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The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools
Abstract
While powerful gender inequalities remain in American society, women have made substantial gains and now largely surpass men in one crucial arena: education. Women now outperform men academically at all levels of school, and are more likely to obtain college degrees and enroll in graduate school. What accounts for this enormous reversal in the gender education gap? In The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools, Thomas DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann provide a detailed and accessible account of women's educational advantage and suggest new strategies to improve schooling outcomes for both boys and girls.The Rise of Women opens with a masterful overview of the broader societal changes that accompanied the change in gender trends in higher education. The rise of egalitarian gender norms and a growing demand for college-educated workers allowed more women to enroll in colleges and universities nationwide. As this shift occurred, women quickly reversed the historical male advantage in education. By 2010, young women in their mid-twenties surpassed their male counterparts in earning college degrees by more than eight percentage points. The authors, however, reveal an important exception: While women have achieved parity in fields such as medicine and the law, they lag far behind men in engineering and physical science degrees. To explain these trends, The Rise of Women charts the performance of boys and girls over the course of their schooling. At each stage in the education process, they consider the gender-specific impact of factors such as families, schools, peers, race and class. Important differences emerge as early as kindergarten, where girls show higher levels of essential learning skills such as persistence and self-control. Girls also derive more intrinsic gratification from performing well on a day-to-day basis, a crucial advantage in the learning process. By contrast, boys must often navigate a conflict between their emerging masculine identity and a strong attachment to school. Families and peers play a crucial role at this juncture. The authors show the gender gap in educational attainment between children in the same families tends to be lower when the father is present and more highly educated. A strong academic climate, both among friends and at home, also tends to erode stereotypes that disconnect academic prowess and a healthy, masculine identity. Similarly, high schools with strong science curricula reduce the power of gender stereotypes concerning science and technology and encourage girls to major in scientific fields. As the value of a highly skilled workforce continues to grow, The Rise of Women argues that understanding the source and extent of the gender gap in higher education is essential to improving our schools and the economy. With its rigorous data and clear recommendations, this volume illuminates new ground for future education policies and research.
... Gender differences in self-concept and the role of positive feedback There has been extensive sociological research into persistent gender segregation in education, which is highly resistant to change (Barone, 2011;Barone and Assirelli, 2020;Charles and Bradley, 2009;DiPrete and Buchmann, 2013). This body of research highlights the enduring gender gap observed in fields of study such as mathematics and engineering, which have low female representation. ...
... There has been extensive research into the gender gap in education (Barone, 2011;Barone and Assirelli, 2020;Charles and Bradley, 2009;DiPrete and Buchmann, 2013;Kriesi and Imdorf, 2019), though less attention has been paid to the potential tools for mitigating this gap (DiPrete and Fox-Williams, 2021; Legewie and DiPrete, 2012). This study focused on girls' biased self-concepts that may hinder their engagement in math-intensive educational choices (Correll, 2001;Nagy et al., 2006;Oakes, 1990;Ridgeway, 2011;Sax et al., 2015;Seymour, 1995;Vinni-Laakso et al., 2019) but which can be changed through feedback (Buser et al., 2018;Coutts, 2019;Eil and Rao, 2011;Ertac, 2011;Möbius et al., 2022). ...
This study analyzes the causal effect of positive feedback on students’ task-specific math self-concept using data from a randomized field experiment conducted among rural Hungarian primary school students. It examines how academic self-concept (ASC) responds to the smallest possible dose of positive feedback—a single instance—and explores treatment heterogeneity by gender. The results show that all students who received randomized positive performance feedback experienced a statistically significant (albeit small) improvement in task-specific math self-concept. The positive treatment effect was primarily driven by girls, who experienced a large and statistically significant effect—over 50% greater than the non-significant treatment effect observed among boys. However, the difference in treatment effects between girls and boys, as well as the corresponding decrease in the gender gap between treated and controlled students was not statistically significant. Thus, the results suggest that, while a single instance of positive feedback can temporarily boost students’ ASC, it is not a panacea for reducing gender inequalities in ASC. Nevertheless, because girls were particularly responsive to positive feedback treatment and boys were not harmed by it, the results suggest that positive feedback interventions may act as a policy lever for improving girls’ self-concept if the intensity of the treatment is enhanced.
... The contemporary landscape has witnessed strides toward gender equity in the "gender revolution" over the past 50 years. Societal shifts have increased opportunities for women in employment ( 19 ), education ( 20 ), and political participation ( 21 ). Advances have narrowed gender pay gaps, decreased career segregation, and increased baccalaureate and doctoral degrees. ...
... Carol Anderson's observation, "If you've always been privileged, equality begins to look like oppression", though contextualized within racial equality, resonates with men's experiences in the 21st century. As women increasingly excel in traditionally male-dominated fields (22), and surpass men in educational achievements (20), men face shifts in long-held social-power dynamicsmatched by a growing public recognition of women's advances in political, economic, and occupational spheres (168). Changes in family structures-declining marriage rates, rising cohabitation, nonmarital births, and increasing divorce rates (169)-further reflect these evolving dynamics. ...
Traditional gendered arrangements—norms, roles, prejudices, and hierarchies—shape every human life. Associated harms are primarily framed as women’s issues due to more severe consequences women face. Yet, gendered arrangements also shape men ’s relationships, career paths, and health. Current work on gender equity overlooks men’s perspectives. Despite benefits they gain from out-ranking women, men’s position paradoxically entraps them in restrictive roles, compelling them to prioritize dominance. An inclusive framework challenges prevailing narratives by considering personal costs borne by men. Identifying with a man’s traditional role is a mixed privilege, as five gendered arrangements show for men who subscribe to them: 1. Masculine norms can restrict men’s choices and are associated with adverse health trajectories; 2. Some men’s disengagement from communal roles denies them positive outcomes associated with caring for others; 3. Hostile sexism fosters antipathy, fueling tension in some men’s interactions with women; 4. Benevolent sexism forces some men into scripted interactions, preventing genuine connections and burdening them with unrealistic breadwinner and protector roles; 5. Societal shifts in gender hierarchies can elicit threat responses in men, depending on intersections with social class and racial identities. Understanding costs to men calls for more empirical research. Gender equity for men, whose circumstances differ from those of women, would enable men to make informed choices and achieve better outcomes for themselves—paralleling the progress women have made in many areas of life. Striving for equity for all genders can ultimately enhance overall human well-being.
... First, women are the winners of educational expansion. In most modern societies, women have caught up with and even overtaken men regarding educational attainment (Buchmann and DiPrete 2006;DiPrete and Buchmann 2013). This is also called the 'boys' crisis in the literature (Helbig 2012a). ...
... This is also called the 'boys' crisis in the literature (Helbig 2012a). Second, gender segregation in fields of study and occupational choice, with women choosing and graduating in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects less often than men, has remained remarkably persistent or even increased (Charles 2011;DiPrete and Buchmann 2013;OECD 2017). ...
Despite the importance of subject choice for later education and the occupational career, we know little about the development of girls’ and boys’ mathematics and language performance during their secondary education. This paper aims to fill this gap and describes the gender-specific development of mathematics and language performance—in terms of grades and test scores—in lower secondary education in Germany, using longitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) for Grades 5 to 9. Regarding this development, there exist differing and sometimes opposing hypotheses. On the one hand, scholars suggest that gender differences in mathematics and language performance increase during lower secondary education as competencies, self-concepts, learning effort, and motivation interact, and girls and boys specialize in anticipation of future study choices. On the other hand, scholars expect that the gender gap in mathematics performance is narrowing because of a ceiling effect of performance, girls’ greater learning effort, and boys’ greater susceptibility to negative peer influencing. Our fixed effects regression analyses show that mathematics and German grades deteriorate during early secondary school, especially mathematics grades in the academic track. Because the decline in grades is stronger for boys than for girls, the gender gap in mathematics grades (boys do better) decreases and the gender gap in German grades (girls do better) increases. However, boys’ and girls’ mathematics and reading competencies increase in lower secondary education, and the gender gaps in competencies hardly change. We speculate that the changes in grades may be due to girls’ greater engagement in school, negative peer influence among boys, and the increasing complexity of mathematics in the academic track.
... Gender, according to Anderson (2004) Most studies show that, on average, girls do better in school than boys (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013;Stout et al., 2016;Aguinis et al., 2018). Girls get higher grades and complete high school at a higher rate compared to boys (Finn, 2008;DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013;Aguinis et al., 2018). ...
... Gender, according to Anderson (2004) Most studies show that, on average, girls do better in school than boys (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013;Stout et al., 2016;Aguinis et al., 2018). Girls get higher grades and complete high school at a higher rate compared to boys (Finn, 2008;DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013;Aguinis et al., 2018). Standardized achievement tests also ...
