Gender and educational attainment

1. Gender and educational attainment Until the late 1980s there was concern about the under-achievement of girls in education.

2. Girls: Did less well in exams at GCE and above. Were less likely to enter H.E. Achieved generally lower class degrees. Concentrated on arts & humanities subjects. Avoided science subjects.

3. Reasons: Primary socialisation. – girls were encouraged into caring roles. Secondary socialisation. – more men were in positions of authority. Lack of role models. Staffing in schools. – Women taught arts & humanities. Men taught maths & sciences. Textbooks. – portrayed stereotypical gender roles.

4. Reasons continued: Teachers had stereotypical attitudes. – Stanworth (1983) Under-estimated girls’ potential. Quiet girls were ignored. Classroom interaction. - Spender (1982) ‘Invisible Women’ - Boys dominated the classroom.

5. Reasons continued: Gender-stereotyped subject choices. Grafton (1987) Girls & boys ‘steered’ towards specific choices. Not a genuine free choice. Sharpe. (1976) ‘Just Like a Girl’. Girls’ priorities were Love/Marriage/Husbands/Children/jobs. Rejected courses which led to ‘men’s work.

6. Since the early 1990s, girls have begun to outperform boys at most levels in education Activity. Refer to the statistics in Langley p118 (Activity 16) Task. Make analytical statements that summarise the trends shown in Item A, B &C (One statement for each item)

7. Current situation: failing boys and successful girls? Girls and boys are doing better. Only some boys are failing. – strong link with social class. Historically, girls have often outperformed boys. More girl passed 11 plus. W/C girls are also underachieving. In general girls are improving and in general improvement has been more pronounced.

8. Reasons for girls’ improved achievement. Legislation. Equal Pay Act 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Why should this affect girls’ educational attainment? Group study: Consider other reasons under the headings: Job Market Attitudes & expectations Education (See also Langley p119)

9. Additional reasons: Girls do better at coursework. Boys do better in exams. Girls are usually better organised than boys. Girls and boys have different leisure pursuits. Girls will read, talk & develop linguistic skills. Boys have more active pursuits which prepare them less well for school.

10. The current concern is about the under-achievement of some boys. Case Study. John is 15 and lives in Sheffield. His father and grandfather had been steelworkers. His 3 ‘best mates’ all live in female-led single parent families. John’s sister left school last year and managed to find work in a call-centre. His elder brother is unemployed. Give possible reasons why John is underachieving at school.

11. Changing male roles. Job market Father/husband/breadwinner? Identity crisis? Anti-school culture.

12. Unrealistic attitudes Boys are often over-confident in their own ability. They believe they can ‘catch up’ later. They attribute failure to bad luck rather than lack of effort. Girls are more realistic, less confident & try harder.

13. Equality of opportunity? “The whole question of equality of opportunity has now been reduced to gender and the focus on boys”. (Moore et al 2008). Do you think this view is valid and a strong argument could be made to support it?