Gendered subject choice

Gender role socialisation

• The process of learning the behaviour expected of males and females in society (e.g boys and girls being dressed differently + doing different activities from an early age)

‎

Elwood:

• Says differences in socialisation means that boys and girls develop different tastes in reading.

• Boys are more likely to read hobby books → why they choose science subjects

• Girls are more likely to read story books → why they choose subjects based on arts and humanities

Gender domains

Browne + Ross:

• Says that children create gender domains based on what they see as male and female roles from early experience of what adults do. They see their doing’s as being relevant to themselves (e.g mending a car is seen as being in the male gender domain, whereas looking after a sick child is seen to be in the female gender domain)

Gendered subject image

Kelly:

• Argues some subjects are meant for boys as they have only seen teachers who are males teach that subject (e.g science being seen as for boys as science teachers tend to be male)

‎

Leonard:

• Found that, compared to pupils in a mixed school, girls in an all girls school were more likely to take science and maths, whilst boys in an all boys school were more likely to take subjects around arts and humanities.

Peer pressure

Paechter:

• Found that because pupils see sport in the male gender domain, girls who are seen to be interested in sports are often called ‘lesbian’ or ‘butch’ by male students. This shows that in mixed schools, pupils police another’s subject choices so that both girls and boys have an appropriate gender identity.

Career opportunities

Employment that is highly gendered as ‘women’s’ jobs are seen to be mainly childcare or nursing - similar to the work of housewives. This affects girls and boys ideas about what kind of jobs are possible or acceptable, explaining why some vocational courses are more gender-specific than others.