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the misconceptions in aliphatic hydrocarbons in organic chemistry among chemistry students in Winneba Senior High School and to enhance their performance using context-based instruction. The research design employed an action research-case study carried out at Winneba Senior High School in the Central Region of Ghana with a sample size of 52 students. The students were purposefully selected. The main instruments used to collect data for the study were test items, semi-structured interview and observation guide. Both pre-test and post-test contained concept questions designed to identify students’ misconceptions and evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention implemented while the interview guide and observation chart, were designed to determine students’ awareness and attitude towards organic chemistry. The numerical data of the pre-test and the post-test were analyzed using t-test statistics at an alpha value of 0.05. There was a significant difference between pre-test scores and post-test scores of students (t.cal = 3.33 > t.crit = 2.01). There was no significant difference between the posttest scores of male and female students (t.cal = 0.14 < t.crit =2.02). It was concluded that, context-based instructions had positive impact on students’ performance in aliphatic hydrocarbons at Winneba Senior High School. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers should adopt the use of context-based instructions in teaching organic chemistry to students.
... Dass es zu den (un)erwarteten, (un)erwünschten und (nicht)intendierten Folgen der Bildungsexpansion gekommen ist, zu denen beispielsweise der Wandel von Bildungsverläufen in ihrer veränderten Struktur, gestiegenen Dauer und zunehmenden Komplexität, oder der graduelle Abbau sozialer Ungleichheiten von Bildungschancen gehören, konnte anhand historischer Daten der amtlichen Statistik oder Längsschnittdaten der empirischen Sozialforschung in den letzten Jahrzehnten vermehrt aufgedeckt werden (vgl. Breen u. a. 2009Breen u. a. , 2010Breen u. a. , 2012DiPrete & Buchmann 2013;Becker 2014 Breen und Koautoren (2010) anhand eines internationalen Vergleichs, dass vor allem in den westlichen Industrienationen eine Umkehr der Geschlechterverhältnisse beim Erwerb von höheren Bildungsabschlüssen erfolgte. In der Kohortenabfolge zogen die Frauen in den jüngeren Jahrgängen zunächst mit den Männern gleich und überholten diese dann in den Folgejahren. ...
... -auf eine empirisch bewährte und mechanismenbasierte Erklärung vonBoudon (1974) zurückgegriffen (vgl. Breen u. a. 2010DiPrete & Buchmann 2013;Becker 2014). Um fundamentale und relevante Sachverhalte erklären zu können, so Anhalt (2012, 184), liefern empirisch bewährte und vorläufig bestätigte mechanismenbasierte Erklärungen eine vereinfachende und veranschaulichende Darstellung von komplexen Zusammenhängen. ...
Erziehungswissenschaftliche Grundlagenforschung thematisiert, prüft und problematisiert die Voraussetzungen unserer Beschreibungen von Sachverhalten, um Alternativen zum bereits Bekannten zu entwickeln. Im Lichte der Begriffe Bildsamkeit, Komplexität und Werteorientierung werden in dem vorliegenden Band drei Problemkomplexe in den Fokus der Aufmerksamkeit gerückt, die mit dem Aufwachsen von Menschen in modernen Gesellschaften irreduzibel verbunden sind. Die versammelten Beiträge zeigen, wie erziehungswissenschaftliche Grundlagenforschung dazu beitragen kann, in der Formulierung und Bearbeitung von Problemstellungen Komplexität nicht zurückzudrängen, sondern aufrechtzuerhalten und zu befördern. (DIPF/Orig.)
... Women in particular have benefited from this development. They have been able to catch up with men in terms of educational attainment and have even overtaken them in recent years, leading to a gender gap reversal (Blossfeld 2023;De Hauw et al. 2017;DiPrete/Buchmann 2013;Van Bavel et al. 2018). As a result of this structural change, educational homogamy among couples, and thus among parents -i.e., partners having the same level of educational attainment -has increased across cohorts in many European countries (Blossfeld/ Timm 2003;Hu/Qian 2023;Uunk 2024). 1 However, we still know little about the consequences of parental homogamy for children's educational inequalities. ...
... Many studies have shown that there are gender differences in tertiary education attainment. While men were more likely to attain tertiary education in older cohorts, women caught up and even surpassed them in recent years (DiPrete /Buchmann 2013;Shavit/Blossfeld 1993). M1 also reveals that across cohorts, more and more children are attaining tertiary education. ...
In this paper, we examine (1) whether parental educational homogamy is associated with children’s tertiary educational attainment in different European countries and (2) whether this association is moderated by families’ educational backgrounds. Using data from the European Social Survey and multilevel logistic regression models, we find that parental homogamy is important for children’s tertiary educational attainment. In particular, children of more highly educated homogamous parents are more likely to obtain a tertiary degree themselves. This parental homogamy association varies across countries. While the association is below the European average in Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, it is equal or close to average in Slovenia, Estonia, France, Poland, Ireland, Sweden, and Lithuania, and above average in Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Belgium. Our findings suggest that parental educational constellations should be examined more closely in further education inequality research. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Changes in Educational Homogamy and Its Consequences”.
... It is well established that women perform well academically (OECD, 2015;Voyer & Voyer, 2014), and it seems reasonable to expect that this strong performance would translate into high enrollment rates (Buchmann et al., 2008). Indeed, women are more likely than men to enroll in higher education (OECD, 2019, p. 198), which is consistent with their overall educational advantage (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). However, women may still face an enrollment disadvantage due to unfavorable rational choice evaluations, even given their strong academic performance. ...
Inequalities based on social origins heavily influence university access, shaping individuals’ careers and earning potential. While educational interventions in upper secondary schools have shown promise in supporting students from low social origins, their effects on gender disparities in university access remain less clear. This study investigates how social origins and gender intersect to affect university enrollment and whether counseling programs influence these patterns. Using data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Germany evaluating a counseling program, our analysis reveals two key results. First, students’ evaluations of higher education appear to be shaped by their social background and gender before high school graduation. Second, the counseling program altered these evaluations and enrollment rates in distinct ways depending on students’ social background and gender. Our findings contribute to research on social stratification by highlighting intersectional patterns in rational choice evaluations and university enrollment. We also demonstrate that counseling in Germany effectively reduces intersectional inequalities in enrollment, which particularly benefits women from low social origins.
... As with inequalities by social background, gender differences are evident both in pathways within the educational system and in labour market outcomes. In most Western countries, female educational attainment has surpassed that of males (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). Various factors have been put forward to account for this trend, including the nature of assessment, the feminisation of the teaching profession, and the emergence of a laddish culture among students that rejects achievement as a goal (for an overview, see Smyth, 2007). ...
... However, regardless of the circumstances, this reversal of the gender gap does not appear to be a shortlived phenomenon. On the contrary, as reported by DiPrete and Buchmann (2013), and evident in the forecasts by the OECD (Vincent-Lancrin 2008), as well as those from The National Center for Education Statistics (National Center for Education Statistics 2022b), the primary statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education, this phenomenon is unlikely to dissipate soon and is expected to further increase in the coming years. Therefore, monitoring this trend is of particular interest. ...
This research aims to explore the evolution of statistics related to the proportion of women in university student populations (focusing on bachelor's or equivalent degree programs) over an extensive period, spanning from the founding of the first university until recent times. This is done by utilizing empirical insights derived from comprehensive data series, presented here for the first time and primarily encompassing Greece, UK, Canada and USA. Motivated by the distinctive properties of these series and their sigmoid pattern, we delve into a general family of stochas-tic growth models for data analysis. A notable contribution of this paper lies in offering a novel interpretation of this family within a competing cause scenario, similar to those used in the theory of event history analysis. We emphasize on key common elements within the two statistical domains of research, thereby highlighting potential future research directions; besides, the interpretability of model parameters stands out as an advantage compared to other approaches such as those based on regression model theory. For assessing the proposed parameter estimation methodology under realistic conditions a simulation study is also conducted. The application and results are aimed at making a significant contribution to research in higher and university education by presenting comprehensive sets of consistent data and statistical tools to capture their fundamental characteristics and trends. Additionally, they can serve as valuable resources for education policy-makers and human resources planners alike. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Employing postsecondary educational attainment as the indicator of ambition was justified in the original thesis as it was a convenient "handle" for subjective intention reflecting personal choices outside of the compulsory school system, possibly signaling the anticipation for personal success. Nevertheless, the argument for gender relativity was built on the argument that educational opportunities were substantially equalized between men and women in the post-feminist era (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). The current intersectional analysis, especially in light of the data presented above, problematizes this contention. ...
This paper examines the mismatched liberation perspective to explain the gender ratio of imprisonment across U.S. racial/ethnic groups. The theory posits that a misalignment between women’s cultural aspirations and societal means to achieve them leads to higher female crime rates compared to male. Utilizing U.S. data from 1980 to 2019, the paper constructs measures of mismatched liberation by examining varied cultural and social structures across racial/ethnic groups. Results reveal that the narrowing gender gap in crime is primarily a White phenomenon. However, the ubiquitous experiences of mismatched liberation significantly contribute to the increased share of female incarceration across all groups.
