In this essay, I will review an article published by Tina Rampino on the education gender gap, specifically on the attitude and aspirations of school-going males and females. Rampino begins by setting the scene in terms of gender differences in performance and identifying some of the sociological debates surrounding these. Rampino’s research confirms previous studies done on attitudes and aspirations, but also reveals that certain factors, like the situation at home or the economy, can influence attitudes and aspirations.
Rampino starts her article, from a sociological perspective there are some major concerns when looking at the gender differences in educational attitudes, aspirations, and eventually attainment. Rampino mentions in the article, every year when the GCSE results are released the media will highlight the statistics, that on average, present that females score higher than males. Rampino goes on by explaining that this is often the case with sociological topics, that there are both nature or nurture arguments and perspectives. Rampino then clarifies that according to the nature argument, differences between males and females are biologically determined, and innate, and do not change over time. Alternatively, Rampino explains that the nurture argument looks more at the environment in which people live which creates the gender difference.
Another research Rampino refers to and that supports the nature argument includes the PISA study that was carried out between 2000 and 2009. This indicates that females outscore males in reading, but males are better in maths and science. But what that study also shows is that subject-specific gender gaps are not constant over time, so she mentions that this leaves room for further explanations for gender differences in education. Rampino says, that the Nurture argument looks for gender differences in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. And that academics have observed that from early childhood, children are treated differently depending on their gender.
After explaining the different arguments and studies Rampino then focuses more specifically on the aspirations and attitudes of males and females and how that relates to educational attainment. As well all how focusing on aspirations and attitude can also reduce the risk of undesirable behaviors. Rampino carries on by explaining her own research. She carried out a study based on a self-completed questionnaire on a group of eleven to fifteen-year-olds. Rampino concentrated on four questions, the first two focusing on attitude and the last two on aspiration.
From the study, Rampino concluded that females have more positive attitudes and higher educational aspirations than males. Even though gender differences are small they are statistically significant, and females have more positive attitudes than males. For 62% of females doing well at school means a great deal whereas only 59% of males share the same view. Furthermore, 77% of females think that gaining their GCSE qualifications is very important compared with 76% of males. Small gender differences persist in negative educational attitudes. For 7% of males doing well at school meant a bit or very little to them, compared with 5% of females. Overall females not only tend to report more positive educational attitudes than males but they tend to report less negative educational attitudes too (Rampino, 2013, p9). Rampino found that females systematically report more positive educational attitudes and aspirations than males even after controlling for a range of child and family-specific factors (Rampino, 2013, p2).
A more detailed analysis by Rampino suggests the effects of gender on children’s educational attitudes and aspirations differ according to parental education and parental educational attitudes, their age, and ultimately fluctuations in the business cycle. Rampino found that even though the effect of parental education on attitudes to schooling and the importance of GCSE examinations does not vary by gender, its impacts on children’s educational aspirations do. Contrary to expectations based on gender role socialization and social control theories that parental background is more important for females than males, Rampino found that the educational aspirations of males are more positively affected by parental education than those of females (Rampino, 2013, p34).
What Rampino also concluded was, for males specifically, if one of the parents held a degree, the males’ attitude toward education was more positive (Rampino, 2013, p19). Additionally, she concluded that whereas females’ educational attitudes and aspirations stayed stable or improved when they grew up, males' educational attitudes and aspirations decreased.
Lastly, Rampino mentions that when looking at it from an economic perspective, females had a more positive educational attitude and aspirations during less economic periods compared to males who seem not to be impacted by that, being good or bad economic times.
In the next paragraph, I will detail out other research that supports Rampino’s article, but moreover, I will also criticize her work and arguments.
As Rampino also mentioned, many sources confirm, when looking at the statistics, at every level of the educational system, from SATs, and GCSE to degree level, females outperform males (Brown, 2015, p67).
When looking at statistics, females outperform males, however, social class differences influence educational attainment more than gender does, research by Perry and Francis has confirmed this (Brown, 2015, p68).
And according to Haralambos, the picture is more complex than females outperforming males and explains that over the last 45 years, both genders have improved their performance. And that only some working-class males could be described as underachieving (Haralambos et al, 2018, p96). Something that Rampino does not consider is that Academics have observed that from early childhood, children are treated differently depending on their gender (McNeill et al, 2003, p18).
In her study, Rampino does not look at what actually goes on in the classrooms. Study shows that males are in general more disruptive in class and devaluates schoolwork (Brown, 2015, p70). And there is evidence that females enjoy education more than males (Newbold, 2008, p156). Haralambos looks at the learning styles in schools, and that some methods motivate females or males more than the other gender (Haralambos et al, 2018, p101).
Another aspect is the role of the teacher. Teachers, mostly females, encourage males more to go into sciences and technology compared to females. This has also been found in sports, with rugby and cricket for the males and hockey and netball for the females. A girl who identified herself as a rugby player or a boxer might be looked at as a tomboy (Brown, 2015, p218).
