1. Notes for Sociology
Class Difference in Achievement- External Factors
Explaining class differences
Social class background has a powerful influence on a child's chance of success in the
education system.
One explanation of class differences in achievement is that better off parent can
afford to send their children to private schools, which many believe provides a
higher standard of education.
Cultural Deprivation
Theorists believe that most of us begin with basic values, attitudes and skills which
are needed for educational success through primary socialisation.
According to cultural deprivation theorists, many working class families have failed
to socialise their children adequately which leads these children to grow up culturally
deprived which leads them to underachieve at school.
There are three main aspects of cultural deprivation:
Intellectual Development-. Theorists argue that many working class homes lack the
books, educational toys and activities that would stimulate a child's intellectual
development, thus children leave the home without developing intellectual skills
needed for progress. J.W.B. Douglass (1964) found working class parents are less
likely to support their children's intellectual development through reading to them-
leading them to do worse than middle class children.
Language- Bernstein (1975) talks about how there are two types of speech roles
between the working and middle class language. The Restricted Code is used by the
working class. It has a limited vocabulary and is based on the use of short,
grammatically simple sentences. The Elaborated Codeis used by the middle class. It
has a wider vocabulary and is based on longer, more grammatically complex
sentences. Speech is more varied and communicates abstract ideas.
These differences give middle class children an advantage at school because the
elaborated code is the one used by textbooks and exams. Early socialisation into the
elaborated role means that middle class children are fluent uses of the code when
they start school thus they are more likely to succeed as they feel 'at home'.
Criticism of Bernstein- Critics argue that Bernstein finds the working class speech to
be inadequate, however unlike most cultural deprivation theorists, Bernstein
recognises that the school influences children's achievement. He argues that working
class pupils fail not because they are culturally deprived, but because schools fail to
teach them how to use the elaborated code.
Attitudes and Values- Theorists argue that parents' attitudes and values affect
education achievement. E.g. Douglas found that working class parents took less
interest in their education. As a result, their children had lower levels of achievement
motivation. A lack of parental interest in their children's education reflects the sub
cultural values of the working class.
Herbert Hyman (1967) argues that the lower class believe that they have less
opportunity for individual advancement and place little value on achieving high

2. status jobs, so they see no point of education (leave for manual work).Parents pass
on the values of their class to their children through primary socialisation. Middle
class values equip children for success, whereas working class values fail to do this.
Compensatory education- is a policy designed to tackle the problem of cultural
capital by providing extra resources to schools in deprived areas. E.g. Operation
Head Start in the US which was a multi billionaire dollar scheme of pre-school
education in poorer areas introduced in the 1960s.
Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation:
Neil Keddie (1973) describes cultural deprivation as a 'myth' and she points out that
working class children are simple culturally different not deprived. They fail because
they are put a disadvantage by the education system which is dominated by middle
class values.
Blackstone and Mortimore (1994) reject the view that working class parents are not
interested in their children's education. They argue that they attend fewer parents'
evenings because they work longer hours, not because they are not interested.
Finally some critics argue that compensatory education acts as a smokescreen
concealing the real cause of underachievement, social inequality and poverty.
Material Deprivation:
The term 'Material Deprivation' refers to poverty and a lack of material necessities
such as adequate housing and income.
Facts:
In 2006, only 33% of children receiving free school meals (used to measure
poverty) gained give or more GCSEs at A*-C, against 61% not receiving free
school meals.
Nearly 90% of 'failing' schools are located in deprived areas.
Working class families are much more likely to have low incomes and
inadequate housing which shows the link between poverty and social class.
Housing
Poor housing can affect achievement directly and indirectly. E.g. Overcrowding can
affect it directly as the child has less room for educational activities, nowhere to do
homework, disturbed sleep from sharing beds and so on.
Families living in temporary accommodation may find themselves having to move
frequently, resulting in constant change of school and disrupted education.
Indirect effects include the child's health and welfare. E.g. Children is crowding
homes have a higher risk of accidents. Also cold and damp housing can cause ill
health which can lead to more absences in school.
Diet and Health
Marilyn Howard (2001) found that young people from poorer homes have lower
intakes of energy, vitamins and minerals. Poor nutrition affects health.

3. Richard Wilkinson (1996) found that among ten year olds, the lower the social class,
the higher rate of hyperactivity, anxiety and conduct disorders, all of which are likely
to have a negative effect on the child's education.
Financial support and the costs of education
A lack of financial support means that children from poor families have to miss out
on experiences that would enhance their educational achievement. Bull (1980)
refers to this as 'the costs of free schooling'.
Tanner (2003) found that the cost of items like uniform and transport puts a heavy
burden on poor families.
Flaherty talks about how the fear of stigmatisation may help explain why 20% of
people entitled with free school meals do not take up their entitlement.
A lack of funds means that children from low income families often need to work.
This helps us explain why many working class pupils leave school at 16.
Dropout rates are also higher for universities with a larger proportion of poorer
students e.g. at Sunderland there is 13% drop out rate.
However material factors only play a part in achievement as some children from poor
families have gone on to succeed.
Cultural Capital
Bourdieu: Three types of Capital
Pierre Bourdieu (1984) argues that both cultural and material factors influence
achievement and are not separate but interrelated.Bourdieu also talks about
'educational capital' and 'cultural capital'. He argues that the middle class possess
more of all three types of capital.
Cultural Capital
Cultural Capital refers to the knowledge, attitudes, values, language, tastes and
abilities of the middle class.
Bourdieu sees the middle class as a 'capital' because it gives advantage to those who
possess it. He argues that through socialisation, middle class children are more likely
to develop intellectual interests and an understand what the education system
needs to succeed.
The working class find that school devalues their culture as inferior and their capital
leads to exam failure. Some pupils 'get the message' that school is not for them thus
leading to early leaving and truanting.
Educational and Economical Capital
Leech and Campos' (2003) study shows that middle class parents are more likely to
be able to afford a house near a desirable school. This is known as 'selection by
mortgage' because it drives up demand for houses near successful schools.
Similarly, wealth parents can convert this cultural capital into educational capital by
sending their children to private schools.