... While the general time parents dedicate to their children has risen since the 1970s, the increase has been more pronounced among parents with higher levels of education (Dotti Sani & Treas, 2016). Moreover, by the increase in educational homogamy, causing the concentration of educational resources within the same households to increase over time (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). (2) Growing economic and occupational inequalities since the 1970's (Piketty, 2014), rising unemployment rates and employment precarity (Standing, 2011), deregulation of labour markets (Esping-Andersen & Regini, 2000) and welfare state retrenchment (Cantillon et al., 2017), suggest an end to the decline in economic hurdles to educational participation for the least privileged, and growing economic resources for the others. ...
This study examines the evolution in the association between social origins and tertiary educational attainment in Belgium, from post-World War II to the millennium’s onset. For this, we rely on a multidimensional measurement of social origins that accounts for interaction mechanisms between parental class and educational resources. We analyse 13,803 individuals over four birth cohorts. In contrast to previous studies, we find a decline in social inequalities for cohorts born before 1975, followed by a resurgence among those born afterwards. This U-turn in social inequalities of tertiary educational attainment is only observable when social origins are measured multidimensionally. Additionally, we investigate the interaction effects between parental resources, revealing divergent evolutions in accumulation and compensation mechanisms. Our findings underscore the renewed importance of combining parental education with parental social class for generations born after 1975.
... p < 0.001). This result agrees with the literature that shows women have higher education on average than men [49]. ...
Background. Language development in toddlers can be influenced by social interactions in environments and proximal contexts with mothers and fathers. We present the literature on mothers’ and fathers’ education level and socioeconomic status on the child’s language development; further evidence is needed in the Italian-speaking context. Aims. The study aims to confirm the role of mother and father education level on toddlers’ language skills assessed with direct and indirect measures. Methods and Procedures. Participants were 51 Italian-speaking children aged 33 to 41 months. Children were tested with a lexical test (PinG test) for comprehension and production of nouns and predicates and a morpho-syntactic test for grammar comprehension (PCGO). Parents of the children completed a demographic form and the Italian adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI long version. Two series of one-way ANCOVAs were performed to study the role of mothers’ and fathers’ level of education on separate measures of their child’s language. Outcomes and Results. Findings suggest that in most families, mothers’ level of education is higher than fathers’ level of education. There was no significant difference between children of parents with low–middle level of education and children of parents with high level of education for the grammar comprehension tasks (PCGO) and indirect measure of vocabulary production (MacArthur-Bates CDI). However, both mothers’ and fathers’ level of education appears to be significant for the direct measurement of word production. Conclusions and Implications. This study provides new evidence for the role of mothers’ and fathers’ education on the development of word production in children aged 33 to 41 months, contributing to enriching the literature on the Italian context; it lays the groundwork for future research on the social and environmental factors that can affect language development.
... The traditional male advantage in education has been reversed in recent decades, with women being now more likely than men to pursue higher education (DiPrete and Buchmann, 2013;Esteve et al., 2016). However, men are still much more likely to choose STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs (Cheryan et al., 2017;Mann and DiPrete, 2013;Morgan et al., 2013), which are more prestigious and, despite considerable internal heterogeneity, better paid. 1 The process leading to women's underrepresentation in STEM fields is commonly described as a leaky pipeline, with girls and young women leaking out of the pathway to a STEM degree at each stage of the process (Berryman, 1983;Lee et al., 2015;Morgan et al., 2013;Raabe et al., 2019;Speer, 2023;van der Vleuten et al., 2018): they are less likely to engage in science-related activities during childhood and adolescence (Legewie and DiPrete, 2014), to form expectations about a career in science (Alm, 2015), to choose ...
The underrepresentation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) majors is well documented. Using high-quality Spanish data, this study examines whether female STEM graduates are less likely to pursue STEM careers than their male counterparts and considers the moderating role of labor market conditions and social origin. We find a pronounced gender effect in initial and subsequent job placement (4-5 years after graduation). Notably, female STEM graduates are less likely to work in STEM occupations, even if they started their careers in STEM. Exploiting the significant impact of the Great Recession on the Spanish labor market, our study reveals a significantly larger gender effect among individuals who graduated during the crisis compared to those who graduated during the subsequent economic recovery. Thus, job competition influences the magnitude of the gender effect. Finally, our intersectional analysis of gender and social origin suggests that the gender difference is larger among STEM graduates from low-SES backgrounds.
... Individuals who value 'universalism' according to Schwartz (Schwartz et al., 2001) consider equality and justice among people highly important, and they demonstrate understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protectiveness towards the well-being of all individuals and the environment. The fact that female school principals generally have more knowledge may be due to the general tendency of women to be more academically educated than men (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013), and particularly since women must exert more effort than men to prove with their knowledge and academic qualifications that they are suitable for the position of school principals (Koşar et al., 2014). Furthermore, the administrative experience of school principals, the size of their school, the percentage of disabled students enrolled, their previous relationships with disabled individuals, and their professional development and training opportunities significantly influence their attitudes towards the education of disabled students. ...
This paper presents part of a broader, large-scale study regarding educational leadership towards inclusive education of disabled students in Greece, highlighting the school principals’ potentially decisive role. Specifically, it investigates Greek school principals’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices regarding the inclusive education of disabled students in their school-units, as well as their values, examining a) whether there are statistically significant correlations between the aforementioned variables, b) and between these and the school principals’ socio-demographic and professional characteristics. The data were collected through an original questionnaire validated for the Greek context, that was electronically administered to a representative stratified sample of 582 school-principals from 334 primary and 248 secondary Greek schools. The results indicate multiple and multi-layered relationships between the examined variables; and most notably that specific values (benevolence, universalism, self-direction & stimulation) promote the implementation of inclusive education while others (security, tradition, conformity, achievement & power) hinder it. Understanding the relationships between school principals’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices regarding the education of disabled students and their values may contribute significantly to the promotion of inclusive education. However, the direction and strength of these relationships needs to be further explored to shed more light on the influence of educational leadership.
... Des Weiteren ist es naheliegend, dass sich die Bildungsvorstellungen auch nach Geschlecht unterscheiden. In der Nachkriegszeit hat sich in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland -wie in vielen anderen europäischen Ländern und in den USA -ein enormer Wandel in der Bildungsbeteiligung von Männern und Frauen vollzogen (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013;Breen et al., 2010;Becker & Müller, 2011: 55). Mitte der 1970er Jahre haben Frauen beim Erwerb des Abiturs mit den Männern gleichgezogen und weisen seit den 1980er Jahren höhere Gymnasialund Abiturquoten auf (Helbig, 2012: 374). ...
... Alcuni autori hanno sottolineato la maggiore coscienziosità delle ragazze (Kling, Noftle, Robins, 2015), la maggiore autodisciplina (Duckworth and Seligman, 2006) e la maggiore importanza attribuita all'opinione che hanno di loro gli insegnanti (Bray, Gardner, Parsons, 1997). Al contrario la letteratura evidenzia che i maschi più frequentemente esibiscono comportamenti anti-scolastici per guadagnare popolarità tra i loro pari, hanno una maggiore tendenza all'aggressività, alla devianza e più frequentemente presentano disturbi dell'attenzione o disturbi specifici dell'apprendimento (Van Houtte, 2004;Di Prete and Buchmann, 2013). Le traiettorie scolastiche sono condizionate anche da elementi culturali: le ragazze scelgono in misura sempre maggiore le SMS e in misura sempre minore la FP. ...
Snodo 2, così denominiamo sinteticamente questa ricerca, prosegue l’analisi longitudinale dei percorsi formativi di tre coorti di giovani residenti in Ticino iniziata in Snodo.
Più precisamente ci si soffermerà su:
- la collocazione degli studenti delle tre coorti anno per anno, in generale e secondo il sesso e le appartenenze nazionale e sociale;
- la regolarità dei percorsi nel medio superiore;
- i trasferimenti da una formazione all’altra;
- i completamenti e gli scioglimenti di tirocinio nella FP.
Come per SNODO, trattandosi di dati longitudinali, si sottolinea che l’interpretazione di grafici e tabelle non è sempre immediata e facilmente si possono commettere errori nell’esatta comprensione del segmento di popolazione e del frammento di tempo cui si riferiscono cifre assolute e percentuali. Non si può pertanto prescindere da un’accurata lettura del testo che li accompagna.
In generale si è considerato settembre il mese di riferimento per le statistiche sugli iscritti alla SM e alle SMS e gennaio per la FP. Nel momento in cui si entra più dettagliatamente nelle dinamiche dei tirocini, non si considera più la situazione degli iscritti a questo tipo di formazione a gennaio di ciascun anno, ma ogni singolo spostamento avvenuto nell’arco di un anno. Da queste analisi possono pertanto derivare cifre diverse da quelle ottenute dal confronto della situazione dei contratti nella FP a gennaio di ciascun anno.
