Sociology chapter 3 Topic 4: Gender differences in education

On starting school

- A national survey of 6,953 children by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority found that girls scored higher in all tests - 62% of girls could concentrate without supervision for 10 mins. - only 49% of boys could do the same - 56% of girls could write and spell their own name correctly but only 42% of boys could. - according to DfES (2007) study, 70% of children with identified special needs are boys.

At KS1-3

- Girls go consistently better than boys - especially in English - gender gap widens with age - in science and maths - gap is narrower but girls still do better.

Performance

- In recent years, important changes in the area of education. in particular, both sexes have raised their level of achievement, girls have now overtaken the boys.

Internal factors that affect gender differences in achievement

1-equal opportunities policy 2- positive role models in schools 3- GCSE and coursework 4- teacher attention 5-traditional gender stereotypes

External factors that affect gender differences in achievement

1-the impact of feminism 2- changes in the family 3-changes in womans employment 4-girls changing ambitions

Boys and achievement

Boys have been falling behind due to -poorer literacy skills -decline of traditional 'male jobs' -feminisation of education -shortage of male primary school teachers -'laddish' subcultures

Feminism and education

By its very nature, feminism studies what feminists perceive to be a male-dominated society where historically girls and women have been 'kept in their place' while men have dominated areas such as politics, education, the military etc. How has feminism impacted education and schooling? In the past girls have academically underachieved. At present girls are achieving better than boys if GCSE results are used as the criteria for success. Before the National Curriculum, it was not unusual for girls to pick subjects that prepared them for their futures as mothers and housewives. Cookery or Home Economics were seen as the subjects that many girls should follow whereas for some science was irrelevant.

Boys and literacy

DCSF (2007)- gender gap is mainly the result of boys poorer literacy and language skills. This may be because parents spend less time reading to their sons, can be seen as a feminine activity. Boys leisure pursuits (e.g. football, computer games) do little to develop their language and communication skills, Unlike girls that like to stay in their rooms and talk with friends. Poor language and literacy skills are likely to affect boys' performance in a lot of subjects. To resolve this, the gov have introduced a range of policies to improve boys' skills.

At GCSE

Gender gap stands at about 10%age points

Summary:

Girls now do better than boys at all stages of education. Some explanations focus on external factors outside the education system - changes in the family, more employment opportunities for women, the impact of feminist ideas and changes in girls' ambitions. Others focus on chnages within education, such as the influence of feminist ideas via equal opportunities policies and challenges to stereotyping in the curriculum, more female teachers, coursework and exam league tables. There are gender differences in subject choice. Choices are influenced by early socialisation into gender identities, the image subjects have, peer pressure and career opportunities. Education also reinforces gender identities and hierachies e.g through verbal abuse, male peer groups, the male gaze, school discipline and double standards of sexual morality.

Gender and subject choice

In previous lessons we have looked at gender differences in education. The aim of this lesson is to revise and review the idea that girls still tend to pick traditionally 'female' subjects and boys still tend to pick traditionally 'male' subjects. This lesson will also look at how gender identities are reinforced in school in various ways. So why does it matter? Some sociologists would argue that certain subjects have a higher status than other subjects. Feminists in particular would argue that the 'female' subjects that girls still tend to choose, lead to jobs which have a low status and often low pay as well.

Reasons

Innate Ability It has been argued that there are subject choice differences between the sexes because of natural differences. Boys are supposed to have better 'visual-spatial' ability (attracting them to sports, technology etc), Girls are supposed to have better 'verbal' ability (attracting them to language based subjects). Criticism - Sociologists don't believe these differences are natural, but due to nurture processes like socialisation. Peer pressure Subject choice can be influenced by your peer group (people you hang around with). Other people may put pressure on you as to what subject to take. For example boys tend to opt out of subjects like dance for fear of ridicule. Carrie Paetcher (1998) - found that sport was seen as part of the male gender domain, so girls who participate in it have to cope with the assumption that it is a male subject. This will lead some girls to opt out of it.

Shortage of male primary school teachers

Lack of strong positive male role models both at home and at school is said to be a cause of boys' underachievement. For example, large numbers of boys are being brought up in the 1.5 mill female-headed lone parent families in UK. DfES (2007) - men now make up 16% of primary school teachers. As a result Yougov (2007) pill, 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher. 42% of boys said a male role model made them work harder and behave better. some male teachers are more harsh

Liberal feminism

Liberal feminists are the feminists who believe that the best way to fight patriarchal systems is by establishing legislation to fight discrimination. e.g. the right for some women to vote in 1918 and finally all women to vote in 1928 were liberal feminist approaches. The proposed and failed Equal Rights Amendment of the early 1980s was also a liberal feminist approach. This school of thought believes women would achieve better equality if they were just more visible in the current social structure. Liberal feminists believe changes in equal opportunities and educational policies, e.g. the National Curriculum, will end patriarchy.

Radical Feminism

Radical feminists believe that the biggest oppression at work in our society is based on gender. Some believe a married woman can't be a feminist or that straight women can't be feminist. All-in-all it comes down to the argument that any dependence on men will equal the oppression of women. Although not all radical feminists are lesbians, this is the school of thought that has been influenced by a lot of lesbian separatist groups. Radical feminists believe patriarchy will only end when women are freed from the physical and emotional violence inflicted by men in the classroom and the playground.

