There are significant differences between the genders in terms of the educational success of girls and of boys.
In the 1960s, boys achieved results that were on average 5% better than girls. Until the mid 1980s, boys out-performed girls at all levels of the education system, with the exception of 11+. Most educational writers read this as being 'proof ' that girls were generally less intelligent than boys and that boys were 'late developers '.
There was little serious challenge to this type of thinking until the 1960s and 1970s when feminists pointed out that the better school performance of boys was not the result of the superiority of male intelligence, but that the educational experiences of boys and girls were very different.
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Furthermore, Hartman points out that the attention that is paid to gender differences in achievement is large when compared to the way much larger differences in attainment between the social classes are ignored.
Traditionally high achieving females have come from middle-class backgrounds. Riddell (1992) found that middle-class girls shared the achievement values of the school and sought the approval of teachers. Working-class girls saw their futures in terms of the local job market combined with motherhood and domesticity. However, Sharpe (1994) found working-class girls ' attitudes had changed dramatically in the past 20 years with careers, travel and independence now increasingly valued.
Such attitudes reflect what Wilkinson (1994) refers to as the 'genderquake ' whereby young females are increasingly striving for a fulfilling career with good earning potential. Thus young women are more confident, assertive and ambitious; striving for gender equality. There has been a huge growth in the numbers of women working, with successful career women operating as positive role models. In 2005, figures show nearly double the number of women entering high status careers such as medicine and the law. Working mothers are providing positive role models for their daughters. Fuller (1984) found in her study of black girls in Brent, that girls were motivated not to end up in dead-end jobs like their mothers. Working class unqualified women still tend to be
Whilst there are factors outside school, internal factors also impact gender differences in educational achievements hugely. According to Tony Sewell, boys fall behind in education because schools have become more 'feminised', as indicated in Item A. This means that feminine traits such as methodical working and attentiveness have
Historically boys were top of the class. Today that is no longer the case. A recent article in The Economist discusses a 2009 study by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) that examined how 15-year-old boys and girls performed in reading, mathematics and science. They found that girls are performing better than their male classmates. This gender gap is worldwide. Girls score higher than boys on tests measuring reading ability in every country in the world (Loveless).
There are multiple reasons why Kelley King, Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens are on the pro side. For one reason, they believe that the differences exist due to boys being more interactive with certain topics and methods that don’t usually interest girls or vice versa. For example, the Wamsley Elementary School in Rifle, Colorado has both boy and girl students. However, in the past, the girl students over accomplished the boy students due to the school staff being more experienced in understanding how to teach girls than understanding how to teach boys. So, the school focused on teaching the boys with their own learning styles that are also girl friendly such as online courses. The result of this was successful as boys became more accomplished than they were from before. (Pages 147 – 148).
However, its argued that the improvement of females in education could be the result of the decline of males, therefore making the gap between gender differences not that significant.
Lately this “boy code” increases a problem of the gender gap between boys and girls in terms of academic, social, and work performance.
Assess the claim that gender differences in educational achievement are primarily the ‘result of changes in wider society’.
