Changes in attitude -
Girls and young women's attitudes towards education, work and marriage seem to have changed. Sue Sharpe compared the attitudes of working-class girls in London schools in the early 70s and 90s and she found that the girls in 1990 were more confident, more assertive, more ambitious and more committed to gender equality.
The main priorities of the 1970s girls were 'love, marriage, husbands and children. By the 1990s, this had changed to 'job, career and being able to support themselves'. And education was seen as the main route to a good job and financial independence.
Changes in the labour market and attitude to work
There has been a steady rise in the number of women in the labour market and this has been accompanied by a rise in women's occupational ambitions - increasing numbers are looking forward to careers rather than simply jobs. This has led to a higher value being placed on education as a means to a good job. Studies of primary and secondary pupils indicate girls are increasingly aiming for occupations which require degree level qualifications (Francis and Skeleton, 2005).
According to Sue Sharp girls are increasingly wary of marriage due to witnessing adult relationships breaking up all around them.
Changes in marriage and marital breakup
Over the past 30 years, there have been fewer marriages, divorces and more lone-parent families, most of which are headed by women (Social Trends, 2007)
Changes in schools
There has been a growing awareness of gender bias in schools and attempts to remove it. For example girls were put off by what were traditionally boy subjects such as maths and technology, this led to the introduction of equal opportunity initiatives such as Girls into science and technology.
Changes in society - risk and individualism
A number of sociologists claim that today's society is characterised by risk, uncertainty and individualisation. For example, with rising divorce rate, the future marriage is increasingly uncertain. And the same applies to the future work. ' jobs for life' have largely disappeared and a person's working life is becoming more unpredictable. At the same time people are increasingly seeing themselves as individuals rather than members of social groups, they look at themselves as being more self-sufficient and self-reliant.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Gender and educational acheivement
Results obtained from a table of the percentage of pupils attaining five or more GCSE grades A*-C in England shows that girls have continuously achieved more than boys since 1990-2007. Although the gender difference has rose and then decreased again there is still a large gap between the two genders approximately 10% every year.
A graph on students in higher education shows that the number of males in higher education is significantly larger than females. This goes against the previous statement as more males are trying to degrees.
Boys are doing better than boys Over the past 50 years, the educational performance of boys and young men has steadily improved. Overall, the performances of girls has risen at a faster rate. However, this doesn't justify that all boys are underachievers. Many boys are achieving extremely well (Coffey, 2001).
Only some boys are failing Only certain groups of boys are underachieving. There is a close link between male underachievement and social class - compared to other groups, a high proportion of working-class boys are failing (Epstein et al, 1998).
Whats new? In some respect, there's nothing new about girls outperforming boys. When the 11-plus exam was introduced in the 1940s, more girls passed than boys. The results were fiddled so that roughly equal numbers of boys and girls went to grammar schools. If results hadn't been adjusted, then two thirds of grammar school places would have gone to girls (Chitty, 2002).
Girls failure The preoccupation with 'failing boys' diverts attention from underachieving girls. A high proportion of working-class girls are failing in the school system (Plummer, 2000).
What has changed? In general, the educational performance of girls has improved significantly since the 80s and their improvement has been greater than that of boys. But this does not men boys a group are failing. The educational performance of most boys in improving.
Gender, class and ethnicity The gender gap is significant but it is important to note that class has over five times the effect on educational attainment than gender, and ethnicity twice the effect (Gilbron and Mirza, 2000).
A graph on students in higher education shows that the number of males in higher education is significantly larger than females. This goes against the previous statement as more males are trying to degrees.
Boys are doing better than boys Over the past 50 years, the educational performance of boys and young men has steadily improved. Overall, the performances of girls has risen at a faster rate. However, this doesn't justify that all boys are underachievers. Many boys are achieving extremely well (Coffey, 2001).
Only some boys are failing Only certain groups of boys are underachieving. There is a close link between male underachievement and social class - compared to other groups, a high proportion of working-class boys are failing (Epstein et al, 1998).
Whats new? In some respect, there's nothing new about girls outperforming boys. When the 11-plus exam was introduced in the 1940s, more girls passed than boys. The results were fiddled so that roughly equal numbers of boys and girls went to grammar schools. If results hadn't been adjusted, then two thirds of grammar school places would have gone to girls (Chitty, 2002).
