Applying material from item A and your knowledge, evaluate the view that gender difference in levels achievement are the product of factors outside of school.

Some gender patterns in educational achievement suggest that in the past boys used to exceed girls in all subjects, but, in fairly recent times girls have exceeded boys and are achieving generally better grades and levels than boys in all subjects.

Some sociologists agree that gender differences in achievement are based on factors outside of school, and one of these factors is “the impact of feminism.” In item A, evidence shows that boys examination performance has fallen behind that of girls since the 1980’s. Therefore girls are exceedingly doing better as a result of the rise of feminism in the 1980’s. As feminism is a social movement that impacted lives of all, making men and women equal, the movement has changed the traditional stereotype of women’s role in society. As women used to be typically uneducated and working solely as a mother and housewife in the home, as well as being inferior to men and unable to do things, in recent times the impact of feminism has allowed women to be able to be educated, and break through the glass ceiling effect that oppressed women in the past. Angela McRobbie’s study of girl magazines (1994) showed that in the 1970’s they emphasised the importance of getting married however nowadays they contain images of assertive independent women. So then exceeding boys in all aspects of education as a result of this external factor that allowed women to be equal.

Adding to this. some sociologists agree that gender differences in achievement are also based on external factors, such as the rise of women’s paid work and consequently the decline in traditional male jobs such as manufacturing. Item A states that there is “a rise in women’s paid work alongside the decline in