explaining the gender gap- external factors and female achievement

How has female employment changed?

How has female employment changed?

Male and female employment rates are now virtually the same (79% and 72.3% respectively) as now we live in a service economy and women tend to have better communication skills that allow them to pursue promotion.

What did Bertocchi and Bozzano (2019) find on the correlation between increasing female employment and female educational achievement?

Post-school expectations for women have increased thanks to increased job opportunities for women and so women get encouraged to achieve in school to pursue careers later in life.

How has family structure changed (at least in Britain) and how does this encourage girls to do well in school?

Most single parent households are headed by women, 50% of married couples statistically divorce and people get married later now in their mid to late 30s. Furthermore, women often start a career in their 20s and now maintain it through their adult lives.

As it is now more desirable and safer for women to have their own income securing a well paying job is heavily encouraged

Between the 1970s-1990s, what did Sue Sharpe find about Girl’s changing ambitions?

1970s- marriage and family were top priorities

1990s- focus on career and start a family later in life

Although family still remained a priority to some extent, career became the top priority for most girls in the 90s

how has the impact of feminism boosted girls’ achievement in education? (2)

It has bought about equal opportunities policies like GIST and WISE that liberal feminist Bowler says has eliminated patriarchal influence in education and turned the system wholly meritocratic.

Schools and teachers now attempt to actively combat patriarchy within schools by removing misogynistic stereotypes from learning materials which overall raises girls’ self esteem in school.

What did Aucejo and James (2016) find about verbal skills and university admission?

Verbal skills were more important than maths skills when it came to getting admitted to university and girls tend to have better verbal skills.