Gender

OCR Education Module

References

Lefrancois p52-56
Fontana p11-14
Banks & Thompson p205-210

Men and Women are more similar than different.

Females tend to be less aggressive.

Aggressive differences could be innate (Nature), but many other differences could be owing to the way men and women are brought up differently.

Lynn (1974) 3 important factors involved in determining sex-roles:

GENETIC
FAMILY BASED
CULTURAL FACTORS

GENETIC

Evidence for a genetic difference in levels of aggression comes from 4 sources:

Very young boys show more aggression than girls. This is before environmental factors have had a chance to greatly affect behaviour.
Males are more aggressive across many cultures.
Males in many other animals are more aggressive than females.
The male hormone testosterone increases aggression (relate this to Schacter and Singer). Pregnant mothers injected with testosterone had daughters who were more aggressive than controls (Money & Erhardt, 1972).

There are few differences between boys and girls, but in early years girls are better verbally and have fewer difficulties in reading. Boys are better at mathematical and spatial tasks (e.g. map-reading and puzzles) (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). There is evidence to suggest these differences are innate; neurological differences have been found that would account for differences between spatial or verbal ability (Waber, 1976).

Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) found 4 main gender differences:

Verbal ability, favouring females.
Mathematical ability, favouring boys.
Spatial-Visual ability, favouring boys.
Aggression, with boys being more aggressive.

Although these differences were easily discernible in the 70's, the 90's have adolescent girls and boys who are much more similar in ability. If earlier experiences are similar, then these differences disappear (Tobias, 1982).

Jacklin (1989) has found that the gender difference between boys and girls with regard to maths is not real. The difference really is a reflection of the student's anxiety about maths, parent and teacher expectation and the perceived value of maths.

FAMILY BASED

Lewis (1984) infant girls given less freedom to explore in the park before being called back by mother than boys.

Archer and Lloyd (1982) women handle baby girls differently from baby boys. Girls are encouraged to be quiet and dependent, whereas boys are encouraged to be boisterous and self-reliant.

Mullis, Owens and Phillips (1990) since 1970 females have performed better at the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress - An American test). The gender differences are narrowing. Mothers talk to girls more than boys; this could explain the relatively large difference in ability at an early age. The difference seems to disappear during adolescence. Males do better than females on the verbal sections of college aptitude tests.

Davie, Butler and Goldstein (1972) long-term study showing girls are encouraged to show an interest in domestic matters than boys.

Parents deal with aggression differently when manifested by their sons, compared with their daughters. They encourage their sons to be aggressive, and discourage their daughters (Russell & Ward, 1982).

Boys are pressurised mainly by their fathers to exhibit sex-appropriate behaviour (Langlois and Downs, 1980). Parents believe that boys should be aggressive, boisterous, adventurous and less emotional than girls. Girls should be passive, tender, emotional and less boisterous (Holland, Magoon & Spokane, 1981).

CULTURAL FACTORS

Owens (1988) found that males use more expletives (rude words) and are more likely to interrupt. Females use polite language, and take turns in conversation. Males talk about non-personal topics (eg Sport or politics). Females talk about interpersonal matters.

Doyle and Good, (1982) at school, boys are praised for good work, whereas girls are praised for good behaviour.

Teachers see boys as creative, whereas girls are seen as hard-workers or rule-followers (Buswell, 1984).

Boys gain more attention from teachers (Kelly, 1986).

Social learning theory ( Bandura , 1986) explains the differences as being due to boys and girls modelling their behaviour on men and women respectively. They become sex-typed. Being rewarded or punished for appropriate or inappropriate behaviour would be another environmental influence on gender differences.

Bem (1993) suggests children are encouraged to look at the world through the lenses of gender. Her gender schema theory suggests that sex-typing comes from our society, which is gender oriented in its ideologies.

Margaret Mead (1935), an anthropologist discovered a tribe in New Guinea, the Mundugumor, in which both men and women were ruthless and aggressive (or masculine in our view). She also discovered the Arapesh, where both sexes were warm, emotional, non-competitive and unaggressive (we might say 'feminine'). A third tribe, the Tchambuli, demonstrated a reversal of western gender roles.

Tavris and Baumgartner (1983) (replicated in 1988 by Intons-Peterson, with similar results) asked boys and girls what it would be like if they woke up one morning as a member of the opposite sex. Girls were positive about being a boy. They saw boys as more active, less concerned about their appearance, more aggressive, more athletic, more able to travel and better able to develop a career. Boys were negative about being a girl. Girls were seen as passive, weaker, restricted in their activities, more emotional and burdened with menstruation!

Should teachers attempt to encourage children to engage in uni-sex behaviour?

What would happen when these children displayed this behaviour outside of school?

Think about your primary and secondary schools; Were you allowed to engage in all of the activities or subjects on offer, or were some only for members of the opposite sex?

HOW GENDER AFFECTS EDUCATION.

The Equal Opportunities Commission (1986) have released data to show that for GCSE or A level subjects boys choose physics, technical drawing, computer studies and mathematics. Girls choose domestic science, sociology, French and English.

Chodorow (1974) and Gilligan (1982) both suggest that boys need to establish autonomy (separateness) from their mothers. Most teachers of young children are women, so the boys try to separate themselves from their teachers as well. School is seen as a feminine activity.

Feingold (1992) has found that males show greater variability in their academic performance. Some males perform really well academically, but others switch off and show a gradual decrease in academic performance.

Sadker, Sadker and Klein (1991) have pointed out that inequalities are found in three areas within schools:

Many head teachers are male, when most teachers are female!
Boys get more attention than girls.
Sexual stereotypes are found in books, and teachers tend to give what they feel to be 'gender-appropriate' activities to their pupils.

Gold (1995) has found that girls are now doing better at school than boys, even in maths and science. It seems the boy's culture is one of laziness, poor attendance, misbehaviour etc. Girls need less checking, and are more likely to attend lessons fully equipped.

	Boys	Girls
1989 % 5 or more A-C GCSE	29.8	35.8
1999 % 5 or more A-C GCSE	42.6	53.2
1999 % A-C GCSE English	45	61

Why are boys not doing as well as girls at school?

One piece of evidence is the fact that boys mature later than girls, so we might say that boys are a couple of years behind the girls but should catch up after 18 years.

Another is that many school teachers are women and as girls are more inclined to model their behaviour on women then girls are more likely to take to education.

Education involves sitting passively taking in information and making neat notes; this is something that society expects of girls more than boys.

In socio-biological terms, women work well in groups supposedly to

prepare food and clothing and nurse the future generations, whilst the men go hunting. This means they work well together and this is what is required at school. Women certainly use their social groups more effectively, and therefore are more likely to help each other study. The boys on the other hand are really hunter gatherers, who are also demonstrating the good genes they have for risk-taking. This is highly attractive to the females. As they compete with other males they do not help each other to study. Taking risks and bucking the system increases the status of the boy within his peer group, and this in turn makes boys attractive to girls, so education goes to pot.

The early development of girls linguistic ability helps in education.

The display of good behaviour by girls endears them to teachers, so they get extra positive attention.

Errant girls are more likely to be criticised for their behaviour, and hopefully corrected. Boys nearly get away with murder before they are brought into line, as they are expected to misbehave.

Single Sex Education

Nikki Sewell's essay

Selection is reason for success, says professor

Single sex lessons plan to counter laddish culture

Gender stereotypes still hamper young Will Woodward, education editor
Wednesday September 20, 2000

Literacy hours cut gender divide

Education Unlimited

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