4. A test of Bourdieu's ideas
Alice Sullivan (2001) used questionnaires to conduct a survey of 465 pupils in four
schools to assess their cultural capital. She asked them to do a range of activities e.g.
reading. She found that those who read complex fiction and watched serious TV
documentaries developed greater cultural knowledge thus a higher cultural capital.
These pupils were more likely to be successful at GCSE.
However, she also found that these students with greater cultural capital were more
likely to be middle class.
Gewirtz: Marketisation and Parental Choice
One example of how cultural and economic capital can lead to differences in
educational achievement is via the impact of marketisation and parental choice.
Sharon Gewirtz (1995) examined class differences in parental choice of secondary
school. She used interviews in her study of 14 London school and concluded that
there was three main types of parents who were categorised into privileged-skilled
choosers, disconnected-local choosers and semi-skilled choosers.
Privileged-skilled choosers- These were mainly middle class parents with high
cultural capital who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational
capital for their children. They also use their economic capital to afford to move their
children around the educational system to the best deal out of it.
Disconnected-local choosers- These were mainly working class parents with a lack of
economic and cultural capital. They found it difficult to understand the school
system and were less confident with dealings with school. The cost of travel and
distance were major restrictions when choosing a school and heir funds were
limited.
Semi-skilled choosers- These were mainly working class parents but unlike the
disconnected-local choosers, there were ambitious for their children. However they
also lacked cultural capital and found it difficult making sense of the education
market.
Gewirtz concluded that middle-class families with cultural and economic capital were better
placed to take advantage of opportunities for a good education.
Class Differences in Achievement- Internal factors
Labelling
To attach a meaning or definition to someone.
Teachers attach labels on the basis of stereotyped assumptions about their
background.
Working class pupils negatively and middle class pupils positively.
Labelling in Secondary Schools
Becker (1971) carried out a study with 60 Chicago teachers using interviews. He
found that teachers judged pupils according to how closely they fitted the image of
the 'ideal pupil'.Children from a middle class background were the closest to the
ideal image and working class children were further away.

5. Cicourel and Kitsuse's study shows how labelling can disadvantage working class
student. They found that counsellors assessed students on social class or race
instead of ability. Students who had similar grades were labelled middle class and
were more likely to have higher level courses.
Labelling in Primary Schools
Ray Rist's study found that the teachers used information e.g. home background to
place them in separate groups. 'Tigers' were the fast learners and tended to be
majority middle class. They had a clean appearance and were given the greatest
encouragement.
'Clowns' and 'Cardinals' were seated further back and tended to be the working
class. They were given low level books and fewer opportunities to demonstrate their
ability.
High and Low Status Knowledge
Gilborn and Youdell studied how schools use teachers' notions found that working
class and black pupils are less likely to have that ability to achieve 5 A* to C grades at
GCSE..
They are more likely to be placed in lower sets which deny the knowledge and
opportunity needed to gain good grades which widens the class gap in achievement.
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (SFP)
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simple by virtue of it
having been made.
Step 1- The teacher labels a pupil and makes a prediction about them.
Step 2- The teacher treats the pupil according to the prediction.
Step 3- The pupil internalises the teacher's expectation and becomes the kind of
pupil the teacher predicted.
Teachers' Expectations
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) study shows how the SFP works. They told the school
that they had a new test specially designed to identify those pupils who would
'spurt' ahead. This was untrue because the test was an IQ test. The researchers
tested all the pupils and then picked 20% of them randomly, and told the school that
they were 'spurters'. When they returned a year later, they found that almost half
(47%) of those 'spurters' had made significant progress especially the younger
children.
They suggested that the teachers had been influenced by the test and the teachers'
beliefs were conveyed to the pupils e.g. body language thus showing how the SFP
works.
The SFP can also produce under-achievement. If a teacher has low expectations
from a child and communicates these expectations to them, it might lead the child
to develop a negative self- concept thus leading to failures.
Streaming and the SFP

6. Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups called 'streams'.
They are taught separately from the other.
Becker shows that teachers don't see working class children as ideal pupils because
they tend to see them as lacking ability thus working class children are found to be in
lower streams. Once they are streamed, it is less likely for them to move up the
streams. The children in the lower streams 'get the message' that the teachers have
written them off as no-hopers.
This creates the SFP in which pupils live up to their teachers' low expectations by
underachieving. By contrast, middle class pupils tend to benefit as they are closer to
the 'ideal pupil'.
Pupil Subcultures
A pupil subculture is a group of pupils who share similar values and behaviour
patterns. They often emerge as a response to the way pupils have been labelled.
Lacey's (1970) concepts of differentiation and polarisation are used to explain how
pupil subcultures develop:
Differentiation- the process of which teachers categorise pupils on how they
perceive their ability, attitude and behaviour. Streaming is a form of differentiation
since it categorises pupils into separate classes.
Polarisation- the process in which pupils respond to streaming by moving towards
one of the two opposite 'poles' or extremes.
In Lacey's study of Hightown Boys' Grammar School, he found that streaming polarised boys
into a pro-school and an anti-school subculture.
The pro-school subculture
Pupils in high streams (majority middle class) tend to remain committed to the
values of the school. They gain their status in the approved man, through academic
success.
The anti-school subculture
Those placed in low streams (majority working class) suffer a loss of self-esteem
which leads them to push themselves in other methods of gaining success. Usually
this is through inverting the school's value of hard work obedience and punctuality.
Lacey's study is a striking example of the power of labelling and streaming to actually
create failure. These boys had been successful at primary school and were among
the elite of about 15% who passed the eleven plus exam to get into the grammar
school.
Once in the grammar school, the competitive atmosphere and streaming meant that
many boys were soon labelled as failures and showed extreme physical reactions e.g.
bed wetting. By the second year, many boys had become distinctly anti school as
they adjusted to their status as failures.
Abolishing Streaming
Stephen Ball (1981) found that when Beachside school abolished banding (a type of
streaming) in favour of teaching mixed-ability groups, the basis for pupils to polarise