... Despite some firms winning "Best Practice" awards, gendered cultures necessitate systematic approaches for women's advancement. Recruitment preferences and HR policies often disadvantage women, who are disproportionately affected by discriminatory practices (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). Educational achievements have improved for women, with significant enrolment in traditionally male-dominated subjects. ...
This study delved into the role of human resource management in gender inequality, focusing on policies within the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC). Examining existing gender-based policies, staff awareness, and perceived effects, the research applied a descriptive design and the Gendered Organisation theory. Thematic analysis of qualitative data from interviews with 27 employees and six management members revealed limited staff awareness of gender policies, with initiatives predominantly benefiting female employees. Recommendations emphasize gender equality programmes for both genders. Future research should scale up and cross-reference participant data with organisational HR policies for a comprehensive understanding.
... In the past few decades, girls and women have successfully increased their educational participation: girls constitute a higher share of the student body in upper secondary schools than boys (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013), they obtain better grades in high school than their male counterparts (Voyer & Voyer, 2014), and in higher education young women account for a higher share of entrants (Clancy & O'Sullivan, 2020) as well as graduates (Lörz & Mühleck, 2019) than young men. Up until high school, girls outperform boys in terms of grades (Burusic et al., 2012), yet some research shows that this gender difference is reversed at university, at least in some fields (Francesconi & Parey, 2018). ...
While girls have better grades than boys in high school, this does not translate into better performance of young women, as compared to young men, in university. Due to the high signalling value of university grades for subsequent income and employment outcomes, this has important consequences for gender inequalities at labour market entry. However, previous studies have not yet examined the potential barriers that might limit women’s ability to maintain their previous academic achievement at the university level. Drawing on the nation-wide Student Survey, this study addresses this shortcoming by investigating perceived discrimination against women and perceived competition among students as two potential correlates. Our findings first confirm that while girls have better grades in high school than boys, this has reversed at the university level. Further, high school grades are less strongly correlated with university grades for girls compared to boys. Our results highlight that young women perceive there to be more discrimination against women as well as higher levels of competition within their field of study, than do their male peers. The study further demonstrates that an increased level of perceived discrimination is strongly associated with lower university performance for young women, thereby plausibly hindering their ability to reach their full academic potential.
... In terms of policies to reduce educational gender gaps, it has been found that the establishment of a school management committee in rural areas was associated with lower dropout rates for both genders, suggesting that school governance could play a role in addressing the educational gender gap (Nishimura, 2017). DiPrete and Buchmann (2013) suggests that the growing female advantage in educational attainment can be attributed to 7 male over-representation among secondary school dropouts and female over-representation among tertiary education students and graduates. These trends are influenced by increasing returns to education and lower effort costs for females (Pekkarinen, 2012). ...
We investigate the effects of Covid-19 on spatial variations in gender differences in educational attainment in English secondary schools. Spatial variations in various measures of Covid-19 incidence rates at the Travel-to-Work-Areas are explored. Since all parts of the UK were affected by Covid-19, spatial variations in Covid-19 are regarded as variations in the 'dose' of the virus-the higher the dose the greater the impact. Employing a Difference-inDifferences (DiD) framework with fixed effects for year, school and TTWA, and controlling for selection effects, we estimate the causal effect on the gender gap in high school test scores at age 16. We find that, when comparing schools in TTWAs in the treatment to their counterparts in the control group, there is a statistically significant and positve effect on the educational gender gap in favor of females of between 0.3 and 0.6 points. Girls at the upper end of the attainment distribution achieved much better scores. Robustness checks show that school composition and area effects are important. We explore the implications for education policy. JEL Classification: I2, I24, I19
... Along with expectations of sexual intimacy and romance to go together, women are increasingly encouraged to pursue university studies (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). Therefore, even when they are late in establishing a career, sexually inexperienced emerging adult women appear to escape societal criticism, at least partly, which could help preserve their psychological wellbeing. ...
According to the social clock and statistical norms, a transition into sexual activity after age 18 years is considered late. This longitudinal study examines whether late sexual transition is related to delays in the achievement of developmental tasks and lower psychological well-being in emerging adulthood for heterosexual individuals. A sample of 300 participants (61.3% women) was assessed annually from age 15 to 22 years and again at age 25, of which 43 reported sexual intercourse at age 19 or older or remained virgins in emerging adulthood. Results indicate that late sexual transition, particularly for men, is prospectively associated with still being at school, working fewer hours per week, being single and having no kids at age 25. It is also positively associated with depression and anxiety symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, lower self-esteem, and lower happiness. This study enriches the understanding of slower developmental trajectories and the associations between late sexual transition and subsequent trajectories in emerging adulthood.
... In this line, the documented disparities in personality traits that are indicative of academic and professional achievement may provide insight into the underlying factors contributing to two contrasting gender disparities [61]. Currently, female students in both American and European countries exhibit superior academic performance compared to their male counterparts across all educational levels [62]. According to Spinath et al. (2014), girls have a greater graduation rate from higher school tracks compared to boys [63]. ...
Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not there are notable differences between male and female vocational training students in terms of academic, behavioral, and psychophysiological characteristics. Methods: A total of 411 vocational training students, 210 of whom were male and 201 of whom were female, participated in an online survey that assessed academic, behavioral, and psychophysiological patterns. Results: In terms of extraversion and openness to experience, our research revealed that no statistically significant differences were noticed. When it came to agreeableness, however, significant differences were seen, with female students getting higher marks than male students. Furthermore, we found that there were significant gender differences in terms of neuroticism and conscientiousness, with female students achieving higher scores than male students. When compared to their male counterparts, females displayed higher performance in terms of academic success. They also demonstrated superior values in terms of reported stress, anxiety, and cognitive inflexibility. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide a more in-depth understanding of the numerous factors that have an impact on students engaging in vocational training. This will serve as a foundation for the development of individualized instructional and support programs.
... The reversal of women's disadvantage in education was observed in the 1986-95 birth cohort where women's educational percentile rank from high school to master/PhD fell below men's for the first time, suggesting a higher proportion of women in secondary and tertiary education. This remarkable progress testifies reduced gender inequality in education in China after higher education expansion (Treiman, 2013;Wu & Zhang, 2010;Zeng et al., 2014) and follows the trend in high-income countries (DiPrete & Buchmann, 2013). ...
Research on educational mobility for Chinese born in or before 1976–85 abounds. Although the Compulsory Education Law implemented in 1986 and the expansion of higher education introduced in 1999 changed Chinese millennials’ educational achievements, little is known about the educational mobility for the 1986–95 birth cohort and where it stands in the long-term trends. In this study, we calculated population-level educational percentile ranks by birth cohort and gender using data from the 1982 to 2020 China Censuses before linking these ranks to respondents in Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) or China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) to document 1986–95 birth cohort's educational mobility and its historical position. We also explored the role played by offspring's hukou origin (urban or rural) and ethnicity (Han or ethnic minorities). In the 1986–95 birth cohort, women's educational percentile ranks for secondary and tertiary levels fell below men's for the first time in China, suggesting that the proportion of women in higher education overtook men's. From 1976–85 to 1986–95 birth cohorts, while educational rank-rank correlations remained stable in all parent–child dyads and were constantly higher for offspring with urban hukou origin, there is suggestive evidence on increased educational mobility for women with rural hukou origin. Ethnicity differences were not found. Our findings imply that China's Compulsory Education Law and higher education expansion may have contributed to greater educational mobility for women with rural hukou origin in the 1986–95 birth cohort and their diminished disadvantage in education.
Systems of tracking in U.S. schools have exacerbated racial inequalities in student access to quality education. This qualitative study examines Black girls’ experiences attending these advanced-level courses and the obstacles they face in accessing these courses. I find that educator emphasis on personal responsibility as a function of color-evasiveness limits Black girls’ opportunities for accessing and positively experiencing advanced-level courses. Counter-stories of Black girls, as well interviews with a parent and school personnel, show the ways that personal responsibility influences beliefs about individual-level drive, parental engagement, and course selection and content. Black girls’ counter-stories show an awareness of the ways racism as an outcome of color-evasiveness functions in crafting narratives about Black girls. These counter-stories also show the ways in which they resist such framing.
ABSTRACT
The fall of the Ashraf Ghani regime in Afghanistan in August 2021, led the Taliban's return to power, garnered
extensive international media attention. This study examines how CNN and Al Jazeera, framed the Afghan crisis
in their web news during the first three months of Taliban government. Using quantitative content analysis, this
research project focused on language, sources, thematic emphasis, and the portrayal of key actors. Preliminary
findings indicate that CNN predominantly employed the "dominant crisis" theme, which underscores a
perspective of instability and chaos while Al Jazeera heavily focused on the submissive crisis & reality view
theme which emphasizes on grounded and factual perspectives of the crises. Despite these differences, both
news organizations shared a common focus on the instability and uncertainty, though with varying emphases
on causes and consequences & offers insights into the impact of media on global public opinion.
