Education - Gender Differences in Education

Coursework

According to Mitsos and Browne (1998), girls do better than boys in coursework, because they are more conscientious and better organised. Girls mature earlier and can concentrate for longer.

Gender domains

Are tasks and activities seen as either male or female 'territory'; e.g. looking after an elderly person is 'female'. These views are shaped by children's early experiences and by the expectations of adults.

Meritocracy

As a result of such policies, education is now more meritocratic (based in the principle of equal opportunities). Now that girls have more equal opportunities than in the past, they are able to do better.

What is the impact of 'laddish' subcultures?

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.

Equal opportunities policies

Feminist ideas are now widespread in the education system. In particular, the basic belief in gender equality and that boys and girls are equally capable and should have the same opportunities is now widely acceptable and has become a norm in education.

Francis (2001)

Found that although boys received more attention, they were disciplined more harshly and felt teachers picked on them and had lower expectations of them.

Swann (1998)

Found that boys dominate class discussions whereas girls prefer group work and are better at listening and cooperating. This finds favour with teachers, who respond more positively to girls and give them more encouragement.

Francis (2001) subcultures

Found that boys were more concerned than girls about being being labelled by peers as swots, because this threatens their masculine identity. Working-class subculture sees non-manual work (including schoolwork) as effeminate and inferior.

Epstein (1998)

Found that pro-school working-class boys were likely to be harassed, labelled as 'gay' and subjected to verbal abuse.

French and French (1993)

Found that teachers paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons. But boys received more attention overall because they attracted more punishments for misbehaviour.

Browne and Ross (1991)

Found that, when set open-ended tasks such as designing a boat, boys designed powerboats and battleships, while girls designed cruise ships, reflecting different gender domains.

In vocational subjects

Gender segregation at its greatest; only 1% of construction apprentices are females.

What is the result of the selection and league tables (gender)?

Girls are more likely to get places in successful schools. In turn, girls get a better education and achieve more.

What is the impact of the changes in the law for women?

Girls today ave more incentive to see their future in terms of paid work and this creates an incentive for them to gain qualifications.

Teachers

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 and down as sexual objects. Boys who don't participate may be labelled 'gay' - also a form of social control.

What do some argue about the decline in male-employment opportunities?

It 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.

What is the result of coursework?

Its introduction into the curriculum boosted girls' exam results more than boys'. For example, Gorard (2005) found that the gender gap in achievement increased sharply when GCSE was introduced in 1988, because coursework was a major part of most subjects.

What is the impact of the literacy in boys?

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

Girls' changing perceptions and ambitions

Linking to the influence of feminism, studies show that there has been a major shift in how girls' see themselves and their future.

Gendered careers

Many jobs are seen as either 'men's' or 'women's' and tend to be dominated by one gender - e.g. nursing and construction work. Vocational courses, which prepare young people for specific careers, therefore also tend to be dominated by one gender or the other.

What has happened since the 1980s with learning materials?

Many of the sexist images have been removed and replaced with more positive images of females. This may have an impact on girls' perceptions of what women can do and thus may raise aspirations.

Selection and league tables

Marketisation policies such as publication of exam 'league tables' have led to competition between schools. Schools have an incentive to try and recruit more able students in order to boost their results and league table position.

'Laddish subcultures'

May lead to boys' under-achievement. Studies show that there is peer pressure on boys to demonstrate their masculinity by being ant-school: ~Francis (2001) ~Epstein (1998)

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.

Peer pressure

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 domains - sport is seen as masculine, music as feminine.

How can gender domain affect subject choice?

People's feelings are part of the female gender domain, so girls choose humanities; how thinkg work is in the male domain, so boys choose science.

What has the belief that boys and girls should be given the same opportunities led to?

Policies aimed at giving boys and girls equal opportunities: ~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. For example, making science compulsory has helped to equalise opportunities.

Gender identity and schooling

Pupils' school experiences may reinforce their gender and sexual identities: ~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 dominance and female subordination.

Boys' under-achievement

Recently, attention has focused on reasons for boys' under-achievement. Sociologists have identified several factors that may be responsible. Some of these are the 'opposite' of the factors that have led to girls' performance improving, such as the kind of role models in schools or at home, or the jobs available to males and females.

Gendered subject images

Related to gender domains, subjects have a 'gender image' - they are seen as either 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, and so is mostly taken by boys.

Globalisation and decline of traditional 'men's jobs'

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.

Stereotypes in learning mterials

Studies of reading schemes, textbooks and other learning materials have shown that in the past, females were both under-represented and were portrayed as subordinate to males, in domestic roles or unsuited to certain subjects (e.g. science).

Lack of male role models at home

The increase in the number of female-headed lone parent families (around 1.5 million) means that now many boys grow up lacking a positive male role model who goes out to support the family. These boys may thus be less likely to see the value of employment and therefore also of qualifications.

What is the impact of female teachers?

