Gender and Educational Achievement

1
Gender and Educational Achievement

• In this Presentation I shall distinguish broadly
  between two broad time periods the 1950s to the
  late1980s and the late 1980s to the present day.
• If you would like to switch directly to the
  slides on the late 1980s to the present day click
  here.
• I have made some links to my teaching notes on
  this topic which you can consult for further
  details and of course you will also wish to
  consult your textbooks as appropriate.
• Click here for more information on the Sociology
  of Education.

2
The Data to be explained the 1950s to the late
1980s

• There was clear evidence that in the era of the
  11 pass marks were set higher for girls than for
  boys so as to prevent girls from taking a
  disproportionate share of Grammar School places.
• From the early 1950s until the late 1960s girls
  were less likely than boys to be entered for GCE
  Ordinary Level examinations. In any case in the
  1950s and early 1960s many pupils left school at
  age 15 having taken no official national
  examinations.
• The candidate pass rate in GCE O Level
  examinations was higher for girls than for boys
  from the early 50s to the late 1960s so that
  despite the higher entry rates for males the
  percentages of male and female school leavers
  actually passing 5 or more GCE O levels were
  fairly similar although females did usually
  outperform males by 1-2 each year.
• This overall statistic masked the facts that
  girls outperformed boys by considerable margins
  in Arts and Humanities subjects and that boys
  usually outperformed girls but by smaller margins
  in Mathematics and Science subjects.

3
The Data to be explained the 1950s to the late
1980s

• However females were disadvantaged to some
  extent by their subject choices for 16 courses.
  They were less likely than males to opt for
  scientific subjects other than Biology and also
  less likely to opt for stereotypical male
  subjects such as technical drawing, woodwork and
  metal work.
• By the late 1970s boys and girls were equally
  likely to be entered for GCE O levels. The
  percentages of both male and female school
  leavers passing 5 or more GCE O Levels rose
  slowly but steadily from the 1950s to the 1980s
  and girls remained slightly more likely than boys
  to pass 5 or more GCE O Levels
• However female students were less likely than
  males to enrol on Advanced Level courses, less
  likely to achieve two or more Advanced Level
  passes and less likely to participate in Higher
  Education from the 1950s to the 1980s.
• Gender differences in subject choice were if
  anything greater at Advanced Level and Degree
  level than at 16 level.

4
Explanations for relative female educational
under-achievement from the 1950s to the 1980s

• Relative female educational under- achievement
  has been explained in terms of several types of
  theory.
• IQ theories in which it is claimed that females
  are innately less intelligent than males.
• Gender differences in socialisation throughout
  society as in the studies of , for example, Fiona
  Norman and Sue Sharpe.
• Factors operative in the schools themselves as in
  the theories of Michelle Stanworth, Dale Spender
  and others.
• The following slides 5-11 summarise the findings
  of some relevant theories and studies .

5
Explaining relative female educational
under-achievement gender differences in IQ

• Throughout history, it has been claimed that
  women are less intelligent than men .It has
  variously been argued that women have smaller
  brains than men, that they are emotional rather
  than rational and that the different shapes of
  male and female brains give men advantages in
  mathematical and technical subjects.
• However it should be noted that relative to
  average body weight, female brains are larger
  than male brains and also, that the tables have
  been turned to some extent by research suggesting
  that female brain structures give them innately
  superior linguistic abilities.
• An important recent DCFS publication suggests
  that gender differences in educational
  achievement cannot be explained in terms of
  gender differences in measured intelligence.
• In any case since females now out-perform males
  at all levels of the UK it seems foolish to
  suggest that females are innately less
  intelligent .However many sociologists would also
  deny that females are innately more intelligent
  than males.
• There are many limitations to IQ tests as methods
  of accurately measuring intelligence. Slides on
  the nature and limitations of IQ theory can be
  found in the presentations on Class and
  educational achievement and Race, Ethnicity
  and educational achievement. For convenience I
  repeat them here.

6
Key Elements of IQ Theory

• The IQ key theorists, Jensen, Herrnstein,
  Eysenck, Burt and Murray , focussed mainly on
  relationships between IQ and social class and/or
  between IQ and race/ ethnicity rather than
  between IQ and gender.
• The key assumptions of IQ theory are listed
  below.
• Intelligence can be defined clearly
• It can be measured accurately via IQ tests
• Data have sometimes been used to suggest that
  women have lower IQs than men.
• However in the era of the 11 girls were far more
  successful than boys in this examination and the
  girls examination marks were adjusted downwards
  to prevent girls from taking a much larger share
  on the available grammar school places.
• This policy was justified at the time on the
  grounds that girls matured more quickly and that
  boys would catch up quickly once they matured.
  However, many girls were actually denied the
  grammar school places which their examination
  marks suggested they had fairly earned.