Keywords: Afghan crisis, media framing, Taliban, conflict reporting
ABSTRACT
The fall of the Ashraf Ghani regime in Afghanistan in August 2021, led the Taliban's return to power, garnered
extensive international media attention. This study examines how CNN and Al Jazeera, framed the Afghan crisis
in their web news during the first three months of Taliban government. Using quantitative content analysis, this
research project focused on language, sources, thematic emphasis, and the portrayal of key actors. Preliminary
findings indicate that CNN predominantly employed the "dominant crisis" theme, which underscores a
perspective of instability and chaos while Al Jazeera heavily focused on the submissive crisis & reality view
theme which emphasizes on grounded and factual perspectives of the crises. Despite these differences, both
news organizations shared a common focus on the instability and uncertainty, though with varying emphases
on causes and consequences & offers insights into the impact of media on global public opinion.
Keywords: Afghan crisis, media framing, Taliban, conflict reporting
This chapter outlines the history of women in higher education. It begins with a description of the disproportional entrance of female students in higher education and how delayed access led to gender imbalance in current college and university leadership. It outlines the intersection of social role theory and barriers that impede the progress of female leaders, and the challenges of women's choice as an explanation for the low number of women university presidents. Barriers experienced by women leaders is also discussed. The chapter closes with solutions to current higher education practices that could improve gender balance in leadership.
Literacy gaps between genders continue to exist worldwide, limiting opportunities for women and girls. This book chapter explores the role of education policy in addressing these disparities in the United Kingdom (UK). It examines how policies can be designed to promote gender equality in literacy, focusing on key areas such as access to education, curriculum development, teacher training, and community engagement. This chapter draws on existing research and case studies to highlight effective policy interventions that have successfully narrowed the gender literacy gap. By analysing the impact of these policies, this chapter aims to identify best practices and provide recommendations for future policy development. Ultimately, this chapter seeks to contribute to the ongoing efforts to create more equitable and inclusive educational systems that empower women and girls through literacy.
The aim of this paper is to examine the link between a family’s scholarly culture and the educational aspirations of parents for their children. Using data from the first and the second wave of the Czech Household Panel Survey (2015, 2016), the study reveals that the number of books in a household – the core aspect of scholarly culture – is significantly linked to the educational aspirations of parents for their children. However, other indicators of scholarly culture (frequency of reading, general interest in books) are not significantly associated with parents’ university aspirations. These results suggest that, in the Czech Republic, the presence of a large number of books in the home signals higher social status and refers to the economic power of parents rather than to a family’s literacy or reading culture.
Background: Reading difficulties can have significant adverse effects throughout life. This study investigated a new instrument focusing on reading words with open- and closed-stressed syllables – key components of German graphematic structure. We aimed to determine whether first-graders read trochees with open-stressed syllables more quickly and accurately than those with closed-stressed syllables, and whether marked closed syllables (double consonants) are easier to understand than unmarked ones. Additionally, this work examined the reliability of trochee-based assessment and potential gender differences in reading abilities. Methods: We recruited 524 children from 33 first-grade classes in 14 Austrian primary schools to undertake a silent reading fluency test that analyzed their reading performance. Results: The results showed that children were more proficient in reading trochees with open-stressed syllables, and that marked closed syllables were more comprehensible than unmarked closed syllables. We found no significant gender differences in reading proficiency. Discussion: These findings emphasize the importance of word-reading instruction that differentiates based on graphematic structure rather than gender. This study advocates for a structured approach to reading instruction that starts with open-stressed syllables and progresses to more complex forms to ensure a strong foundation for future reading development.
Women have made substantial gains in education in recent decades and outperform men in educational attainment across the OECD, but the consequences of this reversal of the gender gap in education (RGE) have not been well researched. In this study, we address the association between the RGE and partnering, employment, and support for a right-wing populist party in Sweden. Of note, we explore the differential impacts of women’s educational advancements versus men’s lagging by using cross-sectional register data and within-areal age variation in RGE. Results show that RGE is negatively associated with partnering and employment prospects among individuals with a low level of education. Furthermore, results suggest that men’s educational disadvantage may contribute to growing support for right-wing populist parties. Overall, this study highlights how shifting gender gaps in education can lead to frustration in various areas of life, fostering political discontent and anti-egalitarian values. JEL classification: J12, I24, Z13
Purpose: The research aims to identify the factors influencing this growth, compare it with men's participation, and provide actionable insights for promoting gender diversity in Data Science. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs a detailed analysis of the evolution of Data Science and the changing gender dynamics within this field. The study used a literature review, an analysis of foundational data on women's and men's education and careers, and survey research on a large sample of respondents from different countries. Findings: The study found a notable rise in the number of women pursuing education and careers in Data Science, driven by educational initiatives, support programs, and sociocultural changes promoting gender equality in technical fields. The analysis revealed specific factors that significantly impact this trend, offering insights into effective practices for fostering gender diversity. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to data from 2017 to 2021, and further research could extend the timeframe or explore different geographical regions for a more comprehensive understanding. The findings provide a foundation for future research on gender dynamics in other technical fields. Practical implications: These strategies can support the ongoing growth and balanced gender representation in Data Science. Social implications: The study underscores the importance of gender equality in technology, emphasizing the role of educational and support programs in empowering women. Originality/value: This study provides original insights into the growth of women's participation in Data Science, identifying key factors and management practices that can sustain and enhance this trend. The findings contribute valuable knowledge to the discourse on gender diversity in technology and offer practical solutions for fostering an inclusive environment in Data Science. Keywords: Data Science, technolgy, management, social change, education, women. Category of the paper: Research paper.
The growing global recognition of leadership diversity and the acknowledgment of women's contributions to higher education necessitate the appointment of women to leadership positions within academic institutions, which is essential for promoting inclusivity and improving educational outcomes. This study employed a qualitative descriptive research methodology to examine the role of women in leadership positions within higher education institutions, with the objective of empowering women and improving the quality of education offered. The results demonstrate that women in leadership positions adeptly tackle institutional difficulties through inventive and adaptable solutions, enhancing academic quality significantly. The findings highlight the importance of robust policies and organizational backing in facilitating women's achievement of quality goals via leadership. The report suggests that universities, colleges, and departments should implement quotas to ensure women's presence and active participation on their boards, as well as training programs to support female leaders in improving academic achievement. These ideas seek to improve the quality of higher education by creating more sustainable and progressive classroom environments.
The development of self-regulation is critical for children’s positive interactions with others and successful adjustment to school. Using their self-regulation skills, children can adapt their temperamental, emotional, and behavioral reactions to environmental stimuli. Greater self-regulation is advantageous in the classroom, as more regulated children have an easier time with basic behavioral expectations, and are more likely to persist with difficult tasks, work efficiently, and pay attention to instructions. INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament (INSIGHTS) is a temperament-based intervention that improves kindergarten and first-grade children’s social-emotional development and academic learning. In the current study, we examined the effects of INSIGHTS on rural Midwestern children’s self-regulation development (i.e., attention, inhibitory control), compared to control classrooms. In addition, we explored the effects of children’s baseline self-regulation and the effects of the intervention on children’s developmental trajectories. Students (N = 147) from 61 classrooms were randomly assigned to INSIGHTS or control conditions by school. Children’s self-regulation skills whereas examined at four different times. Multiple regression models were fit, and results suggest that INSIGHTS participants exhibited greater self-regulation at Time 4 as compared to the control group. Additionally, latent growth curve models were used to model linear growth. Results suggest that INSIGHTS participants experienced increased growth rates for attention, inhibitory control, and sustained attention compared to the control group. Our study provides evidence for the positive effects of a social-emotional classroom intervention on the developmental trajectory of children’s self-regulation.
This article is a synopsis of the author's dissertation and doctoral coursework in higher education. The study of Dallas College students assessed self-reported grit and self-efficacy levels and how they manifested along race and gender. Results were mixed with grit being the most significant predictor of student outcomes defined as credits completed. Grit and self-efficacy were statistically significant to each other but not across race or gender. Results provide direction for further research on learner attrition and best practices for student services professionals working with Hispanic and other students and working towards an inclusive campus ecology.
Mental health treatment for gender oriented issues has greatly evolved in the past half century. Treatment approaches emphasizing gender will be presented in this chapter. Recent professional guidelines for competent treatment of boys and men, girls and women, and TGNC populations will be summarized. Key themes of most treatment approaches in this area emphasize affirmative and liberatory approaches that centralize the voices of clients in therapy. Relational cultural therapy, originally developed for girls and women, is a major therapeutic framework that has been applied to many populations. Feminist and womanist therapy approaches are another fruitful area to review, as are therapy approaches emphasizing positive masculinity and strength-based strategies for men and male-identified clients. Finally, affirmative and liberatory approaches with TGNC people will be described.
Teachers are the evaluators of academic merit. Identifying if their assessments are fair or biased by student-ascribed status is critical for equal opportunity but empirically challenging, with mixed previous findings. We test status characteristics beliefs, statistical discrimination, and cultural capital theories with a pre-registered factorial experiment on a large sample of Spanish pre-service teachers (n = 1, 717). This design causally identifies, net of ability, the impact of student-ascribed characteristics on teacher short- and long-term assessments, improving prior studies’ theory testing, confounding, and power. Findings unveil teacher bias in an essay grading task favoring girls and highbrow cultural capital, aligning with status characteristics and cultural capital theories. Results on teachers’ long-term expectations indicate statistical discrimination against boys, migrant origin, and working-class students under uncertain information. Unexpectedly, ethnic discrimination changes from teachers favoring native origin in long-term expectations to migrant origin in short-term evaluations, suggesting compensatory grading. We discuss the complex roots of discrimination in teacher assessments as an educational (in)equality mechanism.
This study explores gender-related inequality in participation in Adult Education and Training (AET) in four countries with vastly different adult learning systems and support measures for women’s AET. Our examination of the data from an original international survey conducted in 2022 has found that the participation of men and women clearly differs among types of AET. Despite the frequently reported equal gender participation rates, the presented findings show that men participate more in job-related and employer-sponsored non-formal education (NFE), while women manage to develop more general skills in non-job-related and non-employer-sponsored NFE. Furthermore, our findings reveal that the primary reasons for participation in NFE are remarkably similar between men and women and, therefore, cannot be used as a source of explanation for different participation patterns. In addition, the extent of gender inequality in job-related and employer-sponsored NFE across countries exhibits minimal variation. All this implies that countries with vastly different adult learning systems currently display a degree of similarity in gender inequality regarding NFE, which could be determined more by characteristics of the labor market than the welfare regime.
There have been several suggestions on how Rational Choice Theories (RCT) for educational decisions could be tested directly. In this empirical analysis, it is argued that these testing strategies have shortcomings, and therefore a different testing strategy is suggested. An innovative specification of a broad version of an RCT for educational decisions is applied, directly taking the utility-maximising behaviour of the actors into account. By using this improved testing strategy, it is demonstrated for young people residing in German-speaking Switzerland that rational decisions play an important role in educational decisions. They calculate the subjective expected benefit of every educational option at the end of compulsory school that, in their view, is relevant to the continuation of their school and vocational training. Panel data show that they ordinally rank the educational options considered according to their benefit and that they choose the option that promises the greatest benefit. For young people in different school branches, it can be seen that the purposive-rational evaluation of the educational options considered and the selection of the educational option with the highest subjectively expected utility are essential mechanisms of educational decision-making characterised by procedural rationality.
Although women earn over half of all bachelor’s degrees in the United States, they are not equally represented across fields of study. Research on gender segregation in higher education has expanded, but this primarily quantitative work tends to neglect the voices of the college women who are experiencing gender-segregated settings firsthand. Our research explores the experiences of women majoring in fields where gender representation is unequal. Sixteen women undergraduates took part in interviews, with half coming from majors classified as women-minority, and half from majors designated as women-majority. Findings demonstrate that women in women-minority majors and women in women-majority majors differ in how they describe their experiences around three themes: relationships with classmates, relationships with professors, and the emotional impact of major demographics. This article concludes by exploring implications for higher education.
Drawing on over a quarter of a century of Panel Study of Income Dynamics data, this paper examines links between childhood home environment las reported by fathers during those childhood years) and children's outcomes in early adulthood. The emphasis is on the role of fathers and the unique contribution of their activities and characteristics to children's development, measured in terms of the children's completed schooling, wage rates, and nonmarital childbearing in early adulthood. The paper shows that fathers' abilities add substantial predictive power to models based on maternal characteristics. Fathers' church attendance and the precautionary actions of parents are also strong predictors of children's adult outcomes, although differentially so fur sons and daughters.
Recent trends indicate substantial changes in the labour-force status of women in Western industrialized societies. Many studies indicate that shifts in sex-role attitudes have apparently accompanied these changes, but research has not focused on the specific conditions under which men and women approve of non-familial roles for women. Moreover, virtually no comparative research exists on this topic. In this paper, data for three Western countries-the former West Germany, Great Britain, and the United States-are compared with respect to attitudes toward female labour-force participation. The data, taken from the 1988 ISSP (International Social Survey Program) module on the family, focus specifically on the conditions under which respondents approve of women working. Results indicate that the attitudes of both men and women reflect substantial preference for a primary familial role for women, especially when young children are present. Intra-country patterns of predictable variation in attitudes are quite similar in the countries considered: attitudes favouring the labour-force involvement of women are associated with gender,labour-force experience, schooling, and birth cohort. Inter-country differences can in part be explained by normative differences in labour-force participation rates of women and perceptions of the suitability of child-care resources, but most of the inter-country differences were unexplained by the factors considered and are thought to be due to unmeasured normative and institutional factors associated with the care and nurture of children.
Numerous studies have found that women's academic achievement not only equals but often surpasses that of men. In this society, in which educational credentials are linked to jobs, promotions, wages, and status, women's educational accomplishments appear anomalous because women continue to receive far fewer rewards for their educational credentials than do men with comparable credentials. In view of the limited rewards that women are likely to receive for education, why do they do as well and attain as much education as they do? This article examines the anomaly of women's achievement in light of four hypotheses and presents empirical evidence to assess each hypothesis. Attention is paid throughout to racial and class differences in women's lived experiences in the opportunity structure. Finally, directions for future research are suggested.
This special theme issue, Beyond Brown: New Approaches to Addressing Inequities in Education for African American Males, addresses not only a major void in the research literature, but serves as a catalyst for better understanding the educational plight and its social implications for African American males throughout the United States. The editors of this special issue assembled some of America's best and brightest social scientists and researchers to examine the contemporary experiences of African American males in education, as well as to offer new approaches to addressing these educational and societal issues. To this end, the contributors were asked to use the monumental court decision as a point of departure and move beyond Brown to examine the constellation of variables that may explain the general condition for African American males in education.
In March, 2004, the federal Department of Education issued proposed Title IX regulations that promise to provide public school districts and charter school organizers considerable flexibility in establishing single-sex classes and schools. At the same time, however, as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, the Department has called for "scientifically based" research to guide educational practices while the Supreme Court has ruled that state actors need an "exceedingly persuasive" justification for drawing distinctions on the basis of sex. The dramatic turnaround in federal policy and the seeming inconsistencies in the law have sparked heated debate that has plumbed the depths of gender, race, and ideology. Yet both sides concur that research findings supporting single-sex schooling are inconclusive. This article works through this conundrum, maintaining that social science evidence has far more to offer the debate than either supporters or detractors of single-sex schooling recognize. To validate that assertion, it examines data on academic performance and social deficits across gender and race as well as tentative evidence from existing programs. Based on these findings, the author draws the critical connection among program planning, implementation, and assessment and urges educators and researchers to explore a broad range of questions and methods both in their search for evidence to inform and guide program development and in their efforts to generate new findings that will prove instructive if not definitive in measuring the overall effects of these programs.
In this article we test the hypothesis that male students outperform female students in mathematics. Using large national data sets and curvilinear growth models,
we examine gender differences in mathematical trajectories from elementary school through high school. We analyze subsamples of high-scoring students and also different
areas of math, such as reasoning and geometry. Despite relatively equal starting points in elementary school, and relatively equal slopes, we find that boys have a
faster rate of acceleration. By the 12th grade, this results in a slight gender difference, which is most pronounced in geometry. Realizing this slight and delayed
emergence of gender differences, we qualify the strong conclusions of earlier research, such as Benbow and Stanley's (1980, 1983), which found that large gender
differences emerge by junior high school.
This article reviews measures of gender-role attitudes with an emphasis on The Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS; Spence & Helmreich, 1972); the Sex Role Egalitarianism Scale (SRES; Beere, King, Beere, & King, 1984); the Modern Sexism Scale (MS; Swim, Aikin, Hall, & Hunter, 1995); the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996), and the Children's Occupational Activity Trait-Attitude Measure (COAT-AM; Bigler, Liben, Lobliner, & Yekel, 1995). The discussion of gender-role attitude measures focuses on the following themes: psychometric criteria; theoretical and conceptual distinctions among measures; domains of attitudes and behaviors included; relationship to other measures; and the meaningfulness and relevance of items. Gender-role attitude scales are viewed as measuring gender-role ideology in a particular sociohistorical context; context-specificity is viewed as contributing to the proliferation of scales, and as limiting the usefulness of scales across cultural and temporal boundaries.
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Background
In terms of high school graduation, college entry, and persistence to earning a college degree, young women now consistently outperform their male peers. Yet most research on gender inequalities in education continues to focus on aspects of education where women trail men, such as women's underrepresentation at top-tier institutions and in science and engineering programs. The paucity of research on the realms where women outpace men, namely college enrollment and completion, constitutes a major gap in the literature.
