Topic: Sociology of Education.
Gender and Achievement - Part 1.
1. Getting started.
A) Complete the ‘getting started’ activity on page 50.
Completed on paper.
B) What important changes have occurred in recent times in relation to gender
differences in educational achievement?
In recent years, there have been some important changes in this area. In particular, while
both sexes have raised their level of achievement, girls have now overtaken boys. In the
1960s and the 1970s, concerned about girls as they were heavily focused on family and
marriage rather than university and a career. However, this has now changed as girls are
now heavily focused on subject choices, university, and ambition.
C) What are the main concerns for today for sociologists in relation to gender
differences in education?
This has now shifted to a concern on male underachievement, it’s described as ‘one of the
most disturbing problems facing the education system’ by Chief Inspector of Schools in
England from 1994-2000, Chris Woodhead. For example, in 2023 - 71.7% of female
students compared with 64.9% of male students achieved a grade 4 or higher at GCSE
level.
2. The gender gap in achievement.
A) Describe the gender differences in achievement - use information from the key
readings and your own research.
Official statistics provide insights on differences between genders in achievements. All from
the education policy institute.
- Historically, girls have outperformed boys in education phases. The gap among
pupils aged 5 is already quite marked; girls were 3.2 months ahead of boys in 2022.
The gender gap increased in 2022 from 2.9 months in 2019, reversing the
gap-narrowing trend from 2013-2019.
- Primary school: By the end of primary school, the gender gap has shrunk compared
to reception year. In 2022, boys were 2.1 months behind girls which is a smaller gap
than in 2019 (2.4 months). Establishing that girls have a clear lead over boys.
- Secondary school: Whilst the gender gap, unlike the gaps for disadvantaged pupils
and other vulnerable groups, reduces as children progress through primary school, it
widens again in secondary. In 2022, boys were 5.0 months behind girls averaged
across GCSE maths and English. 6.3 month gap as recorded in 2019.
- At the early years foundation stage, there are five areas of learning that comprise the
Department for Education’s ‘good level of development’ measure. Girls are
outperforming boys in all these aspects. The maths gap narrowed to 1.2 months in
2022, whilst the gaps for all other areas widened, reaching 2.8 months in literacy.
Boys were further behind girls in fine motor skills.
, - As with attainment at age 5, it is clear that the performance of boys and girls is
subject-dependent. Girls outperform boys in reading by 5.5 months in 2022, and boys
outperform girls in maths by 2.0 months.
- Girls were 9.6 months ahead of boys in GCSE English in 2022. Markedly higher than
the reading gap at the end of primary school for the 2022 cohort of 5.5 months. The
gap for GCSE maths was negligible at 0.4 months in favour of girls, indicating boys
no longer have an advantage over girls at the end of primary school.
- A levels; B or above girls perform better, A or above girls slightly perform better, A*
boys outperform girls.
- On vocational courses, a large promotion of girls achieve distinctions in every
subject, including those in engineering and construction where girls are a tiny
minority of these students.
3. Explanations for the gender differences in achievement.
A) What do sociologists mean by external and internal factors in relation to explanations
for gender differences in educational achievement?
External factors are factors outside the education system, such as home and family
background, and wider society. Many sociologists argue that gender differences in
achievement, and especially the more rapid improvement in girls’ results, can best be
explained by changes that have occurred in factors outside of school. Such as the impact of
feminism, changes in the family, changes in women’s employment, and girls’ changing
perceptions and ambitions.
B) Outline five external factors that could explain gender differences in educational
achievement.
- The impact of feminism: Feminism is a social movement that strives for equal rights
for women in all areas of life. Since the 1960s, the feminist movement has
challenged the traditional stereotype of a women’s role as solely that of a mother and
housewife in a patriarchal nuclear family and inferior to men outside the home, in
work, education and the law. Although feminists argue that we have not yet achieved
full equality between the sexes, the feminist movement has had considerable
success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changes in the law.
More broadly, feminism has raised women’s expectations and self-esteem. These
changes are partly reflected in media images and messages. A good illustration of
this comes from McRobbie’s (1994) study of girls’ magazines. In the 1970s, they
emphasised the importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’,
whereas nowadays, they contain images of assertive, independent women. As we
shall see, the changes encouraged by feminism may affect girls’ self-image and
ambitions with regard to family and careers. In turn, this may explain improvements
in their educational achievement.
- Changes in the family: There has been major changes in the family since the 1970s,
these include: An increase in the divorce rate, an increase in cohabiting and a
decrease in the number of first marriages, an increase in the number of lone-parent
families, smaller families. These changes are affecting girls’ attitudes towards
education in a number of ways. For example, increased numbers of female-headed
lone-parent families may mean more women need to take on the breadwinner role.
This in turn creates a new adult role model for girls - this financially independent
woman. To achieve this independence, women need well-paid jobs and thus
qualifications. Likewise, the increase in the divorce rate may suggest to girls that it is
Gender and Achievement - Part 1.
