Topic 4

Question	Answer
How has the impact of feminism helped improved the gender differences in education?	It has helped because it has improved women's rights and opportunities through changes in the law - this has raised women's expctations and self-esteem.
What did McRobbie find about the change in attitudes through magazines from the 70's and 90s?	She found that girls' magazines from the 70's emphasised on the importance of getting married whereas the magazines from the 90's onwards contained images of independent women.
What changes in the family have occurred since the 70s?	There in a increase in the divorce rate ad in cohabitation, whereas a decrese in the number of first marriages. The number of lone parent families are mainly femaled headed, whcih means more women take on the role of breadwinner, and this creats a good role model for women - financially independent woman. Also, the rise in divorce rate may suggest that it is unwise to to replyon ahusband therefore girls are now encouraged to look to themslees and provides an incentie for girls to gain their own qualifications so they can make a living.
What changes have their been to women's employment?	The 1970 Equal Pay Act means that it is illegal to pay women less than men for work of equal value. And the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act outlaws sex discrimination in emplyoment.
Has the Equal Pay Act effected the pay gap between men and women?	Yes it has,because since 1975 the gap has fallen from 30% to 17%.
How has these changes enouraged girls to do well at school?	It has provided an incentive for girls to gain qualifications and to see their future in terms of paid work rather than as housewives.
What did Sharpe find in the change of ambitions for girls in the 70s and 90s?	She found, based on interviews, that in the 70s, girls had low aspirations and saw educational success as unfeminine, and intelligence was unattractive, however grils from the 90s were more likely to see their future as an independent woman with a career.
Why did Boaler see the impact of equal opportunities policies as the key erason for the changes in girls achievement?	She saw this because many of the barries hav been removed, and schooling has now become meritocractic, and as girls work harder than boys they achieve more.
Why do Mitsos and Browne support the view that the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and disadvantaged boys?	They believe that girls are more successful in courseowk because they are better oragnished than boys, as they spend moer time on their work, better at meeting deadlines, and they argue that these factors have helped girls mature quicker therefore they can concentrate for longer.
What does Elwood say about coursework?	She says that coursework has some influence, but it is not the only cause of the gap as exams have more of an influence on final grades.
How does teachers interaction with girls and boys differ and effect their achievement?	Teachers spend more time interacting with boys but its usually for reprimands, but the attention girls received from teachers were more positive due to the fact that it was about schoolwork rather than behaviour.
What did Weiner argue bout the stereotypes in the school curriculum?	She argued that, in general, sexist images have been removed from learning materials, adn this has helped raise girls' achievement as it presents them with a more positive image of what women can do.
How does league tables effect the opportunities for girls?	It has improved their opportunities as high achieving girls are attractive to schools whereas low achieving boys aren't therefore girls are more likely to go to good schools because they are more likely to do well.
How do the Liberal feminists see the changes so far in achievement?	They see that further progess will be made by continuing the development of equal opportunities policies, positive role models etc.
How do the Radical feminists see the changes so far in achievement?	They see that the system still remains patriarchal as there is secual harrassment in schools, and women are still unrepresentative in many areas of the curriculum.
What is the main reason for the gender gap in achievement between girls and boys?	Itis due to the reuslt of the boys' poor literacy and language skills, as parents spend less time reading to thir soons as it is seen a feminine activity.
How does the decline in traditional male jobs (e.g. mining, engineering) affected the motivation and self-esteem of men?	The decline in the male employment opportunites has led to an 'identity crisis' as many boys now believe they have little prospect of getting a proper job, adn this in turn undermines their motivation and self-esteem, so they give up on trying to get qualifications.
Why is education seen as being 'feminised'?	Sewell claimed that boys have fallen behind because education has been 'feminised' and that it does not nurture the 'masculine' traits such as competitiveness and leadership. He argues that some coursework should be replaced by final exams.
How do male teachers effect the achievement for boys in school?	The majority of boys said that the presence of a male teacher made them behave better and work harder.
How has the 'Laddish' subculture contributed to boys' underachievement?	Because girls are moving towards traditional male areas such as careers, the boys respond by becoming 'laddish' in their effort to construct themselves as non-feminine.
How does McVeigh explain the influence of class, gender and ethnicity in achievement?	She notes that the re are more similarities than differences in gender, as class has a more important influence in achievement - girls and boys tend to achieve fairly similar results. However, you must take gender, class and ethnicity all into account to fully understand the differences in achievement.
How do girls and boys take different gender routes in subjects in the National Curriculum, AS and A2 level and vocational courses?	Where DT is compulsory in the National Curriculum - girls where more likely to chose Food Tech and boys Graphics and/or Resistant Materials. In AS levels - boys were more likely to choose maths and physics, whereas girls would choose sociology, In vocational courses, 1/100 contrustion apprentices are girls.
What did Oakley identify as the difference between 'sex' and 'gender'?	She identified 'sex' as referring to the inborn physical differences between females and males whereas 'gender' refers to how you are expected to be in society.
How does early socialisation lead to boys and girls choosing different subjects?	Murphy and Elwood found that boys read hobby books and information texts therefore more likely to take science subjects, whereas girls read stories about people, so they would choose English.
What is meant by 'gender domains' and how is it linked to boys and girls choosing different subjects?	Gender domains means the tasks and activities that boys and girls see as male or female 'territory' for example boys focus on how things are made whereas girls focus on how people feel (a sick child)
How may teachers effect the image of certain subjects and, as a result, effecting those who want to choose it?	Science teachers are usually male, however, in single sex schools, there is less stereotyped subject images, so boys and girls would make less traditional subject choices.
What did Paetcher find about peer pressure and subject choice?	Girls that were seen as sporty would have to cope with an image that contradicts the female stereotype. Also, Dewar said that boys would call girls 'butch' and 'lesbian' if they were into sports more than boys, however, single-sex schools do not conform to restrictive stereotypes.
What effect does gendered careers have for boys and girls?	If a boy sees that nursery nurses are mostly women, they are less likely to choose that career, which, in turn effects their subject choice.
What is meant by 'hegemonic masculinity'?	This means the dominance of males and subordination of female and gay identities.
In what way does verbal abuse reinforce gender and sexual identities?	Boys would call girls a 'slag' if they appeared sexually available and 'drags' if they didn't. And boys would be called 'gay' if they were being friendly with girls or female teachers.
How do male peer groups reinforce their masculinity through verbal abuse?	Boys in anti-school subcultures often accuse boys who want to do well of being gay or effeminate.
How do teachers also play a part in reinforcing gender identities?	Haywood and Mac an Ghaill found that male teachers told boys off for 'behaving like girls' and they ignored boys verbal abuse to girls, and would even blame them for it.
How does the way in which boys look a girls effect how girls are seen?	Male pupils look girls up and down as if they are sexual objects, and they make judgements on appearance - as do teachers
How does the double standard reinforce gender inequalities?	As some boys boast about their sexual conquests, they also call a girl a 'slag' if they have no steady boyfriend. This is seen as a social control that reinforces gender inequality as it keeps females subordinate to males.

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	Created by Hannah Fernandez over 11 years ago