7
Some criticisms of IQ Theory

• Intelligence cannot be defined clearly or
  accurately measured by IQ tests.
• IQ tests may be culturally biased
• Some students may not be at their best when they
  take the tests
• Others may not take the tests seriously
• Student IQ test scores can improve with practice,
  suggesting that they do not measure fundamental
  intelligence
• The relative importance of genetic and
  environmental factors in determining intelligence
  is unknown but critics of IQ theories claim that
  genetic factors are unlikely to be as significant
  as suggested by IQ theorists

8
Gender Differences In Socialisation

• It has been suggested that in societies such as
  the UK the socialisation process as it operated
  at least up to the 1970s meant that many parents
  socialized their daughters to show dependence,
  obedience, conformity and domesticity whereas
  boys were encouraged to be dominant, competitive
  and selfreliant.
• Also when young children saw their parents acting
  out traditional gender roles many would perceive
  these roles as natural and inevitable leading
  girls and boys to imagine their futures as
  fulltime housewives and mothers and as fulltime
  paid employees respectively.
• In schools teachers praised girls for "feminine
  qualities" and boys for "masculine qualities"
  boys and girls were encouraged to opt for
  traditional male and female subjects and then for
  traditional male and female careers.
• Furthermore in certain sections of the mass
  media and especially perhaps in teenage
  magazines girls were encouraged to recognize the
  all importance of finding "Mr. Right" and
  settling down to a life of blissful domesticity
  in their traditional housewife-mother roles.

9
Gender differences in socialisation

• Fiona Norman (1988) showed that pre school
  socialisation may be a factor in explaining
  subsequent female under achievement.
• She emphasised that many parents would provide
  gender specific toys and encourage male and
  female children to adopt different leisure
  activities. Children would also be influenced by
  perceived differences in male and female roles
  within families. At this time these gender roles
  were still often relatively traditional.
• Perhaps the best known study stressing the
  influence of gender differences in socialisation
  on subsequent educational achievement is Just
  Like a Girl by Sue Sharpe.
• She argued in the 1970s that teenage girls had
  been socialised to focus on the importance of
  romance followed by the housewife /mother role
  rather than on the importance of education
  followed by a career.
• By the early 1990s, when she repeated the
  research, she found girls to be more concerned
  with their future career prospects. and her
  conclusion was supported in  a more recent 2000
  study by Becky Francis.
• Information on the Becky Francis study is
  provided later in the presentation.

10
Gender Differences in Socialisation

• Remember that the socialisation process may be
  analysed from different sociological perspectives
  and different ideological points of view.
• You should distinguish between Functionalist,
  Marxist, Feminist and Social Action sociological
  perspectives.
• Remember also the several varieties of feminism
  each of which provide different approaches to the
  analysis of the socialisation process.
• Also important are the approaches to
  socialisation of New Right theorists and
  Postmodernists.
• Remember, for example, that Functionalists would
  support the socialisation of males and females
  into traditional so-called instrumental and
  expressive gender roles, a view that feminists
  would reject.
• More information on socialisation in general and
  gender differences in socialisation in particular
  will soon be provided elsewhere on the site.

11
Female relative educational under-achievement
school effects

• Studies focusing on the education system for
  example in the work of  Lesley Best, Michelle
  Stanworth, B. Licht and C. Dweck and others
  claimed that widely used reading schemes
  encouraged socialisation into traditional gender
  roles that teachers gave less attention to
  girls that teachers failed to rebuke boys who
  verbally abused girls that boys monopolised
  science equipment which restricted girls'
  opportunities that teachers had stereotypical
  expectations about girls' future career
  prospects  and that girls were lacking in
  confidence relative to boys. because of the ways
  in which they were treated in school.
• It must be noted that these conclusions were all
  based upon small scale studies which  may, as a
  result not have been  representative. The studies
  are now rather dated but it is possible that
  female students still suffer some of these
  disadvantages but are improving more rapidly than
  boys despite this.
• It is still worthwhile for you to consult your
  textbooks for further information on these
  studies.