7. into subcultures were largely removed and the influence of the anti-school
subculture declined.
However differentiation continued as teachers categorised pupils differently and
were likely to label middle class pupils as cooperative which lead to them doing
better in exams thus suggesting a SFP had occurred. Ball's study shows that class
inequalities can continue as a result of teachers' labelling, even without the effect of
subcultures or streaming.
Since Ball's study, the Education Reform Act (1988) has shown a trend towards more
streaming and towards a variety of types of school which creates new opportunites
for differentiation.
The variety of pupil responses
Peter Woods (1979) argues that there are other responses to labelling and streaming
other than Pro- and anti-school subcultures. These include:
Ingratiation- being the 'teacher's pet'
Ritualism- going through the motions and staying out of trouble
Retreatism- daydreaming and mucking about
Rebellion- outright rejection of everything the school stands for.
John Furlong (1984) also observes that pupils don't stick to one response but tend to
move between different responses.
The limitations of labelling theory
The labelling theory is accused of determinism as it assumes that pupils who are
labelled have no choice but to fulfil the prophecy and will fail but Mary Fuller's
(1984) study shows that this is not always true where the girls channelled their anger
into the pursuit of educational success.
Marxists also criticise the labelling theory for ignoring the wider structures of power
within which labelling takes place and fail to explain why teachers are blamed.
Marxists argue that labels are stems for the fact that teachers work in a system
which reproduces class divisions.
Marketisation and selection policies
Marketisation brought in:
A funding formula that gives a school the same amount of funds for each pupil.
Exam league tables that rank each school according to its exam performance and
make no allowance for the level of ability of its pupils.
Competition among schools to attract pupils.
The A-to-C economy and educational triage
Gilborn and Youdell describe the 'A-to-C economy' as a system in which schools
ration their time, effort and resources, concentrating them on those pupils who they
perceive as having the potential to get five grade Cs at GCSE and so boost the
school's league table position.
Gilborn and Youdell call this process the 'educational triage', triage means sorting.
Schools categorise pupils into 'those who will pass anyway', 'those with potential'
and 'hopeless cases'. Teachers do this using notions of 'ability' in which working class

8. and black pupils are labelled as lacking ability('hopeless case') thus producing a SFP
and failure.
Gilborn and Youdell's 'triage' is similar to Lacey's idea of differentiation, since they
both involve treating pupil's differently and labelling. Gilborn and Youdell link the
triage to marketisation policies (league tables) and show how these, when combined
with teachers' stereotypical ideas about pupils' ability, lead to differences in
achievement.
Competition and Selection
Marketisation also explains why schools are under pressure to select more able,
largely middle class pupils who will gain the school a higher ranking in the league
tables leading to even more able pupils joining the school thus increasing funding
and making the school popular. An increased popularity will enable the school to
select from a larger number of applicants and recruit the most able thus improving
results once again.
By contrast, unpopular schools have to take up the least able students from
disadvantaged backgrounds as they cannot afford to screen out the less able. These
students tend to get worse results, thus leading the school to become less popular
and see funding further reduced. These pressures have resulted in increased social
class segregation between schools.
Will Bartlett (1993) argues that marketisation leads to popular schools:
Cream-skimming- selecting higher ability pupils who gain the best results and cost
less to teach.
Silt-shifting- off loading pupils with learning difficulties who are expensive to teach
and get poor results.
An image to attract middle-class parents
Geoffrey Walford's (1991) research on CTC's (city technology colleges) found that
although they were intended to provide vocational education in partnership with
employers to recruit pupils from all social backgrounds, in practice they have come
to be just another route to elite education. They became attractive to middle-class
parents but because they were seen as the next big thing to a traditional grammar
school.
There is evidence that marketisation and selection have created a polarised
education system; popular, successful, well resourced schools with more able,
middle class intake at one extreme and unpopular, failing, under-resourced schools
Pupils
Triage
Those who will pass
anyway
Hopeless casesBorderline C/D- Targeted
for extra help
Educational Triage

9. with mainly low-achieving working class pupils at the other. Gewirtz describes this as
a 'blurred hierarchy' of schools.
Ethnic differences in achievement
Evidence of Ethnic Differences in Society
Webb found that white pupils make up around four out of five of all pupils.
The DfES found that only 24% of all white male pupils who were on free school meals
gained 5 A*-C grades.
White and Asian pupils on average achieve higher than black pupils.
The DfES also tells us that within every ethnic group, the middle class do better than
the working class pupils.
They also tell us that among all groups other than Gypsy/Roma children, girls
outperform boys.
External factors and ethnic differences in achievement
Cultural Deprivation
Intellectual and Linguistic skills- Cultural deprivation theorists see the lack of
intellectual and linguistic skills as a cause of underachievement for minority children.
They see children from low income black families as lacking intellectual stimulation
and enriching experiences which leaves them poorly equipped for school. However
the Swann Report (1985) criticises this by seeing language as a major factor of
underachievement as Indian pupils do well despite the language barrier
(Gilborn&Mirza, 2000).
Attitudes and values- Cultural deprivation theorists see black children having a lack
of motivation while other children are socialised into mainstream culture which has
many features like ambition which equips them for success. Also they argue that
black children have a 'live for today' attitude which leaves them unequipped for
success.
Family structure and parental support- Cultural deprivation theorists argue that the
failure to socialise children adequately is the result of a dysfunctional family
structure. Daniel Moynihan (1965) argues that many black families are headed by a
lone mother which means boys have no male role model to look up to thus creating
educational underachievement.
Asian families- Ruth Lupton (2004) argues that the adult authority in an Asian family
is the same to the model that operates within schools. However some sociologists
see Asian families as an obstacle to success e.g. Khan (1979) found Asian families as
'stress ridden', bound by tradition especially for girls.
White working-class families-White working class pupils underachieve might be
because of a lack of parental support. Also Lupton found that teachers reported
lower levels of behaviour and discipline despite there being fewer children on free
school meals. Teachers blamed this on the negative attitudes that white working-
class parents have on education.
Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation:

