Review of Strategies to Address Gender Inequalities in Scottish ...

CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE2.1 IntroductionThe fieldwork phase of the study was informed by research into the nature and causes ofgender inequalities in schools. Some of the work reviewed (e.g. Riddell, 1996; Osler etal, 2002; Lloyd, 2005), considered gender and special educational needs; others discussedgender at particular stages of schooling (Wilkinson et al, 1999; Croxford, 1999; Biggart,2000); whilst a number of recent projects in the UK and in Scotland (Powney, 1996;Sukhnandan, 1999; Tinklin et al, 2001) have considered gender, attainment and/orachievement across the population and the span of compulsory schooling.The research has consistently revealed gender inequalities both in terms of participationin schooling and its outcomes. However, there is also general agreement that gender isnot the only, nor even the main, source of inequality. A number of factors have beenidentified as contributing to gender inequalities and various strategies to address thesehave been identified, although not all researchers are in agreement as to which factors arethe most significant nor as to which strategies should be adopted. For example, somecommentators argue that some of the strategies adopted by schools can pathologisegender differences, reinforcing particular forms of masculinity at the risk of suppressingor marginalising other forms.This review of the literature focuses on the evidence for inequality, explores possiblecauses and contributory factors and considers some of the strategies developed to addressthese within the context of schools and learning.2.2 Inequalities in attainmentIn the 1970s, concern focused on girls who, as a group, were perceived to bedisadvantaged in school, as evidenced by attainment levels in general and by the lowuptake of some subjects. This was, in part, a reflection of a wider political concern aboutinequality in the light of the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Inthe field of Women’s Rights those advances were embodied in the Sex DiscriminationAct (1975) and the Equal Opportunities Act (1975). Scottish local authorities weresomewhat sluggish in responding and, in general, did not introduce gender equalitypolicies until the early 1990s (Riddell, 2000). Riddell also notes that while both nationaladvice (SED, 1975) and local policy (Strathclyde Regional Council, 1988) identifiedgender as a factor in, for example, patterns of subject uptake, they did not perceive it tobe a problem in terms of school practice. Rather it was the teachers’ organisations,notably the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS, 1989, cited in Riddell, 2000) and theGeneral Teaching Council (GTC, 1991), that attempted to address practice. In 1989 theEIS issued a ‘positive assertion against sexism’ criticising contemporary practice where,they reported, boys: demanded and received a generous share of teacher time; received adisproportionate share of hands-on experience (e.g. in science or computing); receivedapologies from teachers when asked to undertake non-traditional tasks; were rewardedfor being assertive and advised not to act like girls; and received a disproportionate shareof coveted class materials (EIS, 1989, cited in Riddell, 2000).In Scotland, secondary analyses of a range of quantitative data from the ScottishQualifications Agency, Assessment of Achievement Programme, Scottish SchoolLeavers’ Survey, Scottish Executive’s Statistical Bulletins and Baseline AssessmentProgrammes have demonstrated that, whilst levels of attainment have increased overallsince the 1970s, average levels of attainment for boys are lower than for girls at all stagesand across almost all areas of the curriculum (Croxford, 1999; Wilkinson et al, 1999;______________________________________________________________________________________Review of Strategies to 3 University of StrathclydeAddress Gender Inequalitiesand University of Glasgow