Why are boys making slower progress?

Why are boys making slower progress?

1. Changes in Job market

   • Fewer manual jobs- the crisis of masculinity
     • Decline in manual work and the growth in services
     • Globaisation - jobs moving abroad
     • All leads to lack of motivation
   • Impact of women working/need for soft skills
     • More feminine skills and professions
       • e.g teaching and social work
   • The growth of NEETS
     • Not in education, employment or training
     • Mainly men

2. Laddish behaviour/ peer pressure

   • Setting and Streaming
     • W/C - lower sets and streams- demotivation and can cause people to give up
   • 'To work was social death'
     • praise meant embaressment not reward
     • bright suffered due to anti-school atmosphere
     • Social class played a role
       • Cultural Deprivation
   • Anti-School subcultures
     • Culture of masculinity - education is not associated with males and therefore is not macho
       • 'Learning to labour' Paul willis

3. Teacher's expectations of boys

   • What do you expect from boys
     • Expected to be trouble
       • Interactionalism 
   • Lack of male role models at school
     • Female teachers are the majority - nothing to aspire to be
   • Over emphasis on 'girl friendly' teaching
     • Introduction of coursework and GCSES -Girls do better
     • Didactic teaching

4. It will be alright on the night approach

   • Over estimating ability/ preparedness
     • Fatalisitc
       • Barber 1996
     • Girls underestimate themselves
   • 'busking' exams
   • Unrealistic ambitions/ aspirations
     • Lack of realistic goals e.g. footballer