Purpose
This article provides an overview of gender inequality in the transition to college and in college experiences by examining the ways that women are advantaged in higher education and the arenas where they still trail men. It also discusses theoretical perspectives useful in assessing the causes of gender inequality and then suggests how future research could advance our understanding of the complex nature of gender inequality in higher education.
Research Design
The identification and critical review of research and theories that have been used or that could prove useful in assessing and explaining the complex patterns of gender inequalities in the transition to college and in higher education more generally.
Conclusions/Recommendations
Fruitful pathways for future research to advance understanding of the complex nature of gender inequalities in higher education include examining gender inequalities early in the educational life course, attending to gender differences within vulnerable segments of the population who may be particularly at risk for not attending higher education, and investigating how the structure and practices of schooling relate to gender differences in educational outcomes.
The gender earnings gap among full-time workers narrowed substantially in the 1980s. Previous research has established that increases in the amount of and returns to work experience and schooling among women were primarily responsible for that trend. This paper, which uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the High School and Beyond Senior Cohort (Class of 1980), examines to what extent college schooling characteristics other than number of years, such as grades and major field, contributed to the narrowing of the gap. Changes in the estimated effects of college grades and college major, the author finds, can account for almost all of the large decline in the gender earnings gap between 1979 and 1986 among young college-educated workers. Most of this effect apparently resulted from growth in the market price of women's skills relative to men's for a given major.
We describe recent changes in propensities to marry according to the age and educational attainment of potential spouses. Relating actual marriage to the population of men and women at risk enables us to distinguish between changes in the availability of eligible partners and changes in the force of attraction between men and women in particular categories. The procedure is applied to data from 1973, 1980, and 1988 Current Population Surveys. Multivariate analysis suggests that the sharp declines in marriage rates between 1972 and 1979 were not highly differentiated by age or education for either men or women, but that the smaller declines between 1979 and 1987 were highly concentrated among younger women. Age and education homogamy increased during the latter period. Including cohabiting unions in the definition of marriage reduces the magnitude of the declines but does not alter their essential patterns.
This study compares how being raised in an original, two-parent family and being raised in other family structures affects educational achievement, occupational status, and earnings attainment for a national sample of 30- to 59-year-old women and men. Data are derived from the 1989 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Findings suggest that family structure has different effects by gender. Although both men and women from original, two-parent families earn more, on average, than those from other family structures, for women, this effect occurs through educational attainment. For men, the association between family structure and attainment is explained by other family background variables, including smaller family size, being Catholic, higher levels of parental education, and being White. Men who are raised by both natural parents are not advantaged educationally, compared with those who grow up in other types of family structures. A cohort analysis for men that compares baby boomers with prebaby boomers, however, suggests contradictory effects of family structure that deserve more exploration.
Differing characteristics of the educational systems in England and the U.S. lead to the hypothesis that educational expectations should become "realistic" earlier in adolescence in England than in the U.S. Several definitions of realistic are used in the analysis of data obtained from thirteen-year-old boys in both countries. The hypothesis is generally supported, but the English boys are found to overestimate the significance of ability in the process of educational attainment. This overestimate is also found for older English boys, while older American boys report the most realistic expectations of any of the samples studied. These findings are interpreted as indicating different effects of the institutional characteristics of the two educational systems.
Gender differences in most cognitive skills are fading, but a gender gap remains in secondary school that favors males in higher level math skills. This gap is not evident in elementary school where test scores for the two sexes are equivalent. However, the daily experiences of young boys and girls differ in ways that could affect their math skills in early adolescence. In a large random sample of youngsters in Baltimore, over their first two years of school, boys' gains in math reasoning achievement were more sensitive to resources outside the home than were girls'. In line with the greater responsiveness of boys' math skills to these neighborhood resources, the boys' math reasoning scores became significantly more variable over time than did the girls'. When differentiated course programs became available in middle school, this greater variability of the boys' math scores led the high-scoring boys in the "academic" program to outscore the girls in that program, even though in the total sample the means for boys and girls were about the same. In short, by the end of middle school a "gender gap" emerged in math among high-scoring youngsters. These trends in variability and the greater sensitivity of males to neighborhood resources combined with school tracking offer a new and more sociological perspective on the emergence of the gender gap in math in early adolescence.
Among younger children, maternal employment is associated with diminished school achievement, specifically in White, middle-class boys from two-parent families. This study examined whether and under what conditions maternal employment affects school achievement among high school students. It found that among 2,571 White adolescents living in two-parent families who provided information on parental employment patterns, school grades, and family characteristics (1) upper middle-class and middle-class boys reported lower grades when their mothers were working full time; (2) among upper middle-class boys, both mothers' contemporaneous employment and employment during the preschool years were associated with lower grades; (3) upper middle-class and middle-class girls reported no effects of their mothers' contemporaneous employment, but did report lower high school grades when their mothers worked full time during the preschool period; and (4) for upper middle-class boys, their grades were lower when their mothers worked full time throughout the boys' lives than when the mothers increased their work hours over time. The article presents important implications for conceptualizing and studying maternal employment.
This article examines the determinants of the grades teachers give to students. It distinguishes such meritocratic sources of grades as the student's widely valued and classroom-specific achievements (the former measured by standardized test scores) from such nonmeritocratic sources as race, sex, and track level. The data trace one cohort in a single school district as it passes through the first, second, and third grades. We use three-stage least-squares analysis to estimate separate nonrecursive models for reading and mathematics. We find that grades reflect classroom-specific achievement more than widely valued achievement but that the strongest effect derives from the generalization of grading across subjects. This reflects an interactive process between student and teacher rather than a simple pattern of general student achievement or generalized teacher assessment of noncognitive student traits.
Data from the HEGIS database were used to analyze gender inequality among bachelor's degree recipients. Women continue to receive their degrees from institutions that fall below the average on several criteria. However, the gender differences are small and are accounted for by women's relative absence from selective engineering programs and disproportionate representation among part-time students, who are clustered in institutions with below-average status.
Teachers' verbal and nonverbal behaviors were examined in the natural classroom setting to assess differences based on sex of child, race of child, and race of teacher. The subjects were 16 (8 black and 8 white) female first grade teachers in an urban public elementary school system. All teachers' classrooms contained students of both races with at least a 1 to 3 ratio of one race to the other. Trained observers recorded verbal and nonverbal behavior for each instance of teacher behavior directed toward individual children in each classroom. The results indicated that white teachers directed more verbal praise and criticism and nonverbal praise toward males and more nonverbal criticism toward black males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis was used to analyze the structure of interests of the Women- and Men-in-General samples used in the revision of the 1985 Strong Interest Inventory (Hansen & Campbell, 1985). In the present study, the intercorrelation matrices of the Strong Interest Inventory General Occupational Themes, for the 1985 Women-in-General and Men-in-General Reference Samples, were separately submitted to MDS. Results from earlier analyses that found sex differences in the structure of interests (Feldman & Meir, 1976; Rounds, Davison, & Dawis, 1979; Utz & Korben, 1976) may have been confounded because matched-interest samples were not used. Subjects for the Women-in-General and Men-in-General samples used in this study were selected with the specific intention of matching the interests of females and males by choosing participants who were matched on occupational title. The obtained two-dimensional solutions demonstrated a gender difference in the underlying structure of interests for these reference groups. Possible explanations and implications of these results are discussed.
Researchers considering levels and trends in the resources available to the middle class traditionally measure the pre-tax cash income of either tax units or households. In this paper, we demonstrate that this choice carries significant implications for assessing income trends. Focusing on tax units rather than households greatly reduces measured growth in middle class income. Furthermore, excluding the effect of taxes and the value of in-kind benefits further reduces observed improvements in the resources of the middle class. Finally, we show how these distinctions change the observed distribution of benefits from the tax exclusion of employer provided health insurance.Institutional subscribers to the NBER working paper series, and residents of developing countries may download this paper without additional charge at www.nber.org.
This chapter analyses gender inequalities in participation in higher education and degree awards in OECD member countries. After documenting these inequalities, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, and presenting the main possible explanations for their reversal, we show that this new trend is more than likely to persist in coming decades. While it should probably continue to help reduce the wage inequalities which disadvantage women, its other possible social consequences have yet to be studied. However, in terms of educational inequalities, it would seem that in promoting equal opportunities for men and women the focus can no longer be solely on women.
Mathematically talented youth, whether male or female, tend to have favorable attitudes toward science and to participate in the sciences at a level much higher than average. There were no overall sex differences in course-taking or course-grades in the sciences. Indications of sex differences favoring males, however, were found in participation in high school physics, the taking of and performance on high school and college level science achievement tests, and intention to major in the more quantitatively oriented fields of physics and engineering. No substantial sex differences in attitudes toward the sciences, except possibly physics, were detected. Overall attitude toward science did relate somewhat to participation in science. Moreover, sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability may explain some of the sex difference in science participation and achievement. These results may bear on why women are underrepresented in the sciences.