The presence of more female teachers also 'feminises' the learning environment and encourages girls to see school as part of a female 'gender domain'. As a result, they come to perceive educational success as a desirable female characteristic.

Changes in women's employment

There are now more employment opportunities for women than previously as a result of the expansion of the service sector - traditionally an area of women's work. Women's employment has risen from under a half married women in the 1950s to about three quarters today.

Role models

There are now more female teachers and head teachers than in the past and these provide positive, pro-educational role models for girls.

In post-16 education

There is more choice available 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.

Policies to raise boys' achievement: Concern about boys' under-achievement relative to girls has led to the introduction of a range of policies.

These often use boys' leisure interests (e.g. sport) and famous male role models and are aimed at improving boys' literacy skills and motivation to achieve. Examples include the Raising Boys Achievement project, the Reading Champions scheme and Playing for Success.

Double standards

They exist when one set of moral standards is applied to one group but a different set to another group. For example, Lees (1993) found that boys boast about their own sexual exploits, but label girls' negatively for the same behaviour.

What is the impact on changes in the family?

Women have both more need and more opportunity to be economically independent - and this gives them more motivation to do well educationally and get good qualifications.

Changes in the family: There have been major changes in the family since the 1970s.

~An increase in the divorce rate - about 40% of marriages now end up this way. ~More lone parent families, over 90% of which are female headed. ~More cohabitation and a decrease in first marriages. ~Smaller families and more women staying single.

Gender patterns in achievement: In the past, boys out-performed girls, but since the 1980s, girls have improved more rapidly and now they do better than boys at all levels and in most subjects.

~At Key Stages 1 to 3, girls do consistently better than boys, especially in English. In science and maths, the gap is narrower. ~At GCSE, girls are around 10 percentage points ahead. ~At AS and A level, girls are more likely to pass, and to get higher grades, though the gap is narrower than at GCSE. ~Girls even do better in traditional boys' subjects like sciences. ~More girls than boys go into higher education.

Explaining gender differences in subject choice: Several factors are responsible for gender differences in subject choice.

~Early socialisation ~Gendered subject images ~Peer pressure ~Gendered career opportunities

Internal factors and girls' achievement: There have been major changes in the education system since the 1970s and some sociologists see these as important in explaining girls' improved performance.

~Equal opportunities policies ~Role models ~Coursework ~Stereotypes in learning materials ~Teacher attention ~Selection and league tables

The possible reasons for improvements in girls' educational achievement can be divided into external and internal factors:

~External factors - factors outside the education system, such as home and family background, the job market and wider society. ~Internal factors - factors within schools and the education system, such as the effect of schools' equal opportunities policies.

The influence of feminism: Since the 1960s, feminists have challenged patriarchy in all areas of social life and rejected the traditional stereotypes of women as inferior to men in the home, work, education and law.

~Feminists have had an impact on women's rights and opportunities through campaigns to win the law, e.g. on equal pay, outlawing rape in marriage etc. ~More broadly, feminist ideas are likely to have affected girls' self-image and aspirations. As a result, they are more motivated to do well in education.

Teacher attention: Early studies, e.g. Spender (1983) found that teachers spent more time interacting with boys than girls. However more recent studies suggest girls may benefit more than boys.

~French and French (1993) ~Francis (2001) ~Swann (1998)

Selection and league tables (genders)

~Girls, are generally more successful than boys, so they are more attractive to schools. ~Boys, are lower-achieving and more badly-behaved (they are four times more likely than girls to be excluded). Schools see them as 'liability students' who will give them a bad image and produce poor results.

Sharpe (1994) compared her two studies of working-class girls in the 1970s and 1990s. She found that:

~In the 1970s, girls' priorities were 'love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers, more or less in that order'. ~In the 1990s, priorities had switched to careers and being able to be independent.

Gender and subject choice: 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 ~In post-16 education ~In vocational subjects

Early socialisation: Gender role socialisation involves learning the behaviour expected of males and females.

~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 for being passive. ~At school, Bryne (1979) found, teachers encouraged boys to be 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.

Verbal abuse: 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 expectations.

~Lees (1986) notes that boys call girls 'slags' if they appear sexually available, but there is no equivalent term for males. Paetcher notes pupils police one another's sexual identities. ~Mac an Ghaill (1992) found that anti-school working-class boys' subcultures use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity. They called other working-class boys who worked hard, 'dickhead achievers'.

Literacy: 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) don't encourage language and communication skills, whereas girls' 'bedroom culture' does.

Feminisation of schooling: 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 a male teacher. This may give boys the idea that education is a feminine activity.

Changes in the law have 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.

External factors and girls' achievement:

~The influence of feminism ~Girls' changing perceptions and ambitions ~Changes in the family ~Changes in women's employment.

What are the several ways that schools reproduce patriarchy according to feminists?

~Verbal abuse ~Teachers ~The male gaze ~Double standards