An ever changing, yet common issue, in today's generation revolves around how society views gender. The general consensus dictates that gender, as a whole, is a spectrum, rather than a standard set for each individual male and female to follow throughout everyday life. However, there are those individuals who wish to remain reluctant in changing their view of society. Some believe it is better to allow the education system to be segregated by gender, in order to provide more resources to both girls and boys. One person in favor of this public education reform is David Brooks, a neuroscientist who published the article titled “The Gender Gap at School.” A thorough analysis of the effects of literature on men and women, biological factors
Over time there has been a change in gender success throughout education “coming into the late 1980’s girls were less likely than boys to obtain one or more A-levels and were less likely to go on to higher education however 1990 's there was a sudden reversal girl were doing better than boys and In 2006 10% more females were obtaining 2 or more A-levels than males (Trueman,2016)”. In today’s society feminist’s doubt that the topic in school want girls to achieve less like the model also considers that gender stereotyping may still be in society as boys are believed to fit better in the workforce than girls. The distinction between girls and boys are often sketched on sex and ideas of biology Dr Zuleyka mention that “Sex are the biological traits that societies use to assign people into the category of either male or female, whether it be through a focus on chromosomes, genitalia or some other physical ascription." (Zevallos), Gender does not depend on biological personality it is an idea that describes how societies determine and manage sex categories also determined by what an individual feels and does. Girls are more conscientious and mature while boys are seen as a liability student. A parent who spends less time reading to their son impact their son to achieve a lower grade. Many jobs tend to be dominated by one gender for example nursing which is seen as a female job. Girls do consistently better than boys at all levels and likely to get higher grades
McArdle says “We should start teaching them according to how they learn, not according to some idea that boys and girls have to learn the same way” (167). This could be a new possible system of teaching the two sexes differently without holding anyone back in the process. Male and female have different brain activity and also very different ways of learning. When it comes to teaching there needs to be a more specific study, to come with a more evolved teaching criteria. Lastly Conlin says “A new world has opened up for girls, but unless a symmetrical effort is made to help boys find their footing, it may turn out that it’s a lonely place to be. After all, it takes more than one gender to have a gender revolution” (179). Schools need to start taking responsibility for what goes on in schools and their teaching methods that are failing everyone especially
In "The Mind of Man" by David Thomas, the academic performances of both men and women are scrutinized. He quotes an old calypso song "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" (120). But is this true, and if it is true, why are women generally regarded as being smarter, especially in their primary and secondary education?
However social class is not the only factor influencing educational achievement; Girls achieve higher grades than boys in Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) and GCSE’s (Mitsos and Browne, 1998), in 2010 to 2011 54.3 per cent of black pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE compared to 58 per cent of white pupils and 61.8 per cent of Asian pupils (Attew, 2012). Therefore educational achievement is also affected by gender and ethnicity.
Why do these gender gaps exist? Researchers believe that cultural and social factors, as well as educational, and attitudinal factors contribute to this gap. Cultural beliefs that boys excel in math and science and that girls excel in the arts can be passed down through generations and adults who may not even realize it are acting on these beliefs (Sanders, 1997). “Subtle and unintended messages can create the idea among girls and boys that there are fields
The class I was in when observing had boys and girls raging from ages of 3 to 5 with two female teachers. Ages 3, 4 and 5 are years with huge growth in developmental milestones for kids. They go through many physical, cognitive, emotional/social and language changes from the time the become young children instead of toddlers. Observing a room full of girls and boys I got to compare and contrast the differences in the way each gender develops. It is said girls and boys usually develop at different rates. During my observations I saw that girls and boys not necessarily developed at different rates, but develop in different areas quicker than the other gender. Physically yes, boys were slightly taller and more filled out than girls. Both genders were very high energy,
Gender differences occur in many aspects of a person’s life whether it is culture, politics, occupation, family and relationships, or the economy (just to name a few). One major difference in gender occurs in learning and education in the elementary and secondary levels. Research has found that males and females learn differently in many aspects of education. First of all, female and male brains are constructed differently affecting the way they learn; this leads to basic differences in learning and also gives an introduction into why the way one learns differs according to gender and how males and females learn subjects and tasks differently. Second, males and females are treated differently, sometimes unconsciously, in educational
Gender equity in terms of education is about the socialization of men and women and the results of this process on the life outcomes of the two genders (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). In the United States, the education system is required to treat males and females equally. There has been much research done to compare the genders in all areas. In the past, research has found that women fall far behind men in many areas such as math, and science, but men lag behind women in certain areas as well. Over the years, many provisions have been made with the goal of equalizing the treatment of girls and boys in public education. These improvements are proven successful as women, as well as men, are advancing in areas where they tend to lag