AQA Sociology questions on Gender and Education

suggest 3 reasons for boys educational underachievement

boys mature later, and overestimate their ability so don't work hard enough girls are more motivated and so work harder equal opportunities have benefited girls more than boys.

Outline some of the reasons for the educational underachievement of boys

there are many different reasons that can tell us why boys tend to underachieve in education. Some of these reasons include the 'laddish' sub-culture of boys, boys behavioural problems, boys over-confidence, and the decline of traditional male jobs. One reason that explains the underachieve of boys in education is because of the introduction of 'laddish' subcultures. Forde et al peer group pressure encourage boys to maintain a masculine identity, which is mainly developed through resistance to school and can therefore be related to boys academic success. This anti-learning subculture often involves regarding academic work as feminine, and adopting a disruptive classroom behaviour. Francis' research in 2000 confirmed this view. He also found that boys receive more credit from their peer group by resisting teachers and school, which contributes to their inevitable underachievement. Another reason which could result in boys underachievement is boys behavioural problems. Studies have shown that more boys than girls have behavioural problems and are therefore more likely to be disruptive in class and get excluded. Studies show that boys are around 4 times more likely to get excluded permanently that girls. All of this disruptive behavioural could lead to teachers labelling the males gender as a whole as being disruptive and rude, which could then lead to a number of self-forfilling-prophecies. Thirdly, boys also tend to be far more over-confident than girls. There is an argument that boys are