SECTION B: Gender

Question 1

DFE 2017 Evidence:

Answer 1

• Across all ethnic groups, girls were more likely to achieve A* to C in English and Maths GCSE than boys - 67% of girls, compared to 59% of boys.
• The smallest gap between boys and girls, at 3% points, was found in the Gypsy/Roma ethnic group, where 12% of girls achieve A* to C in English and Maths GCSE compare to 9% of boys.
• The largest gap between boys and girls, was found in the Black Caribbean ethnic group, where 58% of girls achieved A* to C in English and Maths GCSE compared to 44% of boys.
• Of the broach ethnic groups, Chinese girls had the highest percentage achieving A* to C in English and Maths GCSE (88%), while Black boys had the lowest (53%).

Question 2

Ethnicity and gender educational attainment:

Answer 2

• The pupils least likely to achieve were Gypsy/Roma boys 9% of this group attained A* to C in English and Maths GCSE.
• Across all ethics groups, pupils eligible for free school meals were less likely to achieve A* to C in English and maths GCSE than those not eligible: 39% of eligible compared to 67% who weren’t.

Question 3

External Factors:

Answer 3

Factors outside of the educational system such as the home, family and wider society.

Question 4

Internal Factors:

Answer 4

Factors within the school, the educational system.

Question 5

Madeline Arnot (1999):

Answer 5

Pointed to a growing number of female teachers in secondary schools who have disseminated feminist ideals to girls and acted as positive role models.

Question 6

Angela McRobbie (1994)

Answer 6

Images in the media reinforce string independent, assertive women in her study of girls magazines.

Question 7

Changes in family:

Answer 7

Major changes since the 1970s. An increase in the divorce rate, an increase in cohabitation and decrease in the number of first time marriages and an increase in the number of lone parent families, smaller families.

Question 8

Changes in job market:

Answer 8

• Changing attitudes of women reflect a change in employment opportunities for women.
• In 1971, 53% of women of working age were in employment as opposed to 67% in 2014.
• In the same period male employment fell, reflecting a decline in jobs in manufacturing industries.
• Expansion in the service sector, where more women are employed, has expanded and an increasing number of these jobs require degree qualifications.

Question 9

Sue Sharpe (1976):

Answer 9

Woking class teenage girls in London schools in the 1970s found their main priorities for the future were love, marriage, husbands and children.

Question 10

Becky Francis and Christine Skelton (2005):

Answer 10

Found that the majority of pupils in both primary and secondary schools saw their future identity in terms of their careers, rather than seeing employment as a stop gap before marriage.

Question 11

Ulrich Beck’s ‘risk society’:

Answer 11

• Society is moving into an era of second modernity, in which society is characterised by greater risk and uncertainty.
• Young women are putting their own financial independence first, and are more wary of the risks associated with marriage and economic dependence on men.

Question 12

Geoff Hannan (2000)

Answer 12

Boys relate to peers by doing, whilst girls relate to one another by talking. Research suggests that girls develop language skills much sooner than boys. Girls appear to mature earlier than boys, are seemed to be more motivated and generally work harder.

Question 13

Burns and Bracey (2001):

Answer 13

Appear to put more effort into theory homework, and unlike boys are prepared to draft and redraft assignments.

Question 14

Internal factors include:

Answer 14

• Changes within the education system.
• Equal opportunities policies
• Positive role models
• GCSE and coursework
• Teacher attention
• Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
• Selection and league tables: marketisation policies.

Question 15

Changes within the education system:

Answer 15

Positive action to boost girls achievement: schemes such as GIST and WISE have encouraged girls to study more male dominated subjects.

Question 16

Changes within the education system 2:

Answer 16

Emphasise on coursework: the introduction of GCSE in 19888 placed greater emphasis on coursework and it has been argued that this benefitted girls as they tended to be more organised and better at completing work by deadline.

Question 17

Eirene Mitsos and Ken Browne (1998):

Answer 17

Support view suggesting that girls are ore successful than boys because they are more conscientious.

Question 18

Changes within the education system: AO3

Answer 18

On average girls from poorer backgrounds achieved less well in their GCSE’s than girls not of free school meals.

Question 19

Boys and Achievement:

Answer 19

A crisis in masculinity: Mac and Ghail (1994)
Lad culture (Hargreaves 1967. Willis 1977 and Mac and Ghail 1994)
Debbie Epstein (1998) found that working class boys were more likely to be harassed and negatively labelled if they appeared to be 'swots'