12
The Data to be explained from the late 1980s to
the present day.

• The GCSE was introduced in 1988 and from then
  onwards the female- male gender difference in
  educational achievement at GCSE level widened as
  differences between the higher female pass
  rates and the male pass rates in Arts and
  Humanities widened and females narrowed or
  sometimes reversed the traditional higher male
  pass rates in Mathematics and science subjects
• It has been claimed that the relative improvement
  of female educational achievements can be
  explained partly by the nature of the new GCSE
  courses .This has been disputed, however, on the
  grounds that several factors have contributed to
  these trends.
• By the late 1980s females were more likely than
  males to gain two or more Advanced Level passes
  and during the course of the 1990s they also
  became more likely to gain 3 or more A level
  passes.
• Females also soon became more likely than males
  to gain A grades in almost all Advanced Level
  subjects Nevertheless gender differences in
  examination performance at Advanced level are
  smaller than at GCSE level.
• Females are more likely than males to enrol on
  Undergraduate and Post Graduate courses.
• Males are still marginally more likely than
  females to gain First Class degrees but females
  are significantly more likely than males to gain
  Upper Second degrees.
• Nevertheless there are still some significant
  gender differences in subject choice at Advanced
  level and Degree level and these differences
  could potentially restrict womens future
  employment prospects.

13
The Data to be explained from the late 1980s to
the present day

• It is in any case necessary to consider the
  relative sizes of gender, social class and ethnic
  differences in educational achievement and to
  consider the interconnected effects of gender,
  ethnicity and social class on educational
  achievement.
• Gender differences in educational achievement are
  far smaller than social class differences in
  educational achievement. Students of both sexes
  who are eligible for free school meals are far
  less likely than students of both sexes
  ineligible to be successful at ll levels of the
  education system.
• Some ethnic differences in educational
  achievement are also greater than gender
  differences in educational achievement.
• Notice that females outperform males at GCSE
  level in all major ethnic groups and in all
  social classes. Data supporting these points can
  be found in my teaching notes on this topic

14
Recent data GCSE examinations in 2007-2008

• English , Mathematics and Sciences are compulsory
  GCSE subjects although not all students who enrol
  for these subjects will necessarily be entered
  for the GCSE examinations . Boys and girls are
  almost equally likely to be entered for these
  subject examinations although there are
  significant gender differences in favour of
  boys in entry rates for individual science
  subjects.
• In summary boys are more likely than girls to
  attempt Single Sciences, Design and Technology
  where there are also significant stereotypical
  gender differences in option choices,
  Information Technology, Business Studies,
  Geography  and PE.
• In summary girls are more likely than boys  to
  attempt Home Economics, Social Studies, Art and
  Design, English Literature, Drama, Media/Film/TV
  Studies and RE.
• The girls' A-C pass rates exceeds that of boys 
  almost every subject. The only exceptions in
  2007/2008 were Physics, Biological Sciences and
  P.E.

15
Recent Data GCSE Examinations 2007-2008 2

• Girls, even in the late 1960s were more likely
  than boys to gain 5 or more GCE Ordinary Level
  pass grades. From the 1960s to the 1980s the
  percentages of girls and boys gaining 5 or more
  GCE Ordinary Level pass grades gradually
  increased but the so-called "gender gap" in
  educational attainment increased especially once
  the GCSE was introduced primarily because girls
  have maintained their traditional higher
  attainment levels in Arts and Humanities subjects
  but also reduced and in some years overturned
  the traditional attainment gaps in favour of boys
  in Mathematics and Science subjects.
• In 2007-2008 69.3 of girls and 60.1 of boys
  achieved 5 or more GCSE Grade A-C passes 51.3
  of girls and 42.0 of boys achieved 5 or more
  GCSE Grade A-C passes including English and
  Maths.
• The gender difference in examination success
  varies considerably from subject to subject. For
  example girls in 2007-2008 girls outperformed
  boys by 14 in English, 16 in Design and
  Technology, 9 in Modern Foreign Languages, 17
  in Art and Design and 12 in English Literature
  but by only 1 in Mathematics, 2 in Core
  Sciences, 1 in Chemistry and 2 in Classical
  Studies.
• Although the data are not presented here Girls
  are now more likely to gain A and A grades in
  most but not all  GCSE subjects.

