Educational Achievment differences

Educational achievement

It was not until 1878 that the first university allowed women to take degrees, however alternative universities were particularly slow, it was not until 1948 that Cambridge accepted women to receive full degrees (Fulcher and Scott, 2007, p. 338). Haralambos and Holborn (2008) discuss that in the 1970’s and 1980’s the focus was on the underachievement of girls in education but this changed in the 1990’s when boys became the underachievers. Why?

 

In the 1970’s research was undertaken by Sue Sharpe that found that the main priorities of “working-class girls in London schools” started with marriage and children. However in the 1990’s when Sharpe repeated this research she found that girl’s priorities had changed to their careers (Haralambos and Holborn, 2008, p. 644). Due to the increase in divorce rates throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s it is suggested that girls felt increasing pressure to be successful within education and careers in order to be financially stable instead of depending on males.

 

Haralambos and Holborn (2008) discuss that stereotypical boys behaviour in class is based upon the idea that it is “uncool to work” and that seeming “cool is necessary to be popular” (p. 648). Students are also faced with the predicament of being deemed a ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’ if they excel in education, academic work was also seen as “feminine” (Haralambos and Holborn, 2008, p. 648).

 

A further factor that is bound to have had an effect on educational achievement between boys and girls is the curriculums, girls were steered towards domestic roles and boys towards more “technical and scientific” ones (Fulcher and Scott, 2007, p. 339). However in the 1980’s the national curriculum was introduced which deemed it essential that boys and girls take the same subjects, although it was still argued that “science was taught in a masculine way” (Fulcher and Scott, 2007, p. 339).

www.bbc.co.uk (2015)

This chart shows the large gap between genders in educational achievement, the chart illustrates that the gap only seems to be getting wider.

 The gender gap in education is down to more than one thing, girls started to be the achievers not long after the national curriculum was introduced, coincidence?  A constant theme through the topic of education is stereotypes and how the way boys and girls act changes through history, in today’s society it is much more common for women to provide for their family which tends to require a certain degree of education.


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