Differences in Gender Achievement – Internal and External factors

INTERNAL FACTORS FOR RISE IN ACHIEVEMENT IN GIRLS:

• Removal of gender stereotypes from educational resources:

  • Removal of gender stereotypes from textbooks, reading schemes and other resources has erased a barrier to girls’ achievement.

  • 1970s to 80s reading schemes portrayed women as housewives and mothers, physics books showed them as frightened by science; maths books depicted boys as more inventive.

  • Weiner believes teachers are now challenging stereotypes and the removal of sexist images from resources has presented girls with more positive images of what they could do.

• Marketisation of schools leads to a bias towards better-performing gender:

  • Marketisation created a more competitive climate in schools which see girls as more desirable recruits as they achieve better.

  • Jackson – this leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy as girls are more likely to be recruited by better schools and therefore achieve better.

  • Slee – boys are less attractive to schools because they’re more likely to have behaviour issues and 4 times more likely to be excluded. They become a liability to schools who don’t want a ‘rough, tough’ image that deters high-achieving girls.

EXTERNAL FACTORS FOR RISE IN ACHIEVEMENT IN GIRLS:

• Feminism challenging the image that women are given:

  • Since 1960s feminism has challenged the traditional stereotype of a woman’s role.

  • No longer seen as just a housewife who’s inferior to a man in work, education and the law.

  • Full equality hasn’t been achieved; there have been significant improvements in women’s rights, raising their self-esteem and expectations.

  • McRobbies’ study of girls’ magazines shows the changes in image in the media.

  • 1970s they emphasised the importance of getting married and ‘not being left on the shelf’.

  • Now they have images of assertive, independent women.

BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS:

• Feminism has led to policymakers being more aware of gender issues, and teachers being more sensitive to the need to avoid stereotyping.

• The belief that girls and boys are entitled to the same opportunities is now part of mainstream thinking and it influences educational policies.

• Policies such as GIST (Girls In Science and Technology) and WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas.

• Female scientists have visited schools, science teachers are more aware of gender issues, non-sexist careers advice is given and learning materials reflecting female interests have been developed.

• Introduction of National curriculum in 1988 meant girls and boys studied mostly the same subjects.

• Impact of equal opportunities policies has been to remove boundaries and make school more meritocratic, so that if girls work harder they achieve.

WHY ARE BOYS MAKING SLOWER PROGRESS?

• Lack interest, drive, enthusiasm and social skills.

• Increasingly likely to be exposed to deviant and anti-social behaviour.

• Boys are more likely to be excluded from schools than girls.

• Leisure activities don’t encourage ‘good’ use of language.

• More likely to be reprimanded by teachers – discouraging their efforts.

• More female teachers than before which may create an unstable level of relatedness between teacher and male students.

• When young, mothers are more likely to read to their daughters as opposed to their sons.

SITUATIONS AFFECTING BOYS:

• Changes in the job market/status frustration:

  • Boys are experiencing a ‘crisis of masculinity’ (Mac an Ghaill).

  • Boys are socialised to believe that they’re the breadwinner.

  • Manufacturing industry is in decline and there’s a rise in long-term unemployment.

  • Jobs in the increasing service sector are often part-time desk jobs suited to female skills.

  • Some families females have become the primary breadwinners.

  • Consequences:

    • Limited opportunities:

      • No point in qualifications.

      • Don’t work hard.

      • Go to misbehaving.

    • Enter one occupation, have to leave and therefore see no more opportunities.

• Laddish behaviour and peer group status:

  • Early research focused on subgroups formed by working-class boys, particularly by boys in lower sets, bands or streams.

  • Hargreaves and Willis found these boys were fatalistic and accepted school failure as inevitable.

  • Consequences:

    • Develop anti-educational coping strategies and/or seek to compensate for status frustration by gaining credibility in the eyes of their peers.