Gender Identity Flashcards
Define symbolic capital and explain how it affects educational achievement of working class girls.
Symbolic capital refers to the status, recognition and sense of worth that we are able to obtain from others. This affects the achievement of working class girls because they gain symbolic capital from their peers; although, this brought them into conflict with the school. This also prevented them from gaining educational capital (qualifications) and economic capital (middle-class careers).
Briefly explain how hyper-heterosexual identities affect working class girls’ education.
Many girls have invested time, effort and money into constructing ‘desirable’ and ‘glamorous’ hyper-heterosexual identities. Girls’ performance of this identity brought status form their female group and avoided them being ridiculed or called a tramp for wearing the wrong brand. However, this brought them into conflict with the school. For example, they were punished for having the wrong appearance.
Briefly explain how boyfriends affect working class girls’ education.
.While having a boyfriend broguth symbolic capital, it got in the way of schoolwork and lowered girls’ aspirations. This included losing interested in going to university, in studying ‘masculine’ subjects such as science or in gaining a professional career.
Briefly explain how being ‘loud’ affect working class girls’ education.
Some working class girls adopted ‘loud’ feminine identities that often led to them being outspoken, independent and assertive, for example questioning a teacher’s authority. This failed to conform tot he school’s stereotype of the ideal female pupil identity as passive and submissive to authority and brought conflict with the teachers, who interpreted their behaviour as aggressive rather than assertive.
What is the working class girls’ dilemma and how did some of them cope with it?
Either gaining symbolic capital from their peers by conforming to a hyper-heterosexual feminine identity. Or gaining educational capital by rejecting the working class identity and conforming to the school's middle class notions of the respectable, ideal female pupil.
Explain why working class girls who are successful are more likely to choose a university near home.
Because they wanted to help their families. Also, they had a fear of debt and the cost of living on a university campus was too high. Archer says that a preference for the local is a key feature of the working class habitus.
How do boys and literacy affect a boys’ overall achievement?
According to DCSF, the gender gap is mainly the result of boys’ poorer literacy and language skills. One reason for this might be that parents spend less time reading to their sons. Another may be that it is mothers who do most of the reading to young children, who thus come to reading as a feminine activity. In addition, boys’ leisure pursuits, such as football, do little to develop their language and communication skills.
How does globalisation and the decline of traditional men’s jobs affect a boys’ overall achievement?
Since the 1980s, there has been a significant decline in heavy industries such as iron and steel, shipbuilding, mining and engineering. This has been partly the result of the globalisation of the economy, which has led to much of its manufacturing industry being relocated to developing countries like China to take advantage of cheap labour.
Mitsos and Borwne claim that this decline has led to an ‘identity crisis for men’. Many boys now believe that they have little prospect of getting a proper job.
How does the feminsation of education affect a boys’ overall achievement?
Sewell claims that boys have fallen behind because of the feminsation of education. That is, schools don’t nurture masculine traits such as competitiveness and leadership. Instead, they celebrate qualities more associated with girls, such as methodical working and attentiveness in class. He argues: ‘We have challenged the 1950s patriarchy and rightly said that this is not a man’s world. But we have thrown the boy out with the bath water.’
How does a shortage of male primary school teachers affect a boys’ overall achievement?
The lack of role models both at home and at school is said to be a cause of boys’ underachievement. For example, large numbers of boys are being brought up in the 1.5 million female-headed lone parent families in the UK. Only 14% of primary school teachers are male and according to Yougov, 39% of 8-11 year old boys have no lessons whatsoever with a male teacher. Although most boys surveyed said the presence of a male teacher made them behave better and 42% said it made them work harder.
Explain the difference between a disciplinarian and a liberal discourse.
Disciplinarian Discourse - The teacher’s authority is made explicit and visible, for example, through shouting, an ‘exasperated’ tojne of voice for sarcasm.
Liberal Discourse - The teacher’s authority is implicit and invisible. This child-centred discourse involves ‘pseudo-adultification’: the teacher speaks to the child as an adult and expects them to be kind, sensible and respectful of the teacher.
Why does Read conclude that more male teachers are needed to improve boys’ achievement?
The fact that most teachers have favoured a ‘masculine’, disciplinarian discourse of control disproves the claim that the culture of primary school has become feminised, as Sewell and others argue.
The fact that female teachers were just as likely as males to use a ‘masculine’ discourse to control pupils’ behaviour disproves the claim that only m,ale teachers provide the stricter classroom culture in which boys are said to thrive.
Why might working class boys form ‘laddish’ subcultures?
Epstein examined the way masculinity is constructed within school. She found that working class boys are more liekly to be harassed, labelled as sissies and subjected to homophobic verbal abuse if they appear to be ‘swots’.
In what ways may the moral panic about boys have led to the neglect of girls’ needs?
According to Ringrose, the moral panic about boys’ failure reflects a fear that boys will grow up to become a more dangerous, unemployable underclass that threatens social stability.
How much greater is the class gap in achievement than the gender gap at GCSE?
Three times wider.
