Gender and Ethnicity in Education
Gender and Ethnicity in Educational Achievement
This topic examines why girls now outperform boys at GCSE and A-Level, and why there are significant differences in achievement between ethnic groups.
Gender and Achievement — The Reversal
The Pattern
Until the 1980s, boys outperformed girls. Since then, there has been a dramatic reversal:
- Girls outperform boys at every stage of education from Key Stage 1 to A-Level
- At GCSE, the gender gap in English is particularly wide; it is narrower in Maths and Science
- Girls are more likely to enter and graduate from university
- However, boys still outperform girls in some subjects (e.g. Computing, Physics at A-Level)
- At the top of the labour market, men still earn more — the gender pay gap persists
Why Are Girls Now Doing Better?
External Factors
| Factor | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Changing ambitions | Sharpe (1994) — girls' priorities shifted from "love, marriage, husbands and children" (1976) to "careers, independence and being able to support themselves" (1994) |
| Feminism | The women's movement raised expectations and challenged the idea that girls' futures lay only in domestic roles |
| Women in the labour market | More female role models in professional careers; girls see that qualifications lead to independence |
| Changes in the family | Rising divorce and lone parenthood show girls that they cannot rely on a male breadwinner — they need their own qualifications |
Internal (In-School) Factors
| Factor | Explanation |
|---|---|
| National Curriculum (1988) | Made all subjects compulsory for both sexes — girls could no longer be steered away from science |
| GCSE coursework | Girls tend to be more organised, conscientious and better at sustained, independent work — coursework suited their strengths (though its weighting has been reduced) |
| Positive role models | More female teachers, especially in primary schools |
| Teacher attention | Research suggests teachers may have higher expectations of girls' behaviour and effort |
| Feminisation of education | Some argue schools reward "feminine" qualities (sitting still, neatness, verbal skills) that disadvantage boys |
Why Are Boys Underachieving?
- Laddish subcultures — Francis (2001) found that some boys see academic work as "uncool" and "feminine"; they perform a version of masculinity that rejects effort and studiousness
- Literacy gap — boys are less likely to read for pleasure, leading to weaker literacy skills (OECD PISA data consistently shows this gap)
- Poorer behaviour — boys are more likely to be excluded from school; exclusion damages educational continuity
- Crisis of masculinity — Mac an Ghaill (1994) argued that the decline of traditional male manual jobs has left working-class boys without a clear purpose for education; studying feels pointless if the jobs their fathers did no longer exist
- Mitsos and Browne (1998) — argued that boys' underachievement is linked to lower expectations at home and in school, less time on homework, and shorter concentration spans
Evaluation
- The gender gap is narrower in some subjects (Maths, Science) — it is mainly an English/humanities gap
- Social class matters more than gender — a middle-class boy will typically outperform a working-class girl
- Not all boys underachieve — middle-class boys still do well; it is mainly working-class boys who are falling behind
- Becky Francis (2006) — the moral panic about boys' underachievement overshadows the continuing disadvantages faced by girls (gender pay gap, sexual harassment, under-representation in STEM)
Ethnicity and Achievement
The Pattern
Achievement varies significantly between ethnic groups:
- Chinese and Indian pupils consistently achieve the highest GCSE results — above the white British average
- Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils have improved significantly but still lag behind the national average
- Black Caribbean pupils, especially boys, underperform relative to other groups
- White British working-class boys (eligible for FSM) are now the lowest-performing group of all
- Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils have the lowest attainment of any ethnic group
External Factors
Material Deprivation
- Some ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by poverty: Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black Caribbean families have higher rates of unemployment and low income
- However, this does not fully explain achievement patterns — Indian and Chinese pupils often come from relatively modest backgrounds but still achieve highly
- Palmer (2012) — the poverty explanation works for some groups but not others, suggesting cultural and in-school factors also matter
Cultural Factors
- Sewell (2009) — argued that some Black Caribbean boys are influenced by an anti-school peer culture that values street credibility over academic achievement (controversial — see evaluation)
- Driver and Ballard (1981) — Asian families often place high value on education as a route to social mobility; strong parental expectations can drive achievement
- Lupton (2004) — the culture of the home (discipline, study routines, respect for education) varies between communities and influences achievement
- Language — pupils for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL) may initially struggle but often catch up and overtake their peers; bilingualism may even confer cognitive advantages
Evaluation of cultural explanations:
- Risk of stereotyping — huge variation within ethnic groups
- Victim-blaming — focuses on minority cultures rather than on racism and structural inequality
- Strand (2012) — when social class is controlled for, ethnic differences are reduced but not eliminated, suggesting in-school racism plays a role
Internal (In-School) Factors
Teacher Labelling and Racism
- Gillborn and Youdell (2000) — found that teachers had racialised expectations: Black Caribbean pupils were more likely to be placed in lower sets, perceived as threatening and disciplined more harshly, regardless of their actual ability
- Wright (1992) — observed that Asian pupils were often marginalised in classrooms — teachers mispronounced names, made assumptions about language ability and excluded them from class discussions
- Connolly (1998) — teachers perceived Black boys as older and more physically mature, leading to harsher discipline; Asian boys were seen as passive and hardworking — positive but also limiting
- Coard (1971) — argued that the British education system made Black children "educationally subnormal" through Eurocentric curricula that ignored Black history and culture
Institutional Racism
Institutional racism — policies and practices that systematically disadvantage ethnic minority pupils, even without individual racist intent:
- Setting and streaming — ethnic minority pupils are disproportionately placed in lower sets
- Exclusions — Black Caribbean pupils are three times more likely to be permanently excluded than white pupils (DfE data)
- Curriculum — history and literature curricula may be Eurocentric, failing to represent diverse experiences
- The Macpherson Report (1999) — defined institutional racism after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry; the concept has been applied to education
The Ethnocentric Curriculum
- Ball (1994) — the National Curriculum is criticised for promoting "little Englandism" — focusing on British history, English literature and European perspectives
- This can alienate ethnic minority pupils whose histories and cultures are absent or misrepresented
Intersection of Class, Gender and Ethnicity
These factors do not operate in isolation — they intersect:
- A white working-class boy on FSM faces different barriers from a Black middle-class girl
- Strand (2014) — social class explains much of the ethnic achievement gap, but not all of it; even controlling for class, Black Caribbean boys underperform and Chinese pupils overperform
- The lowest-achieving group is white British boys on FSM — they lack both the cultural capital of middle-class families and the strong educational aspirations found in some minority communities
Exam Technique
Always address both internal and external factors. Avoid simplistic cultural stereotypes — examiners reward nuance. Use phrases like "However, it is important to avoid generalising about any ethnic group" and "Social class intersects with ethnicity". Name at least three sociologists across gender and ethnicity.