1.
Unit 2: Education
3) Gender differences in Education

2.
Application
• Always make sure the material you are using
applies to the question set
• Is it about girls’ (or just boys’) achievement?
• Or is it about gender differences in
achievement?  In which case, make sure you
write about both sexes
• Avoid writing an all-purpose, “everything I
know about gender” answer

3.
Gender patterns in achievement
• G have improved rapidly since the 1980’s
• Now they do better than B at all levels and in most
subjects
• KS1-3: G consistently better than B, especially in
English.
• The gap is narrower in Science and Maths
• GCSE: G are 10 percentage points ahead of B
• AS/A2 level: G more likely to pass, get higher grades
• The gap is narrower than GCSE
• G do better than B in traditional subjects i.e. Science
• More G go into higher education

4.
Application
• Point out that although a ‘gender gap’ has
developed, exam results for both sexes have
improved at all levels over the years, so boys
are only ‘doing badly’ in comparative terms

5.
Reasons for improvement
• External factors – factors outside the
education i.e. home and family background,
the job market and wider society
• Internal factors – factors within schools and
the education system i.e. the effect of
schools’ equal opportunities policies

6.
External Factors and Girls’
achievement
Sociologists have identified a range of external factors that have contributed to
the improvement in girls’ achievement…

7.
E.F: McRobbie (1994)
• Since the 1960’s, feminists have challenged patriarchy
in all areas of social life and rejected the traditional
stereotypes of women as inferior to men in the home,
work, education, and law
• Comparison of girls magazines
• Jackie emphasised importance of getting married
etc.
• NOW: images- assertive, ambitious, independent
women
• G motivated to do well  family and careers
Influence of Feminism

8.
Application
• What effect might feminism have on girls’ –
and boys’- achievement?

9.
E.F Sharpe (1994)
• Compared G priorities
• 1970’s  ‘love, marriage, husband, children, job,
career’- saw future: domestic role, not paid work
• 1990’s  priorities had switched to careers and being
able to be independent
 Similarly, Francis (2001) found G had higher career
aspirations  needed educational qualifications
 Ensure you explain how this impacts G attitude
towards education
Girls’ changing perceptions and ambitions

10.
E.F Changes in the family
• Since the 1970’s:
• Increase in divorce rates  40% marriages end in
divorce
• Increase in lone-parent families  over 90% are female
headed
• Increase in co-habitation + decrease in 1st marriages
• Smaller families
• More women staying single
 Interpretation:  Therefore, there is both more need
and more opportunity to be economically independent
– gives G more motivation to do well educationally and
get good qualifications

11.
E.F Changes in women’s employment
(LAW)
• C.I.T.L: The 1970 Equal Pay Act  illegal if unequal
Gap between men + women dropped from 30  17%
• C.I.T.L: The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act  + rights
Traditional men's jobs have declined,
Women in employment:
• * 1959  47% *
• * 2007 70% *
 As a result  G have more incentive to see their
future in terms of paid work creates an incentive
for them to gain qualifications

12.
Internal factors and girls’
achievement
There have been major changes in the education system since the 1970’s and
some sociologists see these as important in explaining girls’ improved
performance…

13.
Analysis
• Although for convenience we can divide
explanations into internal and external
factors; however, in reality they are linked
• Make this analytical point by showing
connections between some of these factors

14.
I.F ‘GIST + WIST’ + National
curriculum
• G/W. Into. Science. + Technology:
• Female scientist going to schools  role-models
• Pursue careers in non-traditional areas
• Non-sexist career advice provided
• Learning materials in science- develop interest
• N.C: (1988)  Kelly (1987): making G and B
study the same subjects helps to equalise
opportunities
Equal opportunities policies

15.
cont. Jo Boaler (1998)
• Claims the Equal Opportunity Policies are a key reason
for the changes in girls’ achievement
• It helps achieve MERITOCRACY (based on the principle
of equal opportunity)
• More opportunity for G  G now do better
Cont. Changes in women’s employment