16
Recent Data GCSE and GCE Advanced Level Results
2010

• Click here and here and here and follow the
  various links for data on the 2010 GCSE and GCE
  Advanced Level Results.

17
Recent Data some useful links 1

• This slide has been revised in February 2012 to
  take account of more recent data
• Click here for my document on Gender and
  Educational Achievement where recent data on
  Gender, Free School Meal Eligibility and GCSE
  Examination Attainment are available
• There are significant gender differences in
  educational achievement between females eligible
  and ineligible for free school meals although it
  can also be shown that these differences are
  greater for white students than for students from
  other ethnic groups. Click here for my document
  on Ethnicity and Educational attainment for
  further information.
• Data in the above mentioned documents are taken
  from the DFE and you may click here for the full 
  revised  DFE statistics relating to 
  2010/2011GCSE results. The Statistical First
  Release provides very useful information and even
  more detail is provided in the accompanying
  EXCELTables. .
• In each case it is vital to remember that social
  class differences in educational achievement and
  some ethnic differences in educational
  achievement are greater than gender differences
  in educational achievement

18
Recent data some useful links 2

• This slide has been updated in February 2012
• Click here for the BBC News coverage of the 2008
  GCSE and Advanced Level examination results. Once
  you reach the BBC page follow the links on the
  left hand side of the page.
• Click here for the BBC coverage of the 2010 GCSE
  results.
• Click here for BBC coverage of the 2010 GCE
  Advanced Level Results
• Click here BBC coverage of the 2011 GCE Advanced
  Level Results
• Click here and here for GCSE results 2011 from
  the BBC.
• Click here for my document updated February
  2012 containing further data on Gender and
  Educational Achievement including information on
  undergraduate and post graduate qualifications
• Click here for my document on Gender and
  Educational Achievement and Subject Choice which
  contains several additional links.

19
Some Useful Links 3 New Slide added August 2012

• Click here and here for Guardian articles
  including numerical data and graphics on the 2012
  Advanced Level Results
• Click here and here for BBC articles on 2012
  Advanced Level Results

20
Some Useful Links 4 A New Slide added August 2012

• In all of my documents on Gender and Educational
  Achievement I have concentrated only on
  educational achievement at GCSE level and beyond.
• However students may also use Key Stage 1, 2 and
  3 data to assess whether and to what extent
  gender differences in educational achievement are
  apparent at an early age.
• Use the following links to access this data
• Recent Key Stage One Results
• Recent Key Stage Two Results
• Recent Key Stage Two and Three Results

21
Females relative educational improvement from
the 1980s onwards

• Click here and follow the subsequent relevant
  link for more detailed information from my
  teaching notes
• In order to analyse the relative educational
  improvement from the 1980s onwards we must
  distinguish between factors accelerating the rate
  of female improvement and factors restricting the
  rate of male improvement.
• Females and males educational achievements have
  improved but the rate of female improvement has
  been faster and this widened the female-male
  achievement gap especially at GCSE level.
• Remember, however, that gender, social class and
  ethnicity are interconnected. Girls are more
  successful than boys in all ethnic groups but
  middle class boys are still more educationally
  successful than working class girls in all ethnic
  groups.
• Gender differences in educational achievement are
  smaller than social class differences in
  educational achievement and some ethnic
  differences in educational achievement.

22
Possible factors explaining females increased
educational achievements 1

• As the relative rate of female educational
  improvement increased it came to be argued that
  this might be explained to some extent by
  biological factors.
• Experiments investigating the brain activities of
  male and female babies suggested that differences
  in the structures of female and male brains
  respectively may mean that females have
  genetically determined linguistic advantages
  which would explain females especial facility
  with language based subjects.
• It was also suggested that girls earlier
  maturity means that they can concentrate more
  effectively and are better organised especially
  in relation to course work.
• This was considered to be a significant point
  because the relative improvement in female GCSE
  results was associated especially with the
  introduction of coursework-based assessments
  which had been absent from the GCE Ordinary Level
  examinations which the GCSE replaced.
• However in relation to these theories it should
  be noted that male-female differences in Advanced
  level language examination results are small,
  that the relationships between physical and
  intellectual maturity are uncertain and that
  gender differences in examination results cannot
  be explained only by the presence or absence of
  coursework.

