gender & education

external factors

rise of feminism- McRobbie’s study of girls magazines —> 1970s emphasised getting married whilst now show independent women

1970 Equal Pay Act & 1975 Sex Discrimination Act

since 1975 gender pay gap has gone from 30% to 15%

women in employment- 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013

Sharpe’s interviews- girls in 1970s found educational success unfeminine and prioritised marriage and children, in 1990s girls prioritised education and an independent future

O’Connor (2006) study of 14-17 year olds found marriage and children not major part of future plans

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim link to trend of individualisation where independence is valued

Fullers (2001) study- girls saw educational success as central to identity, believed in meritocracy and aimed for professional career

Reay- w/c girls have lower aspirations due to limited opportunities- typical gender role more attainable

Biggart- w/c see motherhood as only viable option, see less point in education

internal factors

focus on gender issues in policy making eg. introduction of National Curriculum in 1988 ensured boys and girls study same subjects —> Boaler views as key reason for change in girls achievement as school becomes more meritocratic

increase in female teachers and heads = positive role model

Gorad- gender gap in achievement constant from 1975 until 1989- introduction of GCSEs and coursework which favoured girls

Mitsos and Browne are more successful in coursework due to skills learnt in gender socialisation

Elwood- argues coursework unlikely reason for gender gap as exams have more influence

Frenches- found boys get more classroom attention because they’re reprimanded more

Francis- boys were disciplined more harshly and victim to teachers lower expectations

Swann- boys dominate whole class discussions whilst girls prefer pair work and are better at listening- teachers favour girls who they see as more cooperative

Weiner- since 1980s teachers have challenged stereotypes in textbooks and learning materials and sexist imagery has been removed

Jackson- league tables benefit girls as they’re more attractive to schools —> Slee- boys are less attractive, 4X more likely to be excluded

radical feminists emphasise system remains patriarchal- sexual harassment in school and women under-represented in areas of curriculum —> Weiner describes history as ‘woman free zone’

class and girls achievement

ARCHER- conflict between w/c girls feminine identities (= symbolic capital) and schools values preventing educational capital

constructed hyper-heterosexual feminine identities which brought status from peers- caused conflict with school and led to ‘othering’ and symbolic violence

boyfriends brought symbolic capital but lowered educational aspirations- want to settle down and have children

adopted loud feminine identities- failed to conform to ideal female pupil as submissive

Evans study of 21 w/c girls in south london sixth form- girls wanted to go to uni to increase earning power to help their families

boys achivenment

since 1980s decline in typically male industries eg. steel, mining- Mitsos and Browne argue this has led to ‘identity crisis for men’ - leads to low ambition

—> manual jobs didn’t require qualifications so decline would have little motivation to obtain them

Sewell ‘feminisation of education’- schools don’t nurture masculine traits like competitiveness and emphasis on coursework

14% of primary school teachers are male- Yougov- 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons with male teacher- 42% said male teachers made them work harder

Francis- 2/3 7-8 year olds don’t think gender of teacher matters

Read- identified two types of teaching→ disciplinarian discourse (masculine) and liberal discourse (feminine), in study of 51 teachers Read found most female teachers used disciplinarian- disproves claim of ‘feminisation’

Jones- male teachers in UK have ¼ chance of being head, female have 1/13

Epstein- w/c boys likely to be harassed if they appear to be ‘swots’

Francis- boys were more concerned than girls about being labelled as ‘swots’ - in w/c culture masculinity is equated with being tough and doing manual work

Ringrose- moral panic around w/c boys becoming a dangerous underclass→ has led to focus on failing boys in policy making and ignoring other problems girls face eg. harassment

Osler- boys disengagement is often public displays of laddish masculinity which attract attention whilst girls do so quietly→ mentoring schemes aimed at reducing exclusions of black boys ignores that its increasing amongst black girls

at GCSE gender gap within any social class isn’t greater than 12 points→ girls from highest class can be 44 points ahead of girls in lowest class

gender and subject choice

Norman- from early age boys and girls are dressed differently and given different toys

Byrne- teachers encourage boys to be tough and girls to be quiet and helpful

Murphy and Elwood- leads to different reading tastes → boys favour information and science subjects whilst girls favour stories and english

Browne and Ross- children’s beliefs about gender domains shaped by early experiences and are more confident engaging in tasks in their domain

Kelly- science seen as boys subject due to teachers more likely to be men, textbooks focus on boys and boys monopolise lessons

Colley- computer studies viewed as masculine→ machines part of male gender domain and abstract teaching style is off putting to girls

Leonard- girls in girls schools were more likely to take maths and science A-Levels and boys in boys schools more likely to take english and languages→ Institute of Physics found girls in single sex schools were 2.4X more likely to take A-Level physics than those in mixed

Paechter- girls who do sport, seen as male gender domain, have to cope with contradicting female stereotype- more likely to opt out

absence of peer pressure in single sex schools means less pressure to conform

stereotypes around careers affect subject choice

Fuller- w/c girls had ambitions to go into child care, hair and beauty- reflected expectations of their habitus → found school was steering them towards typically feminine work experience and vocational courses eg. nurseries

sexual and gender identities

Lees- double standard of sexual morality where boys are praised and girls are labelled ‘slags’

Connel- rich vocabulary of abuse to reinforce dominant gender identities

Paechter- pupils police each other through name calling such as ‘gay’ or ‘lezzie’

Mac an Ghaill- male gaze as a form of surveillance through which dominant masculinity is reinforced—> study of Parnell School found w/c ‘macho lads’ bullied those who aspired to m/c careers calling them ‘dickhead achievers’

Redman and Mac an Ghaill- dominant definition of masculinity changes from macho lad to real englishmen in sixth form→ m/c atmosphere of sixth form

Ringrose- study of 13-14 year w/c girls→ faced tension between an idealised feminine identity of loyalty and non- competitiveness and a sexualised identity

Currie et al- girls are forced to balance slut shaming and frigid shaming

Reay- girls who want educational success have to present an asexual identity to conform to schools ideal pupil→ risk being labelled as a ‘boffin’ by peers

Haywood and Mac an Ghaill- male teachers told off boys for behaving like girls, ignored boys verbal abuse of girls and blamed girls for it

Askew and Ross- male teachers often have protective attitude towards female colleagues ‘rescuing’ them for disruptive pupils→ reinforces idea that women can’t cope alone