16.
I.F Positive Role models
• Increasing numbers of female teachers and
female head teachers  pro-educational
women in positions of authority/seniority
• Some say: Schools are becoming ‘feminised’
• Encourage G to see school as a female ‘gender
domain’
• As a result,  they come to perceive
educational success as a desirable feminine
characteristics

17.
I.F Mitsos and Browne (1998)
• According to M+B, girls do better than boys in
coursework
• G more conscientious, better organised, mature
earlier, concentrate longer
• G spend more time, present neatly, meet
deadlines, good conduct to lessons
• G are better in oral exams
 New Right thinker Pirie thinks gender role of G
benefit them in education i.e. neat, tidy, patient
 Similar to M+B, Gorard (2005): gender gap
increased sharply in 1988 when coursework was a
major part of most subjects in GCSE
Coursework

18.
Evaluation
• Elwood (2005) notes:
• Although coursework has some influence, it is
unlikely to be the only cause for the gender
gap
• Analysing the weighting of coursework and
written exams
• Concludes that exams have more influence on
final grades
Coursework

19.
I.F Weiner (1995)
• Claims: since the 1980’s, teachers have been
challenging stereotypes (i.e. G housewives/
mothers/ physics: frightened/ amazed by
science)
• Sexist images have been removed from
materials
Stereotypes in learning materials

20.
Analysis
• Link ideas together
• E.g. connect removal of stereotypes to equal
opportunities policies and the impact of
feminist ideas on education

21.
Spender (1993)
• Found teachers spend more time with B than G
 However, the French’s (1993):
- found the amount of time with B and G for academic
reasons were similar
 Francis (2001):
- B attention  B had more reprimands, disciplined
harsher, felt picked on, teacher = lower expectations
 Similarly, Swann (1998) found boys were generally
boisterous  dominate class discussions
- Girls preferred group tasks  cooperative and listening
i.e. get teacher’s praise more
 Explain how these classroom interaction processes might
help girls to do better
Teacher attention

22.
I.F Selection and league tables
• Marketisation policies i.e. exam ‘league tables’ 
competition
• Schools have incentive to recruit more able students
boost results + L.T. positions
• Successful students are more attractive (generally
GIRLS)
• Low achieving, badly behaved (generally BOYS) are
seen as a ‘liability students’ who will create a bad
image + produce poor results for the school
 As a result,  G are likely to attain places in successful
schools
 In turn, they get a better education and achieve more

23.
Evaluation
• Girls are now achieving more
• BUT RADICAL FEMINISTS argue:-
• that the education system remains patriarchal,
e.g. sexual harassment of girls continue in
schools
• Education system limits their subject choices
and careers
• Secondary head teachers are still more likely to
be men

24.
Boys’ and achievement
• Sociologists: some factors that may be responsible for boys’ under-achievement
are the ‘opposite’ of the factors which have led to girls’ improving achievements
•External factors boys’ poorer literacy skills, decline of traditional ‘men’s jobs’
Internal factors the feminisation of education, shortage of male role-models,
and ‘laddish’ subcultures

25.
E.F Poorer literacy skills
• According to DCSF (2007), gender gap is the result
of boy’s poor literacy skills
• Parents spend less time reading to sons
• Mothers mostly do the reading seen as a
feminine activity
• Boys’ leisure pursuits i.e. football, computer
games do little to help to develop language
• Contrast: Girls ‘bedroom culture’ centred talking
and listening to friends
 Because language and listening are vital in most
subjects, boys’ poorer L.S. have a wide-ranging
effect on their achievement

26.
Mitsos and Browne
• Since the 1980’s, globalisation manufacturing
relocating to developing countries decline in
heavy industries like shipbuilding, mining, and
manufacturing in the UK
• M + B claim: that the result of decline in male
employment opportunities has led to a male
‘identity crisis’  with a loss of self-esteem +
motivation
• Many boys now believe they have little prospect
of getting jobs and so cease trying to get
qualifications
Globalisation and decline of traditional ‘men’s jobs’