23
Possible factors explaining females increased
educational achievements 2

• It has been argued that in may families girls
  have traditionally been socialised to be
  relatively quiet, obedient and passive and to see
  their futures more in terms of marriage and
  motherhood rather than in terms of full time
  employment careers.
• However more parents nowadays are anxious to
  encourage both their sons and their daughters
  with reading and other study activities thereby
  reducing any relative female disadvantage.
• Furthermore since young children are most often
  taught to read by mainly female first school
  teachers and by their mothers this may have led
  children to believe that reading was primarily a
  feminine activity which may discourage some
  boys from engaging with it.
• This may occur especially in cases where mainly
  fathers are especially keen to encourage their
  sons sporting and other more active masculine
  leisure activities.
• Therefore not all gender differences in
  socialisation operate to the disadvantage of
  female students since they may also be encouraged
  through socialisation to take more interest in
  reading and thinking about personal issues. This
  may have been especially helpful for English,
  MFL and Humanities exactly the subjects in
  which female improvement has been fastest at
  GCSE level .
• However we must remember that girls have always
  been taught to read mainly by female teachers and
  by their mothers and so this factor does not on
  its own explain recent female relative
  educational improvement.
• There have also been important changes in the
  occupational structures of advanced industrial
  countries and in the nature of family life that
  have had a major impact on female attitudes to
  education.

24
Possible factors explaining females increased
educational achievements. 3

• Several factors combined in the post-2nd World
  War period to increase the availability of
  service industry and light manufacturing
  employment deemed especially suitable for women.
  More married women took up paid employment.
• Many more married women found employment in
  secretarial and shop work and in light
  manufacturing.
• A small minority of married women were employed
  in high status occupations a larger minority
  were employed in nursing, teaching especially in
  First and Middle schools and in social work.
  These were the so-called caring professions
  deemed especially suitable for women since the
  skills necessary appeared loosely related to the
  skills traditionally used by women in their roles
  as housewives and mothers.
• This increased employment of married women meant
  that they now provided less traditional role
  models for their daughters who would now
  increasingly expect to remain in employment after
  marriage. However career opportunities for women
  were still limited and this may have still have
  discouraged girls from focussing seriously on
  their education.
• However the availability of professional
  employment opportunities was gradually to
  increase for example as a result of the expansion
  of the Welfare State and the financial sector of
  the economy which gradually tended to alter
  female attitudes towards education and future
  careers.

25
Possible factors explaining females increasing
educational achievements 3

• The increased employment of married women was one
  factor which was said to have encouraged a shift
  from asymmetrical to symmetrical family forms.
• Although the extent of such changes should not be
  overstated it is certainly possible that in more
  symmetrical families girls were less likely to be
  socialised to accept that their futures would
  automatically be as full-time housewives and
  mothers rather than as paid employees.
• In the 1950s and 1960s there may well have been
  significant social class differences in gender
  socialisation. Many middle class parents
  encouraged the daughters to pursue their
  education seriously even in the 1950s whereas
  working class parents were less likely to do so.
• However it is likely that by the 1980s working
  class parents also became increasingly likely to
  encourage their daughters to prioritise their
  education.

26
Possible factors explaining female students
increased educational achievements 4

• The effects of changes in family organisation and
  parental attitudes were complemented by changing
  attitudes within the education system itself.
• Feminists ,and teachers influenced by Feminism,
  emphasised the importance of womens rights in
  family ,school and work place.
• Some female students were influenced by these
  ideas, especially perhaps by the Liberal Feminist
  version of Feminism.
• Therefore more female students decided that they
  might want good careers in the future instead of
  or as well as marriage.
• They recognised that if they were well educated
  and in well paid careers this would significantly
  improve potential family living standards if and
  when they did marry.
• Some recognised the possible inaccuracy of the
  romanticised view of married life and may also
  have noted that the increase in the divorce
  statistics suggested the possibility that they
  might need to support themselves and children
  financially after divorce.

27
Possible factors explaining female students
increased educational achievements 5

• The conclusions of the earlier sociological
  studies of female educational disadvantage now
  led feminists and other educational reformers to
  propose educational reforms that would remove
  gender discrimination within the education.
• Significant reforms were introduced.
• More emphasis was placed on equal opportunities
  issues in teacher training courses , schools, and
  school inspections.
• Better teaching resources were developed which
  aimed at avoidance of gender stereotyping
• Under the terms of the National Curriculum
  introduced in 1988 GCSE Science was made
  compulsory for all students as a result of which
  more female students entered for and gained A-C
  grades in GCSE Science examinations.
• Academics and teachers combined to form GIST
  Girls into Science and Technology and WISE
  Women into Science and Engineering was set up
  by the Equal Opportunities Commission and the
  Engineering Council. These organisations aimed to
  produce more girl friendly Science teaching
  resources and to broaden female career horizons.
• Careers advice for female students began to
  improve
• The greater emphasis on examination results and
  the introduction of league tables made it
  increasingly necessary for schools to maximise
  both boys and girls examination results as a
  means of safeguarding/improving league table
  performance.