10. Driver (1977) criticises cultural deprivation theorists for not seeing the positive side
of ethnicity e.g. strong independent women provide girls with a positive role model
which explains why black girls tend to be more successful than black boys.
Lawrence (1982) argues that black pupils underachieve not because of low self
esteem but because of racism.
Keddie argues that ethnic minority children are culturally different not culturally
deprived, and they underachieve because schools are ethnocentric: biased to favour
the white culture.
Material Deprivation & Class
Working class people are more likely to face poverty and material deprivation.
Educational failure is a result of factors such as low income and substandard
housing.
Flaherty argues that ethnic minorities are more likely to face these problems: For example:
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are over three times more likely than whites to be in the
poorest fifth of the population.
Unemployment is three times higher for African and Bangladeshi/Pakistani people
than whites.
15% of ethnic minority households live in overcrowded conditions, compared with
only 2% of white households.
Pakistanis are nearly twice as likely to be in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs compared
to whites.
Bangladeshi and Pakistani women are more likely to be engaged in low-paid
homeworking, sometimes for as little as £1.50 per hour.
These inequalities reflect on educational achievement. E.g. Indians and Whites hold
a higher social class position than Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who face poverty. This
explains why Pakistanis and Bangladeshis do worse.
The Swann Report estimates that social class accounts for 50% of the difference in
achievement between ethnic groups.
Racism in wider society
John Rex shows how racism leads to social exclusion and how this worsens the
poverty faced by ethnic minorities. E.g. in housing, discrimination means that
minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accommodation.
In employment, there is evidence of direct and deliberate discrimination.Mike Noon
(1993) sent identical letters about employment opportunities to the top 100 UK
companies with the names of 'Evans' and 'Patel'. The companies were more
encouraging towards the 'white' candidate.
This helps us explain why ethnic minorities are more likely to face unemployment
and low pay and in turn has a negative effect on their children's educational success.
Internal factors and ethnic differences in achievement
Labelling and Teacher Racism

11. Labelling is to attach a meaning or definition to a person e.g. troublemaker.
Wright studied a multi-ethnic primary school and found that Asian pupils can be
victims of teacher's labelling as the teachers held an ethno-centric view (British
culture is superior).
The Asian pupils felt isolated when teachers expressed their disapproval. The effect
was that Asian pupils, especially the girls were pushed to the edge and prevented
from participating.
Gilborn and Gilborn found that teachers were quicker to discipline black pupils than
others for the same behaviour.
'Racialisedexpectations'- teachers expected black pupils to have worse behaviour.
Pupil resources and subcultures
The colour blind teachers who believe all pupils are equal but in practice allow
racism.
Fuller and Mac anGhaill: rejecting negative labels- A good example of pupils
responding by rejecting negative labels is minority ethnic groups do well. The study
highlights two key points. First, pupils may still succeed even when they refuse to
conform and negative labelling does not lead to failure e.g. as the black girls
channelled their anger for being put into lower streams and succeeding in
educational achievement.
Mirza found that racist teachers discouraged black people from being ambitious
over their careers.
Sewell found that teachers in a secondary school had a black stereotype of 'black
machismo' which sees all black boys as rebellious, anti-authority and anti-school.
Sewell found that there were four ways in which black boys responded to this
stereotype.
The rebels- The rebels were most visible and influential group but only a small
minority were black. They were against what the school stood for and conformed to
the stereotype of the 'black macho lad'.
The conformist- The largest group who were keen to succeed and were not a part
of the subculture.
The retreatist- Tiny minority of isolated individuals who were disconnected from
both the school and the black subculture.
The innovators- This was a group who only valued success but only conformed to
schoolwork, not the teachers.
Evaluation of labelling and pupil response
Labelling theory shows how teachers' stereotypes can cause a failure.
There is a danger as this can be seen as a teacher's prejudice and not racism in wider
society. Also outside factors can play a part e.g. influence of role models.
Mirza shows that pupils may devise strategies to try to avoid teacher's racism which
can limit their opportunities.
The ethnocentric curriculum

12. Ethnocentric describes an attitude or policy that gives priority to the culture and
viewpoint of one particular group.
Troyna and Williams describe the curriculum in British schools as ethnocentric
because it gives priority to white culture and the English language.
Stephen Ball criticises the national curriculum for ignoring cultural and ethnic
diversity and promoting an attitude of 'little Englandism'.
Miriam David describes the national curriculum as a 'specifically British' curriculum
that teaches the culture of the 'host community'.
However it is not clear what impact the ethnocentric curriculum has. E.g. while the
curriculum may ignore Asian culture, Indians, and Chinese pupils, achievement is still
above the average.
Institutional Racism
Ethnocentric curriculum is a prime example of institutional racism.
Troyna and Williams see the meagre provision for teaching Asian language as
institutional racism because it is an example of racial bias being built into the
everyday workings of school and colleges.
Troyna and Williams argue that explanation of ethnic differences in achievement
need to go beyond simply examining individual teacher racism to look at how
schools and colleges routinely discriminate against ethnic minorities.
Individual racism- that results from the prejudiced views of individuals.
Institutional racism- discrimination that is built into the way institutions such as
schools and colleges operate.
Richard Hatcher found that school governing bodies gave low priority to race issues
and failed to deal with pupil's racist behaviour.
Selection and Segregation
Parents do not want to send their white kids to schools with high Asian populations.
The Commission for Racial Equality found that racism in school admissions
procedures means that ethnic minority children are more likely to end up in
unpopular schools. The reasons for this are that reports from primary schools that
stereotype minority pupils. Also there is racist bias in interviews for school places.
There is a lack of information and application forms in minority languages. Ethnic
minority parents are often unaware of how the waiting list system works and the
importance of deadlines.
Gilborn argues that selection gives more scope to select pupils which puts ethnic
minorities at a disadvantage.
Moore & Davenport argue that better schools discriminate against 'problem student'
and that selection leads to an ethnically stratified education system.
Ethnicity, class and gender
Evans discusses how for a black child we examine their culture and ethnicity but for a
white child we focus on their class and concludes that we have to look at all three
factors (class, ethnicity and gender).

13. Studies like Evans shows us that we cannot just consider ethnicity but also look at
gender and class when explaining differences in achievement.
Gender Differences in Education
The gender gap in achievement
On starting school- Children are given a baseline test in which the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority found that 62% of girls could concentrate without supervision
for 10 minutes whereas only 49% of boys could do this.
At key stages 1 to 3- Girls do consistently better in English where the gender gap
widens with age but in science and maths the gap is narrower but girls still do better.
At GCSE- The percentage difference is around 10% each year since 1985 and it
favours the girls.
At AS level and A level- girls are more likely to pass and get higher grades but the
gender gap is lower than GCSEs.
On vocational courses- A larger proportion of girls receive distinction in every
subject than boys.
External factors and gender differences in achievement
The impact of feminism
The feminist movement has lead to more rights for women since the 1960's.
However equal rights have not completely been achieved but there has been
considerable success which is highlighted by Angela McRobbie who compared
women's magazines from the 1970s and 1990s. In the 1970s the magazines were
emphasising the importance of marriage and the 1990s one had images of
independent women.
Changes in the family
There have been major changes in the family since 1970s. These include:
increase in divorce rate
increase in cohabitation and decline in the number of first marriages
increase in the number of lone-parent families (mostly female headed)
smaller families.
These changes have affected girl's attitude towards education. E.g. An increase in the
divorce rate encourages girls to look after themselves and to do well at school so they can
become 'independent'.
Changes in women's employment
There have been important changes in women's employment. These include:
The 1970 Equal Pay act makes it illegal to pay women less than men for work of
equal value.

14. The proportion of women in employment has risen from 47% (1959) to over 70%
(2007).
Some women are breaking through the 'glass ceiling'- the invisible barrier which
keeps them out of professional and managerial jobs.
These changes have encourages girls to see their future with greater opportunities which
provides them with the incentive to gain qualifications.
Girls' changing ambitions
Sharpe compared interviews conducted with girls from 1970s and 1990s. She found
major shifts in the way girls see their future now. In 1970s, the girls had low
aspirations and prioritised marriage and the family. The girls in the 1990s wanted to
support themselves and see their future as independent women.
Internal factors and gender differences in achievement
Equal opportunities policies
GIST (Girls into science and technology) and WISE (Women into science and
engineering) encourage girls to pursue careers in non-traditional areas. Female
scientists have visited school acting as role models so that girls become aware of
these policies and use them to thrive in educational success.
The introduction of the National Curriculum made boys and girls study mostly the
same subjects which removed one source of gender inequality.
Positive role models in schools
An increase in the amount of female teachers and head teachers means that there
are more women in positions of authority and seniority which means they can act as
role models for girls and push them towards educational success
GCSE and coursework
Gorard found that the gender gap was constant from 1975 till 1988 when it started
to favour girls because of the introduction of GCSEs and coursework. Gorard
concluded that the gender gap is a 'product of the changed system of assessment
rather any more general failing of boys'.
Mitsos and Browne suggest that girls are more successful at coursework because
they are better at meeting deadlines, more organised, spend more time on their
work and more conscientious.
Teacher attention
Swann and Graddol found that boys attract the teacher's attention so they get more
opportunities to speak. However they found that teachers interacted with girls more
positively because the discussion focused on school work.
Swann found that boys dominate class discussions but girls prefer group work and
are better at listening and cooperating. This may explain why teachers respond to
them more positively as they are seen as cooperative.

15. Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
Research from the 1970s found women to be portrayed as housewives and mothers
in textbooks. However the removal of these stereotypes from textbooks have
improved girl's achievement and removed a barrier.
Selection and league tables
Jackson sees the introduction of league table as favouring girl's achievement as
schools want to attract high achieving pupils who tend to be girls and not low
achieving pupils (majority boys). This leaves boys to be seen as 'liability students'-
obstacles to the school improving its league system.
Two types of girls' achievement
Liberal feminists- They celebrate the progress made so far on improving
achievement, but believe that more progress will be made by educational
opportunities policies and overcoming stereotypes.
Radical feminists- They see the progress made but still see school as remaining
patriarchal e.g. education still limits subject choices and there are still more male
head teachers than female.
Boys and Achievement
Boys and Literacy
The DCSF (2007) found that the gender gap is mainly a result in boys' poorer literacy
and language skills. One reason for this is because parents spend less time reading to
their sons. Also boy's leisure pursuit (football) does little to develop these skills
whereas girls adopt a 'bedroom culture' and stay in and talk to their friends.
In response to this problem, the government have introduced a range of policies to
solve this. The National Literacy Strategy includes a focus on improving boys'
reading.
Globalisation and the decline of traditional men's jobs
Since the 1980s, there has been a decline in the amount of traditional men's jobs
such as heavy industries. This has the result of the globalisation of the economy
which has led to industries shift to developing countries such as China to take
advantage of cheap labour.
Many boys now believe that they have little prospect of getting a proper jobs which
undermines their motivation and self-esteem and so they give up trying to get
qualifications.
Feminisation of education
Sewell says that boys fall behind because education is more 'feminised', it focuses
more on methodical work (which favours girls) than leadership (which favours boys).
Shortage of male primary school teachers