27.
Evaluation
• Traditional male manual jobs needed few
qualifications
• So it seems unlikely that the disappearance of
these jobs would affect boys’ motivation to
obtain qualifications

28.
Sewell (2006)
• Argues: boys fall behind because education has
become ‘feminised’
• Schools no longer nurture ‘masculine’ traits e.g.
competitiveness and leadership
• Like Gorard, Sewell sees coursework as a
disadvantage to boys
• 1 in 6 are male primary teachers
• Over 60% of 8-11 have no lessons with male
primary teachers idea that education is a
feminine activity
The feminisation of schooling

29.
Epstein (1998)
• Epstein: found peer pressure among boys were to
demonstrate their masculinity i.e. more likely to
be harassed, labelled ‘sissies’, + subjected to
homophobic verbal abuse
 Similarly, Francis (2001) found: boys were more
concerned than girls about being labelled as ‘gay’
or ‘swots’
- Because it threatened their masculine identity
 According to Francis, as girls move into
traditional masculine areas such as paid work,
boys become more ‘laddish’ effort to identify
themselves as non-feminine  underachievement
‘Laddish’ subcultures

30.
Interpretation
• Are ‘laddish’ subcultures and ‘internal’
or ‘external’ factor? You can make the
point that they operate both inside and
outside the school

31.
Evaluation
• Epstein’s studies suggest that ‘laddish’
subcultures are mainly working-class parallel
to Mac an Ghaill + Willis
• Connolly (2006) notes: there is an
‘interactions effect’ – certain combinations of
gender and class (or gender and ethnicity)
have more of an effect on achievement than
others

32.
Policies to raise boys’ achievement
• Concerns about boys’ under-achievement relative
to girls has led to the introduction of a range of
policies
• These often use boys’ leisure interests (e.g. sports)
and famous role models and are aimed at
improving boys’ literacy skills and motivation to
achieve
• Examples:-
- Raising Boys Achievement project
- Reading Champions Scheme
- Playing for Success

33.
Interpretation
• Interpret questions about boys’ under-
achieving by putting it into context
• Compared with boys in the past, boys today
do better
• And although they do worse than girls, the
similarities between boys and girls’
achievement are greater than the
differences

34.
Gender and subject choice
Although girls have overtaken boys in achievement, there continue to be major
gender differences in subject choice. Girls and boys follow different ‘gender routes’ in
their subject choices
 In the National Curriculum
 In post 16 education
 In vocational subjects

35.
(1) G + B different ‘gender routes’
In the National Curriculum:
• most subjects are compulsory, but where
choice is possible, girls and boys choose
differently; e.g. in design and technology,
girls choose food technology, boys choose
resistant materials

36.
(2) G + B different ‘gender routes’
In post-16 education:
• there is more choice available and big gender
differences emerge;
• E.g. B opt for Maths and Physics
• ..whilst G choose Modern Language, English
and Sociology
• This pattern continues into higher education

37.
(3) G + B different ‘gender routes’
• In vocational subjects:
• Gender segregation is at its greatest
• Only 1% of construction apprentices are
female

38.
Explaining gender differences in
subject choices
• Several factors are responsible for gender
differences in subject choice:
1. Early socialisation
2. Gendered subject images
3. Peer pressure
4. Gendered career opportunities

39.
Interpretation
• Some questions are about gender experiences
in school (achievement, subject choice and
identity), while others limit you in some way
–
• E.g. to just achievement or subject choice
• Only use material that is specific to the
question