1. Getting started.
A) Complete the ‘getting started’ activity on page 50.
Completed on paper.
B) What important changes have occurred in recent times in relation to gender
differences in educational achievement?
In recent years, there have been some important changes in this area. In particular, while
both sexes have raised their level of achievement, girls have now overtaken boys. In the
1960s and the 1970s, concerned about girls as they were heavily focused on family and
marriage rather than university and a career. However, this has now changed as girls are
now heavily focused on subject choices, university, and ambition.
C) What are the main concerns for today for sociologists in relation to gender
differences in education?
This has now shifted to a concern on male underachievement, it’s described as ‘one of the
most disturbing problems facing the education system’ by Chief Inspector of Schools in
England from 1994-2000, Chris Woodhead. For example, in 2023 - 71.7% of female
students compared with 64.9% of male students achieved a grade 4 or higher at GCSE
level.
2. The gender gap in achievement.
A) Describe the gender differences in achievement - use information from the key
readings and your own research.
Official statistics provide insights on differences between genders in achievements. All from
the education policy institute.
- Historically, girls have outperformed boys in education phases. The gap among
pupils aged 5 is already quite marked; girls were 3.2 months ahead of boys in 2022.
The gender gap increased in 2022 from 2.9 months in 2019, reversing the
gap-narrowing trend from 2013-2019.
- Primary school: By the end of primary school, the gender gap has shrunk compared
to reception year. In 2022, boys were 2.1 months behind girls which is a smaller gap
than in 2019 (2.4 months). Establishing that girls have a clear lead over boys.
- Secondary school: Whilst the gender gap, unlike the gaps for disadvantaged pupils
and other vulnerable groups, reduces as children progress through primary school, it
widens again in secondary. In 2022, boys were 5.0 months behind girls averaged
across GCSE maths and English. 6.3 month gap as recorded in 2019.
- At the early years foundation stage, there are five areas of learning that comprise the
Department for Education’s ‘good level of development’ measure. Girls are
outperforming boys in all these aspects. The maths gap narrowed to 1.2 months in
2022, whilst the gaps for all other areas widened, reaching 2.8 months in literacy.
Boys were further behind girls in fine motor skills.
, - As with attainment at age 5, it is clear that the performance of boys and girls is
subject-dependent. Girls outperform boys in reading by 5.5 months in 2022, and boys
outperform girls in maths by 2.0 months.
- Girls were 9.6 months ahead of boys in GCSE English in 2022. Markedly higher than
the reading gap at the end of primary school for the 2022 cohort of 5.5 months. The
gap for GCSE maths was negligible at 0.4 months in favour of girls, indicating boys
no longer have an advantage over girls at the end of primary school.
- A levels; B or above girls perform better, A or above girls slightly perform better, A*
boys outperform girls.
- On vocational courses, a large promotion of girls achieve distinctions in every
subject, including those in engineering and construction where girls are a tiny
minority of these students.
3. Explanations for the gender differences in achievement.
A) What do sociologists mean by external and internal factors in relation to explanations
for gender differences in educational achievement?
External factors are factors outside the education system, such as home and family
background, and wider society. Many sociologists argue that gender differences in
achievement, and especially the more rapid improvement in girls’ results, can best be
explained by changes that have occurred in factors outside of school. Such as the impact of
feminism, changes in the family, changes in women’s employment, and girls’ changing
perceptions and ambitions.
B) Outline five external factors that could explain gender differences in educational
achievement.
- The impact of feminism: Feminism is a social movement that strives for equal rights
for women in all areas of life. Since the 1960s, the feminist movement has
challenged the traditional stereotype of a women’s role as solely that of a mother and
housewife in a patriarchal nuclear family and inferior to men outside the home, in
work, education and the law. Although feminists argue that we have not yet achieved
full equality between the sexes, the feminist movement has had considerable
success in improving women’s rights and opportunities through changes in the law.
More broadly, feminism has raised women’s expectations and self-esteem. These
changes are partly reflected in media images and messages. A good illustration of
this comes from McRobbie’s (1994) study of girls’ magazines. In the 1970s, they
emphasised the importance of getting married and not being ‘left on the shelf’,
whereas nowadays, they contain images of assertive, independent women. As we
shall see, the changes encouraged by feminism may affect girls’ self-image and
ambitions with regard to family and careers. In turn, this may explain improvements
in their educational achievement.
- Changes in the family: There has been major changes in the family since the 1970s,
these include: An increase in the divorce rate, an increase in cohabiting and a
decrease in the number of first marriages, an increase in the number of lone-parent
families, smaller families. These changes are affecting girls’ attitudes towards
education in a number of ways. For example, increased numbers of female-headed
lone-parent families may mean more women need to take on the breadwinner role.
This in turn creates a new adult role model for girls - this financially independent
woman. To achieve this independence, women need well-paid jobs and thus
qualifications. Likewise, the increase in the divorce rate may suggest to girls that it is
