The gender gap in education has been widening for many years. There are a number of reasons for gender differences in achievement and they include internal factors such as GCSE and coursework and the challenging of stereotypes in the curriculum, and external factors such as the impact of feminism and the changes in women’s employment.
Some sociologists argue that changes in the way pupils are assessed have favoured girls and deprived boys. For example the sociologist Gorard found that the gender gap in achievement was fairly constant from 1975 to 1988-9, when it was increased sharply. He concludes that the gender gap in achievement is a “product of the changed system of assessment rather than any more general failing of boys”. Moreover, Mitsos and Browne support this view. They conclude that girls are more successful than boys in coursework because they are more conscientious and better organised. They found that girls spend more time on their work, take more care with the way it is presented, bring the equipment and resources to lessons and are better at meeting deadlines. They also argue that these factors have helped girls to benefit from the introduction of coursework in GCSE, AS and A level and that girls gain from maturing earlier than boys.
Alternatively, some sociologists believe that these traits and skills are the result of early gender role socialisation in the family. For example, girls are more likely than boys to be encouraged to be neat, patient and tidy. These abilities are an advantage in today’s education system, helping girls achieves greater success than boys. However, there are other views on GCSE and coursework that contrasts with the view of Gorard, and Mitsos and Browne. It’s possible that exams have more of an influence on final grades as she evaluated the weighing of the coursework and written exams. Also, while coursework has some