Assess the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education.
OCR
A Level
2021
👑Complete Model Essay
Free Essay Plan
Introduction
This essay will assess the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education from 1988 onwards. It will consider arguments for and against the positive impact of these policies, drawing on various theoretical perspectives such as social democratic, feminist, and right-wing views. The essay will analyze the effectiveness of these policies in closing the gender gap in educational attainment and participation, particularly in STEM subjects.
Arguments for Positive Impact
Increased Female Participation in STEM
Policies like GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) have aimed to encourage girls to pursue STEM careers. These initiatives have contributed to a significant increase in female participation in STEM fields, particularly in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary science.
Legal and Equality Frameworks
The Equality Act 2010 has been a crucial tool in tackling gender inequalities in education. The Gender Equality Duty requires schools to avoid discrimination based on gender, encompassing areas like clothing, textbooks, and materials. This has positively impacted girls, particularly those who wear the hijab or face stereotypical portrayals in textbooks.
Improved Overall Attainment
The introduction of GCSEs in 1988, with its emphasis on coursework, benefited girls more than boys, who generally perform better in exams. The subsequent shift towards exam-based assessments has not had a negative impact on girls' achievement. Data suggests that girls continue to outperform boys in many subjects, and the gender gap in attainment continues to narrow.
Challenging Gender Stereotypes
The National Curriculum's inclusion of science and maths as core subjects has contributed to girls' improved performance in these subjects. Initiatives aimed at challenging gender stereotypes in subject choice and career advice, such as the Gender and Equality policy 2017, have also played a role in promoting greater equality.
Arguments against Positive Impact
Persistent Gender Gaps
Despite policy initiatives, significant gender gaps persist in STEM subjects at A-level and university level. While female participation has increased, males still dominate certain STEM fields. This suggests that policies haven't been entirely successful in addressing deeply ingrained gender stereotypes.
Lack of Confidence and Representation
Studies suggest that girls may lack confidence in pursuing STEM careers despite achieving good GCSE grades. This lack of confidence can be attributed to factors like underrepresentation of women in STEM fields and persistent stereotypes about science being a "man's pursuit".
Focus on Boys' Underachievement
Some argue that policies focused on addressing boys' underachievement have neglected the needs of underperforming girls, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This highlights the need for a more inclusive approach that considers the diverse needs and challenges faced by girls.
Conclusion
While policies designed to benefit girls in education have had a positive impact in certain areas, particularly in terms of increased female participation and attainment, significant challenges remain. Further efforts are needed to address persistent gender stereotypes, promote greater confidence in girls pursuing STEM careers, and ensure that policies are inclusive and address the needs of all girls, especially those from marginalized backgrounds.
Assess the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education.
Since the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988, there has been a concerted effort to address gender inequality in education. Policies such as GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) aimed to challenge stereotypes and encourage girls to pursue traditionally male-dominated subjects. The Equality Act 2010 further strengthened legal frameworks to tackle discrimination. These initiatives have undoubtedly yielded positive results. For instance, ONS data from 2016-17 reveals that female students now outnumber males in fields like medicine, veterinary science, and education. The proportion of university places filled by women has also significantly increased, from 25% in 1963 to 55% in 2015 (ONS). This progress aligns with social democratic principles that emphasize equal opportunities for all.
However, the impact of these policies has not been entirely straightforward. Despite the initiatives, a significant gender gap persists, particularly in STEM subjects. Data from UCAS (2015) indicates that males continue to dominate fields such as physics, maths, computer science, and engineering. This suggests that deeper societal issues, such as gendered socialization and stereotypes, might be hindering girls' choices even when opportunities are available. Feminist perspectives highlight this point, arguing that true equality requires dismantling ingrained patriarchal structures that shape career aspirations from a young age.
Furthermore, some argue that the focus on girls' achievement has inadvertently marginalized the underachievement of certain groups of boys, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Government initiatives like the literacy and numeracy hour, while well-intentioned, have been criticized for primarily targeting boys, potentially widening the gap for already struggling girls. This highlights the complexity of addressing gender inequality within a broader context of social class and other intersecting factors.
