Internal Factors, Gender Differences in Achievement

Internal Factors, Gender Differences in Achievement

1. Equal Oppertunities Policies

   • GIST
     • Encouraged girls to pursue non traditional careers.
   • National Curriculum made both sexes study the same things
   • Kelly
     • Making science compulsory core education helps equalize opportunities
   • Boaler
     • Equal opportunities have removed many barriers for girls so girls who work hard achieve more

2. Positive role models

   • Increase in the number of women teachers. These women in positions of authority can act as role models for girls
   • Has been argued that primary schools have become feminised and this may influence how much girls see schools as their territory

3. GCSE and Coursework

   • Goard
     • 1988-9 when it increased sharply (gender achievement gap) as GCSE was introduced as was coursework
   • GCSE's have also introduced oral assessments which girls are likely to do better in due to their better developed language skills
   • Elwood
     • Coursework is not the main influence of girls doing better as exams influence final grades more than coursework does

4. Teacher Attention

   • Swann and Graddol
     • Boys tend to get more teacher attention so they speak more but girls get more positive attention as it is work based rather than behaviour based
   • Swann
     • boys dominate whole class discussion girls prefer pair/group work and are better at listening and co operating

5. Challenging Stereotypes in the Curriculum

   • Removal of stereotypes from textbooks, reading materials has removed the barrier in girls achievement
   • Weiner
     • Since the 80's teachers have challenged stereotypes

6. Selection and league tables

   • Jackson
     • High achieving girls are attractive to schools where low achieving boys are not. Creates SFP.
   • Slee
     • Boys are unattractive as they are more likely to suffer from behaviour difficulties and are 4x more likely to be excluded