Globalisation and the decline of traditional men's jobs

Since 1980s, - significant decline in heavy industries such as iron and steel, shipbuilding etc. Globalisation has caused these jobs to be relocated to places like China. Mainly for Male employment Mitsos and Browne claim that this decline in male job opportunities have led to 'identity crisis for men'. Boys believe they have little prospects of getting a proper job. Undermines their motivation and self-esteem so they give up trying to get qualifications Qualifications were not needed for semi-skilled and unskilled jobs so school was unnecessary for working-class boys.

Reasons for differences in subject choice

So why do males and females tend to choose different subjects? We will now have a look at possible reasons. -Innate ability (ability you are born with) -Peer pressure (pressure to do certain things from your peer group) -Primary socialisation (Learning of norms and values in the home) -Hidden curriculum (informal things you learn in school) -Gendered career opportunities (work is quite gendered, 'mans' work and 'woman's' work)

Primary socialisation

Sociologists often point to the differences in the ways boys and girls are socialised. They are treated differently, engage in different activities and wear different clothes. This will influence their later attitudes towards subject choice. Murphy and Elwood (1998) - showed how boys and girls have different tastes in reading. Boys tend to choose factual books, whereas girls tend to choose fiction. This may explain why boys tend to pick science subjects and girls are more attracted to English. Browne and Ross (1991) - argue that children's beliefs about 'gender domains' (the tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female territory, thus being relevant to them) are shaped by their early experiences.

'Laddish' subcultures

Some boys may gain peer group status from having an 'anti-school' subculture (when you mess about, don't think schools important etc). Willis and his study of the 'lads' looked at a working class 'anti-school' subculture. Mac an Ghaill (1994) identified 4 male subcultures including the 'macho lads'. However, is this anything new, can this really be used as an explanation for recent underachievement, when it was happening in the 1970's.

National curriculum options

Stables and Wikeley (1996) found that when there is a choice, girls opt for food technology, whereas boys tend to choose graphics and resistant materials.

Subject choice

The National Curriculum introduced the idea that many subjects were to be made compulsory. However, where there is some choice either pre or post 16, girls and boys tend to follow different paths in terms of the subjects they choose.

As and A Levels

There tends to be a big difference between subject choice at this stage. Boys opt for maths and physics whereas girls opt for literature, languages and the social sciences (3/4 or more of A Level Sociology students tend to be girls) These differences are also reflected at degree level.

Hidden curriculum

These are the informal things you learn in school. This can include textbook images, how the school is organised, teachers attitudes and some of the interactions in classrooms. Lobban (1976) - looked at reading schemes and out of 225 stories she found that only 2 showed women in roles other than domestic tasks. Kelly (1980) - looked at science textbooks and found they concentrated on images of male scientists, at the expense of females. These studies could explain why girls don't tend to pick certain subjects.

Feminisation of education

Tony Sewell's study claimed that boys fall behind because education has become 'feminised' (BBC, 2006). School doesn't nurture 'masculine' traits such as competitiveness and leadership skills. Sewell sees coursework as a major cause of gender differences in educational achievement. Argues that some coursework should be replaced with final year exams.

Vocational courses 2

Vocational courses prepare students for particular careers. There appears to be a big separation, most hairdressing courses are chosen by girls and most construction courses are chosen by boys.

Gendered career opportunities

Work is highly gendered. Jobs tend to be 'men's' work or 'women's' work. Women tend to be concentrated in a narrow range of occupations, whereas men are concentrated in a wider range of occupations. This affects girls and boys ideas about what kind of job they will be able to get and which ones are acceptable. Thus influencing their subject choice. For example if boys get the message that nursery nurses are women, then they may opt out of taking childcare.

The impact of feminism

encourages girls for ambitious careers -more independence

Changes in womens employment

equal pay act, sex discrimation act- woman have to be treated equally encourages girls to work

AS and A Level

girls - more likely to pass and get higher grades. more likely to achieve A*-C grades even in "boys" subjects like maths and physics. boys- 94% passed two or more A levels in 2006 average points score was 274 for boys but 295 for girls.

3 - GCSE and coursework

girls seem to take more care with coursework after it was introduced getting better grades

Girls changing ambitions

in 1990's girls change their thoughts and want careers so they can support themselves

Changes in the family

increased divorce, cohabitation and lone parent families encourages girls to not be dependant on males

4 - Teacher attention

interactions were more positive with girls even though boys get more attention girls are more foucused

2 - Positive role models in schools

more female headteachers and head teachers which provide positive role models for girls

Vocational courses

preparing students for a career, results show a similar pattern. A larger proportion of girls achieve distinctions in every subject, including those such as enginerring and construction where girls are a tiny minority of the students.

1 - Equal opportunities policies

teachers made more aware of gender issues and importance of equal treatment for girls and boys

5 - Traditional gender stereotypes

traditional stereotypes of woman and housewives have been removed - league tables have influenced girls to achieve better