28
Possible factors explaining female students
increased educational achievements 5B GIST

• The effectiveness of GIST and WISE should not be
  overstated
• In the GIST programme1979-1983 researchers
  worked  in 10 co-educational comprehensive
  schools to try to raise teacher awareness of
  equal opportunities issues and to encourage more
  girls to opt for Sciences at GCE and CSE levels.
• The final report concluded that the initiative
  had improved girls' attitudes to Science and
  Technology only  slightly.
• Girls' enrolments in GCE and CSE Science
  increased only slightly.
• Teachers , although sympathetic to the programme
  said that they had not modified their teaching
  practices substantially as a result.
• However the GIST initiative could be regarded as
  an early pilot programme which has encouraged
  many subsequent equal opportunities initiatives
  

29
Possible factors explaining female students
increased educational achievements 5C WISE

• The WISE programme was set up as a national
  initiative by the Equal Opportunities Commission
  and the Engineering Council in 1984 and was
  designed to raise awareness of the need for more
  female scientists and technologists and to
  emphasise the attractiveness for girls, young
  women and older women seeking to retrain of 
  careers in Science and Technology.
• WISE is still in operation and its website points
  out that whereas about 20 years ago only 4 of
  Engineering undergraduates were women the figure
  for 2009 was 13.
• Obviously WISE itself may well have contributed
  to this increase at least to some extent.  

30
Possible Factors Explaining Females Relatively
Rapid Educational Improvement Becky Francis
Study Boys, Girls and Achievement Addressing
the Classroom Issues 2000

• The findings of  Becky Francis in this  study 
  encapsulate many of the above points .
• She argues that in so far as girls are improving
  more rapidly than boys , this is to be explained 
  primarily in terms of the processes affecting the
  social construction of femininity and
  masculinity. In relation to the social
  construction of femininity, she argues that many
  girls of middle school and secondary school age
  aim to construct feminine identities which
  emphasise the importance of maturity and a
  relatively quiet and orderly approach to school
  life.
• Girls certainly do take considerable interest in
  their appearance and may choose to rebel quietly
  by talking at the back of the class or feigning
  lack of interest but , according to Becky
  Francis, not in a way which will detract from
  their school studies. Their femininity is
  constructed in such a way that if they choose to
  behave sensibly and work hard this, if anything,
  adds to their femininity.

31
Becky Francis 2

• No evidence is found to the effect that girls
  nowadays worry that evidence of intelligence and
  hard work may render them unattractive to boys 
  and attitudes within female friendship groups are
  likely to strengthen rather than undermine girls'
  commitment to their school work. although
  ,admittedly , however, girls do not wish to be
  perceived as "nerds", interested in school work
  and nothing else. Increasingly also  by
  comparison , say with the girls interviewed by
  Sue Sharpe in the first edition of "Just Like a
  Girl" teenage girls nowadays have gradually come
  to prioritise the importance of gaining good
  academic qualifications as a means of improving
  their own career prospects rather than assuming
  that their future employment is likely to be of
  secondary importance by comparison with their
  likely future roles as housewives and mothers.

32
Becky Francis 3

• Thus the girls in Becky Francis sample express
  interest in a relatively wide variety of careers
  are relatively unlikely to favour stereotypical
  female careers such as nurse, clerical worker or
  air hostess are quite likely to express
  interest in careers usually associated with men
  and very likely to express interest in careers
  for which further education, higher education and
  a degree will be necessary. However broadly
  traditional patterns of career choice do remain
  in that the girls are more likely to choose
  careers associated with the Humanities or the
  caring professions than with Science, Mathematics
  or Engineering. Also very importantly the girls
  believe strongly that they are likely to face
  gender discrimination in employment and Becky
  Francis sees this as a major reason why girls are
  increasingly keen to work hard to achieve good
  educational qualifications.