In conclusion, while policies aimed at benefiting girls in education have undeniably led to significant progress, their impact has been mixed. The increased female representation in higher education and traditionally male-dominated fields is commendable. However, the persistence of the gender gap in STEM subjects and the potential neglect of underachieving boys highlight the need for more nuanced and intersectional approaches. Simply providing equal opportunities might not be sufficient; dismantling ingrained societal stereotypes and addressing the diverse needs of all students is crucial for achieving genuine gender equality in education.
Free Mark Scheme Extracts
AO1: Knowledge and Understanding
Candidates may consider a range of policies from 1988 onwards.
Any contemporary educational policy will be rewarded where relevant and should be credited in the same way as studies.
Candidates may consider different theoretical approaches such as:
- Social Democratic
- Feminism
- Right Wing views
Arguments that the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education has been positive:
- GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) has encouraged more girls to study male dominated subjects; Smail
- WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) with aim to provide non-sexist curriculum materials and advice and for role models to visit schools. More females than males are now accepted to study medicine, dentistry and veterinary science at university than males Female students dominated many subject areas, in particular Subjects allied to medicine, Veterinary science and Education - representing 80%, 77% and 74% of students on those courses; ONS 2016-17
- The Equality Act 2010 helped ensure inequalities on the basis of gender in education may be tackled. Gender Equality Duty - within 2010 Equality Act, Schools should not discriminate in terms of clothing, texts and materials - cultural benefit for girls wearing the hijab and images in text books have become less stereotypical.
- 1963 - around a quarter of university places were filled by females, now 55% (ONS 2015)
- United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals to ‘eliminate gender disparity’ in schools ‘no later than 2015’, the dialogue itself is a positive step.
- Single sex classes in subjects such as science and maths initiatives
- Images in text books less stereotypical.
- The National Curriculum – science and maths became core subjects that girls were obliged to study. DfE (2013/14) GCSE data reveals girls achieved higher in science subjects than boys and marginally lower in maths
- Introduction of GCSE’s, 1988 placed greater emphasis on coursework, benefiting girls more than boys, who were organised and met deadlines.
- The recent decision to place less emphasis on coursework and more on exams at GCSE and A level has not had a negative effect on the achievement of girls; ONS 2016-17
- 2018 new GCSEs: girls on average continue to achieve higher than boys, but the gap is narrowing.
- Gender and Equality policy 2017 - framework providing practical advice on how to implement the gender equality duty in schools including: challenging gender stereotypes in subject choice and careers advice.
- Other reasonable response.
AO2: Application
The selected knowledge should be directly related to the specific question - the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education.
AO3: Analysis and evaluation
Candidates are expected to discuss opposing approaches/evidence such as:
- Official data
- Feminism
Arguments/ data suggesting that the impact of policies designed to benefit girls in education has not been positive:
- Despite initiatives, fewer girls study STEM subjects at A level and university; feminist view.
- ONS 2016-17 males dominate the science subjects at university.
- Institute for Fiscal Studies, girls lack confidence in continuing with science education despite good GCSE grades, 2018
- Study of children’s science books pictured males three times more often than females, reinforcing stereotype that science is a man’s pursuit. Under-representation of females worsened as the target age of book increased. Women were generally depicted as passive, lower status and unskilled – or their presence was not acknowledged at all; Wilbraham, Caldwell, 2018
- 2018 new GCSEs: in individual subjects, boys in England had more significant improvements than girls. In chemistry the proportion gaining a 7 or above went up from 38.7% in 2017 to 42.3% while the proportion of girls went down from 45.7% in 2017 to 43.9%. Similar movements were seen in physics, biology and history; JCQ 2018
- Despite one of United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals to ‘eliminate gender disparity’ in schools ‘no later than 2015, Globally there remains evidence of ‘gender apartheid’ in education; the UN, UNESCO; ‘Gender apartheid’ being ignored; Mayer
- Policy initiatives based on concerns about boys’ underachievement ignored underachievement of underperforming girls, especially girls from disadvantaged backgrounds; feminist view
- Government literacy and numeracy hour initiatives - focussed on providing boys with new and interesting opportunities.
- UCAS (2015) a third of universities running outreach activities targeted males, avoiding focus on girls with low expectations, especially working class girls.
- Traditional male subjects such as physics, maths computer science and engineering continue to be dominated by males (UCAS 2015)
- Many subjects continue to show gender stereotypical biases - girls more likely to take arts, languages and humanities, boys more likely to take Geography, Physical Education and IT; Department for Education and Skills; 2007
- Other reasonable response.