A report examined under-representation in apprenticeships by gender and ethnicity. Drawing on a range of data from England and the United Kingdom, it said that women taking apprenticeships were more likely to take on low-paid jobs, and gender stereotyping deterred women from training in traditionally male industries. The report also highlighted that relatively low numbers of black and Asian people undertook apprenticeships, particularly in sectors such as engineering and construction where eventual pay levels were higher. The report made recommendations to increase interest in apprenticeships and to reduce barriers to access.
Source: Joy Williams, Beth Foley, and Becci Newton, Research into Under-Representation, by Gender and Ethnicity, in Apprenticeships, Institute for Employment Studies
Links: Report | TUC press release
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined gender bias in progression to a range of gendered A level subjects in co-educational English schools, using data from the National Pupil Database. It said that almost half of co-educational state-funded schools were worsening the gender imbalance in the examined pairs of subjects (English and mathematics; biology and physics; and psychology and economics). The report recommended that gender imbalance should be included in the range of school performance indicators.
Source: Closing Doors: Exploring gender and subject choice in schools, Institute of Physics
Links: Report | IOP press release | press release | Education Minister's speech | ATL press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Dec
A new book examined the relationships between masculinity and education. It considered a variety of educational settings and contexts, including the role of football in the playground of a junior school, and the question of why more boys studied AS-level mathematics (at age 17) in England.
Source: Amanda Coffey and David James (eds), Masculinity and Education, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Oct
A paper presented an overview of gender differences in education outcomes in developed (OECD) countries. It described the improvement of educational attainment among women in recent decades, and male under-performance. Possible explanatory factors included incentives provided by changing employment opportunities for women, demographic trends, and the higher sensitivity of boys to disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Source: Angelica Salvi del Pero and Alexandra Bytchkov, A Bird's Eye View of Gender Differences in Education in OECD Countries, Employment and Migration Working Paper 149, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined gender differences in educational attitudes and aspirations among children aged 11-15, using British Household Panel Survey data. Although girls had more positive aspirations and attitudes than boys, gender impacts varied significantly with parental education level, parental attitudes to education, child's age, and the indirect cost of education. Boys were more responsive than girls to positive parental characteristics, whereas the educational attitudes and aspirations of boys deteriorated at a younger age than those of girls.
Source: Tina Rampino and Mark Taylor, Gender Differences in Educational Aspirations and Attitudes, Working Paper 2013-15, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article described a case study that examined a small group of female students', and their parents', perceptions of the purpose of a university education. Initially there was a belief that higher education was primarily a route to economic gain: but, three years after graduation, the respondents considered their time spent at the university as primarily a period of personal growth and fulfilment.
Source: Angela Shaw, 'Family fortunes: female students' perceptions and expectations of higher education and an examination of how they, and their parents, see the benefits of university', Educational Studies, Volume 39 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
An article examined how a small sample of working-class mothers encountered the field of education. In the management of family and their children's schooling, mothers brought to bear and replicated ways of knowing that were embodied, historical, and offered many-sided insights into profoundly stratified societies.
Source: Mary O'Donoghue, 'Putting working-class mothers in their place: social stratification, the field of education, and Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice', British Journal of Sociology of Education, Volume 34 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb