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Question and guidance

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The trick here is to pick two broad (rather than very specific) reasons, which will give you the most scope to develop The first reason is gendered differences in early socialisation
Fiona Norman (1988) found that most parents socialise boys and girls in different ways - they tend to be more gentle with girls, protect them more, and encourage them in more passive activities, such as reading with them, whereas 'typical boys' are encouraged to run around and 'let of steam' more.

Later on in school, this might explain why more boys do active subjects such as P.E. and why more girls do reflective, academic subjects such as English and sociology.

A further gender difference in socialisation is the toys boys and girls play with - dolls for girls and cars and tool sets for boys, which could explain differences in vocational subjects - health and social care subjects (working with children) are very female dominated, engineering (making and fixing) are very much male dominated.

However, Postmodernists would say that these stereotypes are breaking down, and that gender stereotypes in socialisation are much less common than in the past, hence why we are seeing more gender diversity in subject choice today.
Peer group pressure might also encourage boys to do 'typically boys subjects' and girls to do typically girls subjects.
This linked to hegemonic (dominant ideas about) masculinity - stereotypically, 'real men' are good at sport, and so boys are under pressure play sport to fit into their male peer group, this doesn't apply to girls and could explain why more boys do PE later in their school careers.

Similarly hegemonic femininity also requires that girls 'look good' (as Louise Archer found) which could explain why it is mostly girls who do hair and beauty courses.

Verbal abuse is one way these peer groups reinforce dominant gender identities. Boys choosing girls' subjects can be accused of being 'gay', and vice versa for girls, and this may steer them away from subjects which don't fit in with their gender domains.

To analyse this even further all of this is especially true of working class girls and boys, and for younger children, less so for middle class and older children (doing A level for example).

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Analyse two reasons for gender differences in subject choice (10)

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The trick here is to pick two broad (rather than very specific) reasons, which will give you the most scope to develop The first reason is gendered differences in early socialisation Fiona Norman (1988) found that most parents socialise boys and girls in different ways - they tend to be more gentle with girls, protect...

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Single sex girls schools and STEM article

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Single sex girls schools and STEM article

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Credit: Monash University

New research from Monash University has found that girls in single-sex schools are more likely to study chemistry, intermediate mathematics, advanced mathematics and physics in their senior years when compared to their co-ed counterparts.

The research, conducted by Professor Helen Forgasz and Adjunct Professor Gilah Leder of Monash University and commissioned by The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia, revealed that in 2015 girls in single-sex schools in Victoria were more likely to study the following STEM subjects than girls in co-ed schools:

Chemistry (27.6% of girls in single-sex schools vs 15.4% of girls in co-ed schools)

Intermediate mathematics (Mathematical Methods) (36.3% vs 21.6%)

Advanced mathematics (Specialist Mathematics) (8.9% vs 4.8%)

Physics (7.5% vs 5.1%)

Based on these figures, girls at single-sex schools were 85% more likely to take advanced mathematics than girls in co-ed schools, 79% more likely to study chemistry, 68% more likely to take intermediate mathematics, and 47% more likely to study physics.

Enrolments in other STEM subjects were similar for girls in single-sex and co-ed schools, including in biology, standard mathematics and information technology subjects. Ros Curtis, President of the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia, said the Monash University research demonstrated the positive role girls' schools played in encouraging women into STEM fields, which is vital for the future economy of the country.

"This research confirms that, in an all-girls learning environment, free from gender bias or social pressure from boys, girls thrive in what have been traditionally regarded as male-dominated subjects," said Ms Curtis.

Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia Executive Officer Loren Bridge said that one of the major hurdles to boosting the number of women in STEM is giving girls confidence in these subjects from a young age.

"An all-girls learning environment provides the motivation, self-belief and resilience for girls to feel confident about their abilities in maths and science, they are more assertive, willing to take risks, ask questions and make mistakes," said Ms Bridge.

The authors of the report also found that there is still a "gendered expectation" that women will be the main carer of children, as well as gender stereotyping, harassment and bullying in male-dominated fields like engineering, and that these contributed to many survey respondents making career changes away from STEM.

Helen Forgasz and Gilah Leder found that 24% of 21-30 year old females, 34% of 31-40 year olds, 45% of 41-50 years olds and 54% of 51-60 year olds said these factors hindered their STEM careers.

"While mention of these barriers was not surprising from older participants, disappointingly they were also cited by younger women," said Professor Forgasz.

Reasons given by younger females (21-30 years old) include excessively long working weeks, lack of support, scarcity of grants, the need to travel internationally for short-term contracts that may never turn into a stable job, and the difficulty of combining parenting and childcare with careers requiring field work.

Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia Executive Officer Loren Bridge said the reality for girls is that the 'real world' is not yet a gender-equal playing field.

"While it's very encouraging that efforts to increase the number of girls taking advanced STEM subjects is paying off and flowing through to the number of graduates entering STEM fields, it's concerning that young women pursuing STEM careers are still coming face-to-face with the issues of harassment, bullying and gender stereotyping. Clearly there is a lot of work to be done to change the culture of STEM workplaces," said Ms Bridge.

Provided by: Monash University

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Girls at single-sex schools up to 85% more likely to take advanced STEM subjects than co-ed girls

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New research from Monash University has found that girls in single-sex schools are more likely to study chemistry, intermediate mathematics, advanced mathematics and physics in their senior years when compared to their co-ed counterparts.

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Sociology Factsheet

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White-working class boys and underachievement

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White-working class boys and underachievement

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Extended reading

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Carolyn Jackson

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Gender differences in educational achievement - Youtube clip

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Gender differences in educational achievement - Youtube clip