a poor grasp of English and so they used simplistic language when speaking to them
• They mispronounced children's names
• They saw them as a problem they could ignore
  As a result, Asian pupils, especially the girls, were marginalised and prevented from participating fully, affecting their self-esteem
  Connolly (1998) found that primary school teachers saw Asian pupils as passive and conformist. Both teachers and pupils saw Asian boys as more 'feminine', vulnerable and less able to protect themselves

Pupils may react in a variety of different ways to racist labelling in school, including forming or joining pupil subcultures. Sewell (1998) found that black boys adopted a range of responses to teachers racist labelling of them as rebellious and anti-school.

• Conformists were the largest group. They were keen to succeed, accepted the school's goals and had friends from different ethnic groups.
• Innovators were the second largest group. They were pro-education but anti-school. They valued success, but not teachers approval
• Retreatists were a tiny minority of isolated individuals disconnected from both the school and black subcultures outside it.
• Rebels were a small but highly visible minority of black pupils. They rejected the schools goals and rules and conformed instead to the stereotype of the 'black macho lad'. They despised both white boys and conformist black boys. Their aim was to achieve the status of 'street food'
  However, despite only a small minority of black boys actually fitting the stereotype of the 'black macho lad', teachers tended to see them all in this way. This resulted in the under-achievement of many boys, not just the rebels, as a result of discrimination by teachers.
  However, Sewell argues that factors external to school, such as peer groups, street culture and the lack of a nurturing father, are more important in producing underachievement than internal factors.

Studies show that not all minority ethnic pupils who are negatively labelled accept and conform to the label. Some may remain committed to succeeding despite racist labelling.

• Fuller (1984) studied a group og high-achieving black girls in year 11 of a London comprehensive. The girls maintained a positive self-image by rejecting teachers stereotypes of them. They recognised the value of education and were determined to achieve, but only conformed in terms of doing their schoolwork, working hard without giving the appearance of doing so. They didn't seek the teachers approval, and they maintained friendships with black girls in lower streams. In some ways they are similar to the innovators in Sewell's study.
• Mac an Ghaill's (1992) study of black and Asian 'A' level students at a sixth form college found that they did not necessarily accept teachers negative labels e.g. some girls felt that the all-girls school they had previously attended gave them a greater academic commitment.
  However, Mirza (1992) found that black girls strategies for dealing with teachers racism, e.g. not asking certain staff for help, sometimes restricted their oppotunities. Even though they did not accept the labels, they were still disadvantaged as a result.

Many sociologists argue that although the racist labelling practised by some teachers is important, it is not an adequate explanation for the widespread ethnic differences found in achievement. Instead, they argue, we must focus on institutional racism - discrimination against ethnic minorities that is built into the way institutions such as schools and colleges operate on a routine or even unconscious basis, rather than the conscioous intentions of individual teacher.
⭐ Critical race theory (CRT)*: CRT sees institutional racism as a deep-rooted, 'locked in' feature of the education system. Critical race theorists see the education system as institutionally racist in several ways

⭐ The ethnocentric curriculum: This is an important example of insititutional racism. 'Ethnocentric' refers to an attitude or policy that prioritises the culture of one particular ethnic group while disregarding or downgrade others. Many sociologists have argued that the curriculum of British schools is ethnocenntric
.

• Troyna and Williams note that it gives priority to white culture and the English language
• David argues that the National Curriculum is a 'specifically British' curriculum that teaches the culture of the 'host community'
• Ball sees the history curriculum in British schools as recreating a 'mythical age of empire and past glories', while at the same time ignoring the history of black and Asian people.
  The result may be that minority ethnic group pupils feel that they and their culture and identity are not valued in education and this diminishes their sense of self-esteem, which a negative effect on their educational achievement.
  
  

Other example of institutional racism include:

• Selection and segregation Gillborn (1997) argues that because marketisation gives schools more scope to select pupils, negative stereotypes can influence decisions about admissions. Moore and Davenport's (1990) American research shows how selection procedures (e.g. using primary school reports to screen out pupils) leads to ethnic segregation.

  
  

• Assessment Gillborn argues that assessment is rigged to validate the dominant white culture's superiority. For example, baseline assessments showing black pupils ahead of whites were replaced in 2003 by thr foundation stage profils, which is based on teachers judgements and thus gives scope for stereotyping. As a result, black pupils appeared to be doing worse than whites

  
  

• Access to opportunities, whites are over twice as likely as black pupils to be indentified as gifted and talented. Tikly (2006) and Strand (2012) found black people were more likely to be entered for lower tier exams - often because they had been placed in lower sets due to teachers expectations, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy

  
  

• The new IQism, Secondary schools are increasingly using old-style intelligence tests to allocate pupils to different streams on entry, based on the false assumption that 'potenial' fixed quality that can be measured. Black pupils are more likely to be placed in lower streams as a result.