Gender differences in educational attainment

1. In educational attainment

2. 

In the 1960s and 1970s sociologists were
concerned about the underachievement of
girls.
By the 1990s this concern had switched to
the boys.

5. 





The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
found girls scored higher on all tests.
62% of girls could concentrate for 10 minutes
Only 49% of boys could
56% of girls could write/spell their name
42% of boys could
DfES (2007) 70% of children with special
educational needs are boys

6. 
Girls do better in all subjects

Although the gap is less in Maths and Science

7. 
There is around a 10% difference between
boys and girls achieving 5 GCSEs at grade
A-C

8. 


Girls are more likely to pass and get higher
grades.
The gap is much narrower than at GCSE.
(2006) 95.8% of girls passed two or more
Alevels and only 94% of boys did.

9. 
Both genders have improved every year

It’s just that girls have improved more

Not all boys underachieve (Coffrey, 2001)

10. 


Certain groups of boys are more likely to fail
than others
Social class is a huge determining factor in
this
(Epstein et al, 1998)
Class has over 5 times the effect of gender
on attainment (Gilbourne and Mirza, 2000)

11. 


When the 11+ test was introduced in the
1940s more girls passed than boys
The results had to be ‘adjusted’
So girls doing better is not necessarily a new
phenomena (Chitty, 2002)

12. 
Create a mind map of reasons for this
‘gender gap’

13. 
Factors affecting achievement can be split
into two categories.
INTERNAL FACTORS
EXTERNAL FACTORS

14. 1.
2.
3.
What is feminism?
Briefly describe two different strands of
feminism
Outline how feminism may have helped girls
achieve more at school

15. 1.
Feminism is a social movement concerned
with equal rights for women in all areas of
life.

16. 



Liberal feminism – seeks to create equality
through changes to the law.
Marxist feminism – believes that inequality
stems from the capitalist economic system.
Radical feminism – believes inequality
stems from male power (Patriarchy) and only
truly radical solutions will work
Difference feminism – notes the
importance of individual experience (not all
women experience the same difficulties)

17. Sue Sharpe ‘Just like a girl’ (1976 and 1994)
Found that 1990s girls were
 More assertive
 More ambitious
 More confident
Main priorities of 70s girls were
‘love, marriage, and children’

18. 

Feminism has challenged the ‘traditional’
image of women as housewives and mothers
only.
Feminism has challenged the gender binary

19. Masculine
Feminine
Dominant
Strong
Logical
Aggressive
Protective
Sexually assertive
Blue
Breadwinner
Sporty
Competitive
Submissive
Weak
Emotional
Passive
In need of protection
Sexually passive
Pink
Homemaker
Caring
Sensitive

20. 

From the moment children are born, they are
assigned a gender that will affect the ways
people interact with them.
Children learn gendered norms and gender
stereotypes

21. 
Choice of toys

23. 


In the 60s and 70s women were often
depicted in domestic roles.
The ladybird reading scheme was used in
many schools.
How might the following images normalise
gendered roles?

26. 


Angela McRobbie (1994)
Content analysis of girl’s magazines from the
70s and 90s
Jackie magazine emphasised the importance
of getting married and not getting ‘left on the
shelf’

27. 


Angela McRobbie (1994)
Modern magazines have images of
assertive, independent women.
Similarly TV programmes have more positive
female role models.

30. 

Perform your own content analysis on some
modern magazines.
What images are they portraying to young
women?

31. Can you think of any girl power icons or
positive role models from the media?