33
Explaining the relatively slow rate of male
educational improvement 1

• For more detailed information click here and then
  on the relevant subsequent link.
• Continued existence of laddish, macho anti-
  school subculture.
• Boys may sometimes overestimate their abilities
  and consequently make limited progress.
• Male socialisation process inhibits development
  of linguistic and interpretive skills.
• Change in occupational structure and the decline
  of manufacturing industry has demoralised some
  boys whose preferred work choices disappear which
  may encourage misbehaviour in school.
• Misbehaviour leads to poor concentration and
  possible exclusion

34
Explaining the slower rate of male educational
improvement 2

• Possibility that teachers dont do enough to
  discourage laddish culture
• Negative teacher labelling of boys
• Emphasis on poor boys results discourages some
  boys even more.
• However many boys especially but not only middle
  class boys are academically ambitious and many
  others now recognise the greater importance of
  educational qualifications as a means of securing
  steady employment
• Possibility of exaggerated moral panic over
  boys examination results linked to the
  development of a UK Underclass.
• Backlash type arguments claims that schools have
  overemphasised relative female educational
  disadvantage to the detriment of male students.
  Educational reform should now give greater
  priority to boys educational difficulties.

35
Slower Male Educational Improvement 3 Moral
Panic, Underclass and Backlash Arguments

• Issues around the concepts of moral panic and
  underclass are complex. For some further
  information click here and then on the subsequent
  relevant link.
• The relative improvement in female educational
  achievement especially at GCSE level was
  presented in some sections of the mass media in
  ways which intensified the so-called Moral
  Panic which developed in the 1980s surrounding
  the growth of a so-called underclass of
  unemployed, criminally inclined and welfare
  dependent individuals who because of their
  feckless behaviour should be seen as part of the
  undeserving poor to use rather older
  terminology.
• In conservative versions of the underclass theory
  as expounded primarily by Charles Murray it is
  argued that the development of the underclass can
  best be held back by denial or reduction of
  social security payments which will force these
  people to stand on their own two feet etc.

36
An Underclass? 2

• The argument that an increasing proportion of
  schoolboys make little effort in school to
  improve their own prospects lends support to the
  underclass theory.
• Furthermore the underclass theory lends support
  to New Right ideas that it is desirable in any
  case to restrict the scope of the welfare state
  so that, for example, taxation can be reduced.
• Some theorists argue, therefore, that the whole
  issue of boys educational difficulties has been
  exaggerated to act as a support for New Right
  ideology.
• Nevertheless there are also structural versions
  of the Underclass theory which are not linked to
  New Right ideology and one can analyse relative
  male educational underachievement without linking
  it in any way to theories of the underclass.
• You may wish to investigate further the concepts
  of moral panic and underclass

37
Slower Male Educational Improvement Backlash
Arguments

• Writers such as Susan Faludi suggested that there
  was evidence in the mass media of a growing
  anti-feminist backlash in which it was argued
  that anti-discrimination and equal opportunities
  had now gone so far that it was now males who
  were more likely than females to experience
  discrimination.
• In relation to education it was argued that
  specifically female friendly education policies
  had become one of the prime causes of male
  relative educational underachievement.
• Against this Susan Faludi herself argues that
  women clearly continue to face various forms of
  gender discrimination .
• With regard to education critics of the
  backlash approach argue that much more credible
  explanations for gender differences in
  educational achievement can be found.
• For more information click here and then on the
  subsequent relevant link for more information on
  backlash arguments.

38
Gender Differences in Educational Achievement
Conclusion

• Since the late 1980s relative female educational
  achievement has increased at all levels of the
  educational system such that they now out-perform
  males at GCSE and GCE Advanced levels and are
  more likely than males to enrol on undergraduate
  and post graduate courses.
• Their relative improvement can be found in
  factors operative in the family and wider society
  and in the schools themselves.
• Nevertheless may mainly working class females are
  still relatively unsuccessful in the education
  system such that class and some ethnic
  differences in educational achievement are
  greater than gender differences in educational
  achievement.
• The slower rate of relative male educational
  underachievement may be explained in terms of the
  ongoing extent of laddish behaviour and the
  difficulty that some boys appear to face in
  coming to terms with the subject matter of some
  Humanities subjects although neither of these
  arguments apply to all boys.
• You should also familiarise yourselves with the
  relevance of the concepts of moral panic and the
  underclass and with so-called backlash arguments
  for the analysis of this topic.
• Good luck!