Girls failure The preoccupation with 'failing boys' diverts attention from underachieving girls. A high proportion of working-class girls are failing in the school system (Plummer, 2000).
What has changed? In general, the educational performance of girls has improved significantly since the 80s and their improvement has been greater than that of boys. But this does not men boys a group are failing. The educational performance of most boys in improving.
Gender, class and ethnicity The gender gap is significant but it is important to note that class has over five times the effect on educational attainment than gender, and ethnicity twice the effect (Gilbron and Mirza, 2000).
Explanations - Why pupils with working class backgrounds are less successful
Material deprivation - A lack of money and the things money can buy
A lack of encouragement, stimulation and interest from parents
Working-class subculture with it's emphasis on fatalism, present-time orientation and immediate gratification
Cultural deprivation- An absence in the norms, values and skills needed for high attainment. This view has been strongly criticised
The use of elaborated code in schools which disadvantages many working-class pupils
A lack of cultural capital
A lack of social capital
Middle-class pupils are more likely to be placed in higher streams, working-class pupils in lower streams. Entering more working-class pupils for lower level exams, denying them the opportunity to obtain the top grades
A lack of encouragement, stimulation and interest from parents
Working-class subculture with it's emphasis on fatalism, present-time orientation and immediate gratification
Cultural deprivation- An absence in the norms, values and skills needed for high attainment. This view has been strongly criticised
The use of elaborated code in schools which disadvantages many working-class pupils
A lack of cultural capital
A lack of social capital
Middle-class pupils are more likely to be placed in higher streams, working-class pupils in lower streams. Entering more working-class pupils for lower level exams, denying them the opportunity to obtain the top grades
Social class and educational attainment
Some researchers argue that class difference in attainment result in the sifting, sorting and assessment of pupils in terms of teachers' perceptions of social class, ability and conduct. Others argue hat class differences in attainment are primarily due to what happens outside the school - to the social inequalities generated by the class structure. Other researchers see class differences in attainment resulting from a combination of what happens inside and outside the school. From this viewpoint the inequalities of the class system are reinforced in the class room.
Education - Participant Observation
David Hargreaves (1967) examined the effects of streaming on the behaviour of students and teachers in a boy's secondary school. He used participant observation as his main method. He sat at the back of the classroom observing.
Some of the teachers changed their behaviour when observed. The teacher made the students work quietly from textbooks whereas usually he set written work. The teacher sent the boys to the back of the class room to show their books. The teacher 'appeared to behave quite naturally and act as if I wasn't there' most of the time although the boys noted some changes in their teacher's behaviour.
The strength of this method is that the researcher got to obtain the information needed first hand, so he knows it will be accurate. A weakness is that because both the teachers and students know the researcher is in the room, it is likely they will change their behaviour and therefore the information obtained may not be very valid.
Some of the teachers changed their behaviour when observed. The teacher made the students work quietly from textbooks whereas usually he set written work. The teacher sent the boys to the back of the class room to show their books. The teacher 'appeared to behave quite naturally and act as if I wasn't there' most of the time although the boys noted some changes in their teacher's behaviour.
The strength of this method is that the researcher got to obtain the information needed first hand, so he knows it will be accurate. A weakness is that because both the teachers and students know the researcher is in the room, it is likely they will change their behaviour and therefore the information obtained may not be very valid.
Friday, 6 April 2012
The internet
More recently the internet has made a vast range of data and research available to sociologists that was very hard to access before. The internet allows researchers to to analyse and re-analysedata in a depth of detail.
Although the internet is full of lots of useful information it is also full of a lot of bias and error. It can also be quite difficult to find exactly what you are looking for due to so many different websites. Anyone can post information on the internet which means there is no control over the quality of the content, unlike books and journals.
Although the internet is full of lots of useful information it is also full of a lot of bias and error. It can also be quite difficult to find exactly what you are looking for due to so many different websites. Anyone can post information on the internet which means there is no control over the quality of the content, unlike books and journals.
Content Analysis
Most documentary data is qualitative, but it is possible to convert this into quantitative data using content analysis. Using this technique, the researcher classifies the content of the document into categories and then counts how much of the content falls into each category. This makes it possible to make quantitative comparisons between documents.
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