Youth and Education

Youth and Education

1. SUE SHARP- CHANGING FEMININITIES- Original research was carried out in the 1970s.She asked teenage working class girls about their career aspirations- most of them said that they wanted to find a husband,settle down and start a family- this was more important than a career or educational qualifications.She repeated the research in the 1990s- she asked similar types of girls the same questions.This time they all said they were aiming for a successful career and they saw education as the key to achieving this.This change in attitudes helps to explain the rise in female achievement in the last 30 years.

2. KEHILY & NAYAK- Researched the way that masculinity has changed in the last 30 years and how this has impacted their performance.Hegemonic masculinities have disappeared due to the decline in traditional manufacturing jobs.The study looked at 15 and 16 years old boys in school to try and look at why they were underachieving.Boys use humour a lot more than girls in their interactions with each other- particularly verbal cussing- e.g.insults about each other's mums were used to establish status among the peer group.They also emphasised their masculinity by playing games like bangcock.The key point is that having masculinely like this is incompatible with wanting to do well in school.

3. MAC AN GHAIL- CRISIS OF MASCULINITY- This helps to explain why males underachieve in school.The traditional working class jobs that many boys would have gone into e.g. factory work etc. have disappeared.The economy has changed,these boys now face an identity crisis.They have not be socialised to see education as a route to success and became confused about their role in society.There is no incentive to succeed in schools because they have no jobs in a feminised economy to go into.

4. MITSOS & BROUNE- Made a range of conclusions about why boys underachieve;

   • - Teachers are less strict with boys -Teachers tolerate poor work and missed deadlines from boys
     • - Boys are more likely to disrupt lessons and be sent out -There is pressure on boys to appear macho and tough,so they form anti-school subcultures
       • - Boys underestimate their ability so don't work as hard -Girls spend more of their leisure time doing activities that help their education i.e. talking/reading.

5. PAUL WILLIS- Studied boys in a working class comprehensive school to discover how and why they were resistant to schooling.They saw no relevance to their lives in anything that happened at school.They use racist and sexist language to establish their masculinity.They referred to themselves as 'the lads' and the students who did listen as 'earoles'.The key idea is that their attitude towards a life plan did not have education as part of it.