16. The DfES found that men only make up 16% of primary school teachers which means
there is a lack of strong positive male role models at school which leads to
underachievement. This is also supported by the amount of female headed lone
parent families which means there is also no male role model at home.
Recent studies however go against this claim as Myhill and Jones found that 13-15
year old boys felt that male teachers treat boys more harshly.
'Laddish' subcultures
Epstein found that working class boys are likely to be harassed as sissies and 'swots'.
Francis supported this and found that boys were more concerned about being
labelled as swots than girls as it is a threat to their masculinity. This is because
working class culture is associated with being tough and manual labour. As a result,
working class boys reject class work to avoid being called 'gay'.
Francis found that laddish culture is becoming increasingly widespread.
Gender, class and ethnicity
It is wrong to conclude that boys are failures as boys now do better than they did in
the past.
McVeigh found the similarities in girls' and boys' achievement are far greater than
the differences. The DfES found that the class gap in class achievement was three
times greater at GCSE than the gender gap.
As a result, boys and girls of the same social class tend to get similar results e.g.at
GCSE in 2006, the gender gap was never greater than 12%.
By contrast, pupils of the same gender but different social class achieve diverse
results e.g. girls from the highest class were 44 points ahead of girls from the lowest
cast.
Subject choice and gender identity
Subject choice
The introduction of the national curriculum reduced pupils' freedom to drop subjects
by making them compulsory till the age of 16.
Boys and girls tend to follow 'gender routes' though the education system.
Stables and Wikeley found that when there was a choice in the national curriculum,
boys and girls tend to choose differently. E.g. D&T is compulsory but more girls pick
food technology whereas boys pick graphics.
There are big differences for A level subjects with boys opting for Maths and Physics
and girls for Sociology and English.
There is gender segregation in courses as well with only one in 100 construction
apprentices being a girl.
Explanations of gender differences and in subject choice
Early Socialisation

17. Early Socialisation shapes children's gender identity. Norman found that from an
early age boys and girls are dressed differently. Boys are rewarded for being active
and girls are rewarded for being passive.
School also plays a big part. Bryne found that teachers encourage boys to be tough
and not sissies and girls are encouraged to be quiet and clean.
Gender Domains- Murphy found that boys and girls interpret tasks differently.
Murphy asked boys and girls to design a boat and an estate agent advert. Boys
tended to design a battleship and focused on masculine spheres such as the garage
for the advert. Girls on the other hand designed cruise ships and focused more on
the decor of a house.
Gender subject images
The gender image that a subject 'gives off' affects who will want to choose it. e.g.
Science is seen as a boy's subject as science teachers are more likely to be men.
However the DfES found that pupils who go to a single-sex school tend to hold less
stereotyped images.
Peer pressure
Subject choices can be influenced by peer pressure. Other boys and girls may apply
pressure to an individual if they disapprove of his or her choice. E.g. Boys tend to opt
out of music because it is out of their gender domain.
Gendered career opportunities
Jobs are sex-typed as 'men's' and 'women's'. Women's jobs tend to be similar to
housework e.g. childcare. This sex-typing affects pupil's ideas of what jobs are
acceptable or possible. E.g. if boys get the message that nursery nurses are women,
then they'll be less likely to opt for that career.
Gender Identity
Verbal Abuse
Paetcher sees name calling as shaping gender identity and maintain male power. The
use of words like 'queer' are ways in which pupils 'police' each other's sexual
identity.
Male peer groups
Male peer groups use verbal abuse to reinforce their definitions of masculinity e.g.
calling boys who want to do well as 'gay'.
Redman and Mac anGhaill found that the definition of masculine identity changes
from toughness in lower school to intellectual ability in sixth form.
Teachers and disciple
Teachers also play a part in reinforcing dominant definitions of gender identity e.g.
male teachers often teased boys off for 'acting like girls'.

18. The male gaze
Mac anGhaill see the male gaze as a form of surveillance through which dominant
heterosexual masculinity is reinforced and femininity devalued. Boys who do not
display this heterosexuality run the risk of being labelled gay.
Double standards
When we apply one set of moral standards to one group but a different sent to
another group e.g. Boys boast about their own sexual exploits bur call a girl a 'slag' if
she does the same or dresses in a certain way.
Feminists see this as a example of patriarchal ideology that justifies male power and
devalues women.
The role of education: Functionalism and the New Right
The functionalist perspective on education
Durkheim: Solidarity and Skills
Two main functions of education:
Creating social solidarity
Teaching specialist skills
Social Solidarity:
Durkheim argues that society needs a sense of solidarity; individual members must
feel themselves to be part of a single 'body' or community.
He argues that without social solidarity, social life and cooperation would be
impossible as each individual would pursue their own selfish desires.
The education system helps to create social solidarity by transmitting society's
culture (shared beliefs) from one generation to another.
School acts as a 'society in miniature', preparing children for life in wider society. E.g.
both in school and work you are taught to co operate with people who are not
related to you.
Specialist Skills:
The cooperation of many different specialists promotes social solidarity but , for it to
be successful, each person must have the necessary specialist knowledge and skills
to perform their role.
Durkheim argues that education teaches individuals the specialist knowledge and
skills that they need to play their part in the social division of labour.
Parsons: Meritocracy
Meritocracy- The idea that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and where
individuals' rewards and status are achieved by their own efforts rather than
ascribed by their gender, class or ethnic group.
Acts as a bridge between the family and wider society.

