For instance, girls would take more care with the way it is presented and be more likely to spend more time on their work – this as a result helped girls to benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSE, AS and A Level. Also, as the item suggests, the New Right thinker Madsen Pirie argues that GCSE, AS and A levels emphasise preparation and modules that can be
She found that their priorities had changed from love and marriage in the 1970s to jobs, aspirations and careers in the 1990’s. This shows that more women are changing their way of thinking in terms of their philosophy. In terms of achievement, on average girls are still getting better grades than boys. This is shown by a graph done by the Department for Education Statistics of Education. Percentage of School Leavers Achieving 5+ A-C (or Pass) O-level or A*-C GCSE by Gender (1962–2006) As you can see from the graph, the gap between girl’s achievement and boy’s achievement is widening.
Over the last 100 years life expectancy has increased steadily for both males and females. By the 1960’s women were living, on average, 5.8 years longer (CSO, 1996). In 1997 the life expectancy of females was 82 years and 77 years for males (Scambler, 1997). This could be due to world war one leaving a depleted male population and an increase in NHS services availability (Hart, 1989). The differences between males and females seems to be due to gender or social factors.
In 1974, sociologist, Sue Sharpe conducted several interviews with young girls, she found that they had low aspirations due to thinking educational success was unfeminine and being intelligent would be seen as unattractive. However, Sharpe repeated her initial research in the 1990’s and found that girls were more confident and wanted to succeed as they were more likely to see their future as an independent woman, they believed that careers were more important and being able to support themselves. This could of also been the result of the current increase in divorce rate and increase in number of single parent families, girls responded by becoming financially independent and being the breadwinner of the family. Reasons why girls are now achieving can also be the result of in-school factors such as the school curriculum, there is now a common set of core subjects, compulsory for all students such as maths and science to help equalise opportunities. A number of policies have also been implemented to raise the aspirations of girls for example GIST
Examine the reasons for change in the divorce rate since 1969. (24 marks) It has been noticed that since the late 1960’s the divorce rate has dramatically increased. For example in 1961 two couples per thousand were getting divorced however thirty years on in 1991 it increased to thirteen couples per thousand that were resulting in a divorce. In terms of sociological perspectives such as Feminism and New Rights, this change can be analysed as both good and bad social change. Many sociologists within these perspectives have given various explanations for why the rate has increased so greatly, such as: changes in legislation, declining stigma of divorce, secularisation, rising expectations of marriage and change in women’s expectations.
Gender Research Paper Although many may feel that gender segregated schools are a more efficient way to teach boys and girls due to the fact that they’ll be able to concentrate better and learn more proficiently, it’s actually quite the opposite. While doing much research, the facts, data and personal stories from those who have experienced gender segregated schools, it has become apparent that separating boys and girls from learning together it far from helpful and rather hurtful in the long run. Gender segregated schools are negative for both boys and girls due to the fact that gender stereotypes are being reinforced, communication and opportunities for boys and girls to work together are diminished before entering the real world and future relationships between the two genders are also being ruined little by little. Many schools, public and private, are switching from co-ed learning environments to single-sex learning environments due to faulty theories that have existed for more than 20 years. Such theories include that “boys need a competitive and confrontational learning environment, while girls can only succeed if they work cooperatively and are not placed under stress” (Sherwin).
There are many reasons for the higher achievement of girls in the education system when compared to boys. One reason is the earlier maturity of girls causing them to be more likely to recognise the importance of qualifications and therefore work harder in order to achieve the best results possible in their exams. This also means that they will generally be more organised so have better resources meaning that they are not only able to complete work for deadlines, but evidence shows they are more likely to spend time and effort to produce work that they are proud of due to their higher motivation and commitment to school work than boys of the same age. This puts them ahead of boys in the line-up to the world of work, as they are more likely to achieve high enough grades to continue into higher education, university and ultimately gain a high status career in later life. Girls now have a wider range of job opportunities due to The Sex Discrimination Act in 1975 which made discrimination of sex illegal meaning people are not able to advertise for and chose employees based purely on their gender.
Kimberly Tsaousis, a college prep adviser, says “Girls are way more likely to just pay attention.” Girls also spend more time doing homework than boys. These behavior factors can all be attributed to the
Some may argue that although there is a statistical gap between girls and boys in the education system, it is not the most important factor contributing to a childs attainment. Many sociologists suggest that the gender differences in achievement, especially the rapid improvement of girls grades is best explained through external factors. Many see the rise of feminism has had a large impact on the education system and the gender gap in attainment. Feminism is a social movement that strieves for equal rights for women in all areas of life. They have fought against the traditional stereotype of women as housewife.
As children’s views are very much influenced by their parents it is believed that this increase also reflects the broader attitudes of society (Latner and Stunkard, 2003). Examples of anti-fat attitudes can be witnessed in numerous life settings, for example, in education, employment and health the care (O’Brien et al, 2008). The latter of which will be focused on in this essay. The cost of obesity-related medical care has increased dramatically since 1987. This is consistent with the findings that the percentage of adults in the UK has roughly doubled since the mid-1980s (Wyatt et al, 2006).