Gender differences in achievement - internal factors (3)

Equal opportunities policies - girls achievement

Feminists 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 accepted and has become a social norm within education.

This has led to polices aimed at giving girls and boys equal opportunities such as:

• 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. E.g. making science compulsory has helped to equalise opportunities

Meritocracy

As a result of such polices, education is now more meritocratic (based on the principle of equal opportunity).

Now that girls have more equal opportunities that in the past, they are able to do better.

Role models - girls achievement

• There are now more female teachers and head teachers than in the past and these provide positive, proactive role models for girls

• The presence of more female teachers also ‘feminines’, 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 feminine characteristic.

Coursework - girls achievement

• Mitsos and Browne (98) → argue that girls do better than boys in coursework, because they are more conscientious and better organised. Girls mature earlier and can concentrate for longer.

• As a result, its introduction into the curriculum boosted girl’s 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.

Evaluation:

Although coursework has some impact on results, Elwood (2005) notes that exams have more influence on final grades, so the introduction of coursework and only limited effect on gender differences in achievement.

Stereotypes in learning materials

• 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).

• However, since the 1980s, 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 their aspirations.

Teacher attention

Earlier studies e.g. Spender (1983), found that teachers pent more time interacting with boys than girls. However, more recent studies suggests girls may benefit more than boys:

• French and French (1993) found that teacher paid boys and girls similar amounts of attention for academic reasons. But boys received more attention overall because they attracted more punishments for misbehaviour.

• Francis (2001) found that although boys received more attentions, 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 o girls and give them more encouragement.