19. The bridge is needed because family and society operate on different principles, so
children need to learn a new way of living if they are able to cope with the wider
world.
Within the family, the child's status is ascribed; particular rules apply to only that
particular child.
By contrast both school and wider society judge us all by the same universalistic and
impersonal standards. Each pupil is judged against the same standards e.g. they all
sit the same exam.
Likewise in both school and wider society, a person's status is achieved not ascribed
e.g. working hard for a promotion.
Parsons sees school as preparing us to move from the family to wider society
because school and society are both based on meritocratic principles.
Davis and Moore: Role Allocation
Like Parson's, Davis and Moore also see education as a device for selection and role
allocation, but they focus on the relationship between education and social
inequality.
They argue that inequality is necessary so that the most important roles in society
are filled with the most talented people.
Not everyone is equally talented, so society has to offer higher rewards for these
jobs thus creating competition as everyone will now compete for these jobs.
Education plays a key part in this process as it acts as a proving ground for ability.
Education 'sifts and sorts' everyone according to ability.
The most able gain the highest qualifications, which then gives them entry to the
most important and highly rewarded positions.
Evaluation of the Functionalist Perspective
There is evidence that equal opportunities in education don't exist. E.g. achievement
is greatly influenced by class background rather than ability.
Marxists argue that education in capitalist society only transmits the ideology of a
minority- the ruling class.
The interactionalist, Dennis Wrong argues that functionalists have an 'over-socialised
view' of people as mere puppets of society. Functionalists wrongly imply that pupils
passively accept all they are taught and never reject the school's values.
The New Right argue that the state education system fails to prepare young people
adequately for work. This is because state control of education discourages
efficiency, competition and choice.
The New Right perspective on education
The New Right favour the marketisation of education as schools are run like
businesses and have to attract consumers (parents) by competing with each other.
Schools provide consumers with what they want (good exam results) so that they
'don't go out of business'.
The New Right is similar to Functionalism in many ways e.g. they believe that people
are naturally talented.

20. However the key difference is that the New Right do not believe the current
education system is achieving these goals. This is because it is run by the state.
The state take a 'one size fits all' approach. The local consumers who use the school
such as parents, pupils aswell as employers have no say or input in the educational
system.
Schools in which waste money or have poor results are not answerable to their
consumers. Which means that pupils potentially have lower standards of
achievement.
Chubb and Moe: Consumer choice
Chubb and Moe argue that the American state education has failed and they make
the case for opening it up to market forces of supply and demand. They make a
number of claims:
Disadvantaged groups- The lower classes have been badly served by the state as it
has failed to create equal opportunity.
State education fails to produce pupils needed by the economy.
Private schools have higher quality education as they are answerable to those who
are paying- the parents.
Chubb and Moe based this on the achievements of 60,000 pupils from low income families
in 1,015 state and private schools and parents' surveys. They found that low-income families
do about 5% better in private schools. Chubb and Moe call for a market system that would
put control in the hands of the consumers (parents) thus allowing them to meet their own
needs. For this to work Chubb and Moe would propose the end of guaranteed funding to
schools and the introduction of vouchers given to each family to spend on buying education.
Two roles for the State
The state imposes a framework on schools within which they have to compete e.g.
by publishing league tables of exam results.
The state ensures that schools transmit a shared culture.
Evaluation of the New Right Perspective
Marxists argue that education doesn't impose a shared national culture, and argues
that it imposes the culture of a dominant minority ruling class.
Gewirtz and Ball argue that competition between schools benefit the middles class.
Critics would argue that real cause of low educational standard isn't the state control
but social inequality and adequate funding of state schools.
There is contradiction between the support of new rights parents choice on one
hand and the state imposing a compulsory national curriculum all its schools on the
other.
The role of education: Marxism
Althusser: The Ideological State Apparatus

21. Althusser focuses his work on the way that the working class learn to become passive and
obedient. Althusser argues that the state exercises power over the working class. This can
be achieved through two means:
Repressive State Apparatus (RSA)-Physical control of the W/C through the Police,
Military, Judicial system etc.
Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)-A form of 'brain washing through socialisation'.
This is the control over mind rather than by physical means.
The R/C's dominant ideology gets filtered through I.S.A (Media, education etc.) down to the
W/C. Althusser argues that the education system performs two functions in the ISA:
Education reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from generation to
generation.
Education legitimates class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true
cause.
Bowles and Gintis: schooling in capitalist America
Bowles and Gintis build on Althusser's point that the main purpose of education is to
'Reproduce Class Inequalities' I.e. Obedient workers. They believe that the school creates
workers through two main ways; Hidden Curriculum and the Myth of Meritocracy.
The correspondence principle and the hidden curriculum
Bowles and Gintis argue that there are close parallels between schools and work e.g.
Both are hierarchies with head teacher and bosses. Bowles and Gintis argue that this
principle operates through the hidden curriculum which are 'lessons' learnt without
them being directly taught. In this way, schooling prepares working class pupils for
their roles as exploited workers of the future.
The myth of Meritocracy
Because there is inequality in a capitalist society, the poor may feel that it is
undeserved and unfair. Bowles and Gindis argue that meritocracy doesn't exist.
Evidence from this shows that the main factor in determining whether or not
someone has a high income is their family and class not their ability.
The myth of meritocracy justifies the privileges of higher classes, making it seem that
they gain them through open and fair competition.
This helps persuade the working class to accept inequality as legitimate, making it
less like to overthrow capitalism.
Willis: learning to labour
Paul Willis looks at how working class pupils resist the attempts to indocrinate them
into this myth of meritocracy. Using qualitative methods (unstructered interview),
Willis studied the counter-school culture of 'the lads', a group of 12 working class
boys as they made a transition from school to work.
The lads opposed the school and 'took the piss' out of the ear'oles (conformist boys)
and girls.
The lads find school boring so they flout its rules e.g. Smoking. These lads see such
acts of defiance of ways of resisting the school.
Willis notes the similarity between anti-school counter-culture and shopfloor culture
as both cultures see manual work as superior and the lads were strongly identified
by this which explains why they see themselves as superior to the ear'oles and girls.
Evaluation of Marxist Approach