40.
1. Early socialisation
• Gender role socialisation: involves learning the behaviour
expected of males and females
1. In the family: from an early age, B and G are dressed
differently and given different toys, while B are rewarded
for being active and G passive
2. At school: Byrne (1979) found, teachers encourage B to be
tough and show initiative, while they expect girls to be
quiet, helpful, clean and tidy
3. Leisure reading and subject choices: Murphy and Elwood
(1998) found that B read hobby books and information
texts and so prefer science subjects, while G read stories
about people and prefer English

41.
cont. Early socialisation
• Gender domains: are tasks and activities seen as either male
or female ‘territory’.
• These views are shaped by children’s early experiences and by
the expectations of adults
• E.g. looking after an elderly person is ‘female’ {gender domain}
• Browne and Ross (1991) found that:
when set open-ended tasks such as designing a boat  B
designed powerboats and battleships , while G designed
cruise ships
•  reflecting different gender domains
 This affects subject choice: people’s feeling are part of the
female gender domain so G choose humanities; how things
work is in the male domain, so B choose science

42.
2. Gendered subject images
• related to gender domains, subjects have a
‘gender image’ – they are seen as either male
or female
• For example, science is mainly taught by men
and textbooks traditionally use boys’ interests
as examples
 As a result,  it is seen as a masculine
subject, part of the male gender domain, and
so it is taken mostly by boys

43.
Peer pressure
• Other boys and girls pressurise individuals to
conform
• B often opt out of music because of negative
peer response, whilst G who choose sport
have to contend with accusations from B of
being ‘butch’ or ‘lesbian’
• This also links to subject image and gender
domains – sport is seen as masculine, and
music feminine

44.
Evaluation
• Pupils in single-sex schools make less
traditional subject choices
• This may be because there is no opposite-sex
peer pressure to conform to gender-
stereotypical subject choices

45.
Gendered careers
• Many jobs are seen as either ‘men’s’ or
‘women’s’ and tend to be dominated by one
gender
• E.g. nursing and construction work
• Vocational courses, which prepare young
people for specific careers  therefore also
tend to be dominated by one gender or the
other

46.
Gender identity and schooling
Pupils school experiences may reinforce their gender and sexual identities

47.
Connell (1995): ‘Hegemonic masculinity’
• Argues that school reproduces ‘hegemonic
masculinity’
• That is, the dominance of heterosexual
masculine identity and subordination of
female and gay identities

48.
Feminists
• Argue that experiences in school act as a form of
social control to reproduce patriarchy
• That is, male domination and female
subordination
• This happens in several ways:
1. Verbal abuse (SIMILAR TO: L & MG)
2. Teachers
3. The male gaze
4. Double standards

49.
1. Verbal abuse
• Name-calling puts girls down if they behave in
certain ways and acts as a form of social
control to make them conform to male
expectation

50.
Lees (1986): Verbal abuse
 Lees concludes similar views to Feminists
• He notes that boys call girls ‘slags’ if they
appear sexually available, but there is no
equivalent term for males
 Paetcher notes that pupils police one
another’s sexual identities through negative
labels

51.
Mac an Ghaill (1992): Verbal abuse
• Found that anti-school W.C. boys’ subcultures
use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions
of “masculinity”
• They called the other W.C. boys who worked
hard, ‘dickhead achievers’

52.
Analysis
• These labels often do not reflect actual
behaviour: they reinforce gender norms
• E.g. boys may be called ‘gay’ simply for having
female friends

53.
2. Teachers
• Haywood and Mac an Ghaill (1996) found
even more evidence to support Feminists
views:
• They found that male teachers reinforced
gender identities by telling B off for ‘behaving
like girls’
• Also, for ignoring B verbal abuse of G

54.
3. The male gaze
• The Male Gaze: is a form of social control
where male pupils and teachers look girls up
and down as sexual objects
• B who don’t participate may be labelled as
‘gay’ – also a form of social control

55.
4. Double standards
• Double standards: is when one set of moral
standards is applied to one group BUT a
different set to another group
• For example, Lees (1993) found that B boast
about their own sexual exploits, but label
girls’ negatively for the same behaviour