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gender and educational attainment - Coggle Diagram
gender and educational attainment
subject choice
gendered subj. choice Kelly talks abt science
gender role socialising , kids raised differently channels them into diff subjects e.g. socialising girls into being home more may lead to them more comfortable with subjects like english, lit history w reading and writing rather than more hands-on subjects e.g. engineering , PE etc
girls
since the introduction of coursework in 1988
1988 educaton reform act was arguably the reason, girls stopped being forced to take certain subjects, because of league tables girls were favoured by skls
bedroom culture - Hanaan (2000)
Angela McRobbie (1975) because girls stay at home more than boys theyre more likely to participate in educational activities such as reading
league tables -
girls
are favoured by schools and they're
more desirable to schools Slee (1998)
as they're less likely to be in trouble / excluded
Edwards and Davis (2000) - girls taught to conform
this greatly helps in education as girls naturally fit in with the expected values of schools e.g. hierarchy and obedience
boys
teacher attention
- Jeter and Jane French although teachers pay more attention to boys this tends to be negative so boys may be labelled negatively
growth of laddish subcultures
- subculture theorists may put boys underachievement to this arguing that the construction of masculinity in schools is often in a way which discounts educational success as feminine , harassing some boys for 'try-harding'
however this is less so among MC boys
lack of male role models
- most teachers are female, also large numbers of boys are being raised in female-headed single parent families. in a yougov survey nearly half boys recorded being in a male-taught class would make them work harder and behave better
however men still dominate the higher status roles in education e.g. head teachers, CEOs etc.
feminisation of education
- Sewell argues that education nurtures feminine traits over masculine and therefore this leads many boys to adopt anti-school attitudes in order to embrace what they percieve to be masculine
on top of this sewell argues that the system of grading (CW) should be reformed in order to remove the disadvantage for boys
external factors
impact of feminism
- particularly the 2nd wave feminist movement has challenged the stereotype of what a traditional woman should be doing (mother and wife) and has had a large impact of improving womens rights and influencing legislative changes as well as raising womens self esteem and expectations exemplified in McRobbie's study of magazines married v assertive , independent
changes in women's employment
- advancements in womens pay , increased women in employment and higher status roles etc. have all encouraged young girls to strive for high attainment with a legitimate incentive for them to work hard
changes in girls ambition
- sue sharpes longitudinal study perfectly exemplifies this shift in girls ambition and more recently fuller's 2011 study found that now education was a central aspect of girls identity and saw their future as in their own hands with girls ambitions requiring educational success unlike 1970s
however class differences must also be taken into account when differentiating between ambitions , some WC girls continue to have traditional aspirations thus there are some limits as WC girls cannot realistically see themselves in these high paying jobs
internal factors
opportunities for girls
- through initiatives like WISE and GIST encouraging girls to enter stem and male dominated fields , the belief that both genders should be afforded the same opportunities is now mainstream and is considered more by teachers and policymakers
positive role models in school
- increase in proportion of female teachers and heads can act as role models for girls
GCSE and CW
- introduction of CW in 1988 has benefited girls according to some sociologists as girls : spend more time , are better at deadlines and organising and thus do better at CW.
the increased use of oral exams also benefits girls due to the use of their free time according to Hanaan
teacher attention
- peter and jane french argue that while boys get more attention in the classroom this is more negative attention and teachers respond more positively to girls which can reinforce positive self concept and create a positive self-fulfilling prophecy
league tables
- girls are more attractive to top schools as they tend to get higher grades , boys are also seen as 'liability students' according to Slee (1988) due to their higher likelihood to have behavioural issues / exclusions