22. However,Postmodernists criticise Bowles and Gintis’ correspondence principle on
the belief that schools now produce a different labour force than the one described
by Marxists. They argue that education now reproduces diversity not inequality.
By contrast, Willis rejects the view that school simply ‘brainwashes’ pupils into
passively accepting their fate.
However, critics argue that Willis’ account of the lads’ romanticises them, portraying
them as working class heroes despite their antic-social behaviour and sexists
attitudes.
Marxists disagree with one another as to how reproduction and legitimating takes
place. Bowles and Gintis take a deterministic view. This approach fails to explain why
pupils ever reject the school’s values.
Critical modernists such as Morrow and Torres (1988) criticise Marxists for taking a
‘class first approach that sees class as the key inequality and ignores all other kinds.
They argue that sociologists must explain how education reproduces and legitimises
all forms of equality, not just class, and how the different forms of inequality are
inter-related.
Educational policy and inequality
The main phases of educational policy in Britain
Selection: The Tripartite system
The 1944 Education Act brought in the tripartite system so children could be
allocated to one of the three types of secondary schools. This was identified by
eleven plus exams.
Grammar Schools offered an academic curriculum and access to higher education.
These were students who had academic ability and passed the 11+ exams. These
pupils tended to be middle class.
Secondary modern schools offered a non-academic curriculum and access to manual
work for pupils who failed 11+. These pupils tended to be working class.
The third type (technical schools) only existed in few areas so this was more of a
bipartite system.
The tripartite system discouraged meritocracy by reproducing class and gender
inequality. This was done by channelling the two social classes into two different
types of schools and girls were often given higher boundaries.
The system also legitimated inequality as it gave the ideology that ability is inborn
rather than a child's upbringing and environment and upbringing.
The Comprehensive System
This system was introduced to overcome the class divide of the Tripartite system and
make education more meritocratic. However it continued to reproduce class
inequalities for two reasons.
Streaming- streaming into ability groups meant that the middle class were placed in
higher streams than the working class.
Labelling- Even when streaming is not present, teachers continue to label working
class pupils negatively.

23. Comprehensives also legitimate the 'myth of meritocracy' as every pupil now goes to
the same school with the equal opportunities regardless of class background,
however in reality this is not the case.
Marketisation and Parentocracy
Marketisation is introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition
between suppliers in areas run by the state.
The Education Reform act introduced this and created an education market by
reducing direct state control over education and by increasing competition between
schools.
Policies such as the publication of exam league tables and Ofsted reports are used to
promote marketisation.
Ball and Whitty look at how marketisation reproduces and legitimates inequality. They
argue that it is reproduced through exam league tables and the funding formula.
Exam league tables- Schools that have poor league positions cannot afford to be
selective with pupils and have to take less able pupils thus lower exam results. The
effect of league tables is thus to produce unequal schools that reproduce social class
inequality.
Funding Formula- Schools are allocated funds on how many pupils they attract.
Popular schools get more funding so they can afford better facilities but unpopular
schools lose income and find it difficult to keep up with popular schools which
creates inequality.
The myth of Parentocracy
Ball argues that parentocracy is a myth as it makes it appear that all parents have the
same freedom to choose what school to send their children to.
In reality, Gewirtz shows how middle class parents have more economic and cultural
capital and so take advantages of these choices available to them e.g. moving to
areas with desirable schools.
New Labour policies since 1997
Reducing Inequality
After 1997,Labour Governments have introduced a number of policies that aim to reduce
inequality. These include:
Identifying deprived areas (Education Action Zones) and supplying them with
additional resources.
The Aim Higher programme to raise the aspirations of groups who are under-
represented in higher education.
EMA payments to students with low income backgrounds.
Proposal to raise the school leaving age to 18 (currently passed)-hopefully this
reduces to the number of 'NEETS' (those 'not in education, employment or training').
Promoting Diversity and Choice

24. New Labour have aimed to create a system built around the needs of the individual child
and where power is in the hands of the parents.To do this, the Labour Government
introduced the following policies:
Secondary Schools were encouraged to apply for specialist school status in particular
curriculum areas. By 2007, around 85% of all secondary schools had become
specialist schools. It is argued that this offers parents a greater choice and raises
standards of achievement.
Labour has also promoted academies as a policy for raising achievement and plans to
have 200 academies by 2010.
Postmodernism and New Labour policies
Labour policies reflect ideas put forward by postmodernists. E.g. Kenneth Thompson
argues that schools can break away from the 'one size fits all' system in a
postmodern society.
Thompson argue that education becomes 'customised' to meet the needs of diverse
communities.
Postmodernism is criticised as it neglects the continuing importance of inequality in
education.
Criticisms of New Labour policies
Whitty (2002) sees a contradiction between Labour's policies to tackle inequality and
its commitment to marketisation. EMA's encourage working class students to stay on
until they are 18-tuition fees deter people away from university.
Also critics point out that there is a continued existence of both selective grammar
schools and fee-paying private schools. Despite the Labour Party's long-standing
opposition to private schools as bastions of middle and upper-class privilege.
Policies relating to gender and ethnicity
Gender
The triparte system has led girls to be included in higher education.
Policies like GIST have reduced gender differences in subject choice.
Ethnicity
Policies aimed at improving achievement of children from minority ethnic backgrounds have
gone through several phases.
1. Assimilation policies focused on the need for pupils to assimilate into mainstream
British culture as a way of raising their achievement.
2. Multicultural education (MCE) policies aimed to promote achievements from
minority ethnic groups by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum thereby raising
minority achievements. The MCE has been criticised on several grounds:
Maureen Stone argues that black pupils do not fail for lack of self esteem, so
MCE is misguided.
The New Right criticise MCE for perpetuating cultural divisions.
3. Social inclusion of pupils and policies to raise achievement of minority ethnic groups.
Policies include:
the detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity and help for voluntary
'Saturday schools' in the black community.