As mentioned, female teachers dominate primary schools, where they control and suppress a male. This suggests that schools should be made more masculine and that attention and resources should be redirected from females to males (Haralambos et al, 2013, p712). Research in the Netherlands (CBS) shows that, even if females score higher than males in the primary school exams, the advice from the teacher on the secondary school level for males was similar to or higher than that from the females (CBS, 2018).
Another key aspect that Rampino does not take is the influence of the Media. The media create and reinforce gender stereotypes in a number of ways. Comics, for example, present different images of men and women. females are usually presented as pretty, romantic, helpless, easily upset and emotional, and dependent on males for support and guidance. Males are presented as strong, independent, unemotional, and assertive (Brown, 2015, p219).
Early interventions to improve the home learning environment during pre-school years, to improve a child's educational attitudes during primary school, and to encourage teenagers’ ambitions for higher education throughout secondary school, could help attenuate the socio-economic gap in educational attainment (Gregg et al, 2010).
An international study in 2018, titled Drawing The Future, confirms some of Rampino’s conclusions. This report draws on the responses of 13,070 primary school children from the United Kingdom. From September to December 2017 children aged 7 to 11 from 146 primary schools. The research team then coded these jobs according to the list of 69 occupations (Chambers et al, 2018, p24).
As Rampino also suggests, the perceptions children have about certain jobs and careers are formed and sometimes cemented at a young age. These studies have emphasized that children’s aspirations are often shaped and restricted by gender stereotyping, socio-economic background, and, importantly, who they know. These factors can, and do, go on influence the academic effort children apply in certain lessons, the subjects they choose to study, and the jobs they end up pursuing (Chambers et al, 2018, p5).
Findings in the United Kingdom show, that across the survey, children’s aspirations appear to be shaped by gender-specific ideas about certain occupations. Males overwhelmingly aspire to take on roles in traditionally male-dominated sectors and occupations (Chambers et al, 2018, p5).
Over four times the number of males wanted to become Engineers compared to females. Furthermore, nearly double the number of males wanted to become scientists compared to females in our survey. Nevertheless, almost 3 times the number of females wanted to become Doctors compared to males, and nearly four times the number of females want to become Vets compared to males (Chambers et al, 2018, p5).
Conceptions of traditional femininity, specifically ideas around caring roles, may also explain the difference in the number of females wanting to become a teacher or doctors compared to males. It may also be influenced by the teachers the children see, with the majority of primary school teachers being female (Chambers et al, 2018, p6). International findings show, that while aspirations, and the influences on these aspirations, vary by country, there are a few global trends that appear from the data. In terms of gender stereotyping and gendered career expectations, aspirations do tend to lay in stereotypical masculine or feminine roles across the survey. One of the most popular jobs for males across our survey is often police and army while teaching appears as one of the most popular occupations for females (Chambers et al, 2018, p6). In most countries in the survey, Maths or Science is in the top two favorite subjects among children for both males and females. The general trends suggest that in some developing countries, children have more practical and high professional ambitions, whereas in developed countries aspirations are often formed around celebrity culture, like a Sportsperson, a career in social media, and gaming (Chambers et al, 2018, p6). Parents, and other members of the family, are often the major influencer if the respondent indicated that they knew someone personally who did that occupation. If a young person did not know someone personally who did that job, TV/Film is the biggest influencer. In all countries in our sample, less than one percent of children state they had heard about the job from a volunteer from the world of work coming into school (Chambers et al, 2018, p7).
In conclusion, Rampino’s study and arguments raise some valid points and concerns on the attitudes and aspirations of school-going males and females, these should be considered for further research and future policies, but it does only represent a certain perspective as other research shows that it is much more complex, and many different factors drive the attitudes and aspirations of males and females.
A career seems far away for most primary school-going children. Making a link between what they learn in primary school and the profession they might one day pursue is not easy, particularly for those coming from challenging backgrounds. Early interaction can be a way of raising children’s aspirations and broadening their horizons. Including experiences of the real world in learning and the school, the curriculum can lead to increased motivation resulting in increased educational attainment. Volunteers from the world of work can also play a key role in providing children with role models and tackling stereotyping around gender and ethnicity and helping ensure that children at a young age don’t start ruling out options for themselves. Creating and promoting a culture where males appreciate and understand the value of education as a means to improve their life chances is key to assure their motivation does not fade as they progress through secondary school.
References
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McNeill, P., Blundell, J., Griffiths, J., (2003). “Sociology AS - The Complete Companion”. Nelson Thornes: Cheltenham
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Websites
Chambers, N., Kashefpakdel, E., Rehill, J. & Percy C. (2018). “Draw the Future” educationandemployers.org (online), Available at: https://www.educationandemployers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/DrawingTheFuture.pdf, [accessed 15 December 2018]
CBS, (2018). “Meisjes stijgen meer boven schooladvies uit dan jongens” cbs.nl (online) , Available at: https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2018/50/meisjes-stijgen-meer-boven-schooladvies-uit-dan-jongens , [accessed 15 December 2018]