The association between the sex of children and their parents' risk of marital disruption is examined using the June 1980 Current Population Survey. The finding is that sons reduce the risk of marital disruption by 9% more than do daughters. This difference holds across marriage cohorts, racial groups, and categories of mother's education. A compelling explanation for these findings, supported by data from the National Survey of Children, stresses a father's greater role in raising sons than daughters and his consequently greater involvement in the family. Children provide a new basis for marital cohesion, one that rests on attachments and obligations to children. For fathers, the obligations and attachments are greater if they have sons.
This paper examines the gender gap at GCSE in eight contrasting English secondary schools, and discusses the reality and rhetoric of classroom interactions, focusing on the views of teaching staff, the perspectives of Year 11 students, and observations of teacher-student interactions in the classroom. In an earlier paper (British Journal of Sociology of Education, 17 (3)), the authors examined the extent to which there was less positive teacher-support for the learning of boys than for the learning of girls, and this issue is reviewed in differing school contexts. Research in this broader context suggests that most teachers believe that they give equal treatment to girls and to boys, particularly in support of their learning, but focus group interviews with students and classroom observation suggest that this is rarely achieved; in most schools, boys appear to dominate certain classroom interactions, while girls participate more in teacher-student interactions which support learning. If the underachievement of some boys is to be addressed successfully, these patterns of interaction need to be challenged, to enable boys to begin to develop the very learning strategies which many girls employ effectively to enable them to learn.
Using a post-structural framework, the paper analyses the dynamics of the process by which little boys adopt a definition of masculinity as avoiding whatever is done by girls. It is argued that this is a response to the fact that the 'fighting boys' who resist the school's demands have appropriated the role of hero in the warrior narratives of little boys' fantasy games, casting the 'good boys' who conform to the requirements of the school as despised 'wimps' and 'sissies'. This leads the 'good boys' to adopt an alternative definition of masculinity as 'not female', and in many cases leads also to the scorn and rejection being redirected to girls as a group. It is suggested that teachers should intervene in this cycle by explicitly discussing the character of the hero in these warrior narratives and showing that it ought not to be equated with the classroom and playground behaviour of the 'fighting boys'.
This paper examines how the military drawdown in the early 1990s influenced aggregate trends in employment and college enrollment, evaluating whether the loss of military jobs resulted in observable increases or decreases in employment rates and/or college enrollment rates. Contrary to the expectation of worsening employment among black men in particular, the drawdown had little effect on employment. However, changes in military service did have a considerable impact on college enrollment among black men. The loss of military jobs was actually associated with substantial increases in college going; college enrollments among black men may have been as much as 10% points lower had they served in the military at the same levels observed in the early 1980s.
This paper introduces the concept of educational utilization as an overlooked part of the education-to-work transition and a potential mechanism by which occupational sex segregation is generated among the college-educated labor force. The paper begins with a critical discussion of the operationalization approaches that have been used in prior research that implicitly measures educational utilization. Multiple empirical measure of the concept are then developed using data from the O*NET and the National Surveys of College Graduates. The explanatory power of each measure is assessed using conditional logit models of occupational attainment. A combined measure is then used to assess sex differences in educational utilization using data from the 1993 and 2003 National Surveys of College Graduates for 2 cohorts of college graduates—those who earned their baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degrees and entered the labor market in the years 1985–1993 and 1995–2003. The analysis identifies sex differences in educational utilization that vary across field, degree level and cohort and concludes with an examination of the implications of sex differences in educational utilization for occupational segregation.
After a long tradition of research on the intergenerational mobility of men, stratification studies in the late 1970s and 1980s began to include women in their analyses. Most studies, however, still rely primarily on characteristics of fathers to measure family background status. Using a large national cross-sectional data set, this study describes the influence of mother's occupational status on children's educational attainment. I compare the strengths of maternal and paternal influences and use birth cohorts to examine whether the relative influence of mothers has changed. The main findings are: Maternal occupational status has a strong effect on schooling, this effect is independent of father's education and occupation, it persists through the schooling career, and it is as important for sons as for daughters. Some evidence suggests that the influence of mother's occupation has increased while the influence of father's occupation has decreased. In contrast, mother's education has always been as important as father's education. In general, the findings underscore the positive effects of maternal labor force participation on child outcomes through the high-status jobs many married women now hold. At the same time, this study suggests that the independent influence of mother's socioeconomic status may lead to an accumulation of educational advantages and disadvantages in subsequent generations, possibly reducing the intergenerational mobility of families.
The impact of global economic and political changes on low-income nations-and the reciprocal changes they precipitate in affluent countriesare mediated through social and cultural processes that are often poorly understood by scholars and policymakers. One of the least understood processes is the interaction between gender and class as it is revealed in the linkages between formal schooling and remunerated work. This interaction is part of the broader reciprocal relationships between families or kinship groups on the one hand and labor markets on the other hand, which provide the context in which educational and employment decisions are made and implemented. An understanding of the importance of gender differences introduces new dimensions into the appreciation of the dynamic relationships between family structures and labor markets. Gender differences are one of the great "fault lines" of societies-the categories according to which resources are distributed and power allocated within a particular social order. Like geological fault lines, principles of allocation based on gender differences may shift and deepen over time. Indeed, this appears to be happening in many societies today, in spite of the conventional wisdom that "modernization" is making women and men "more equal." It would be more accurate to say that gender as a principle of allocation of power and resources is becoming more salient. Although changes in the direction of greater equality may be occurring in some sectors of some societies, other sectors may be experiencing the reverse. The dynamics of change accord a particularly significant role to gender differences in the process of class differentiation-although this role is not well understood-and it is here that the involvement of formal education
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The well-known Wisconsin model of achievement posits that the influence of socioeconomic origins on educational, occupational and economic attainment is largely mediated by academic performance, social influences and aspirations in secondary schooling. The model has been widely replicated, elaborated and criticized. The present analysis asks how powerful this model might be in accounting for social influences, aspirations and attainments when measurement error has been taken into account. There are two indicators of most theoretical constructs in the model, and many of these were ascertained from independent sources or as many as 20 years apart. The model identifies selected response error correlations between variables ascertained on the same occasion, from the same person or using the same method. The model also permits retrospective reports of social influences and aspirations to be contaminated by intervening events. In our revised estimates, we find empirical support for earlier specifications of the Wisconsin model. We also find that the revised model is more powerful in explaining the process of educational and occupational attainment.
Although many recognize that social and behavioral skills play an important role in educational stratification, no studies have attempted to estimate teachers’ effects on these outcomes. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), the authors estimate teacher effects on social and behavioral skills as well as on academic achievement. Teacher effects on social and behavioral skill development are sizeable, and are somewhat larger than teacher effects on academic development. Because—as is shown here—social and behavioral skills have a positive effect on the growth of academic skills in the early elementary grades, the teachers who are good at enhancing social and behavioral skills provide an additional indirect boost to academic skills in addition to their direct teaching of academic skills. Like previous studies, the authors find that observable characteristics of teachers and the instructional approaches utilized in their classrooms are weak predictors of teacher effects. However, the present results suggest that the teachers who produce better than average academic results are not always the same teachers who excel in enhancing social and behavioral skills.
This analysis of data from the Partnership for Literacy Study investigates the relationship among achievement, effort, and grades. Certainly, grades reward achievement, the mastery of material by students. Research has also suggested that grades are used to reward students for exerting effort to learn material, even if students fall short of mastery. Indeed, some small-scale research has found that teachers reward students for merely cooperating with their instructional plans, for behaviors that may be weakly related or even unrelated to the growth in achievement. This analysis reveals that teachers seldom reward students for nonachievement-related behavior, for keeping instruction moving. In these data from middle school English and language arts classrooms, the vast majority of the variance in grades is accounted for by students' achievement and students' behaviors that are closely related to the growth in achievement. The findings are consistent with the theory that many teachers adopt a “developmental” perspective on instruction and seek to promote students' achievement by rewarding students' engagement.
Research on the causal relationship between women′s fertility and their employment patterns has yielded contradictory findings. In order to shed some light on the confusion that has resulted, hazard models are used to investigate the possibility these two variables are dynamically interdependent. Transition rates among combined states of pregnancy and fertility are analyzed for a data set consisting of joint work and fertility event histories for a national sample of young white and black women. The results lend support to the interdependence thesis. Pregnancy and motherhood increase the rate at which women leave employment and decrease their reentry rate. Furthermore, I find that women′s wages, and for white women, employment status as well, are negatively and significantly related to their rate of becoming pregnant.
Religiosity appears to be an important factor in explaining variations in sexual activity and contraceptive usage among adolescents. While adolescents' religious commitment diminishes their propensity to engage in sexual intercourse, it is associated with less effective contraceptive usage among those who do become sexually active. Results from logistic regression analysis, controlling for frequency of recent sexual activity, parental socioeconomic status, and parental marital stability, determined that never-married, sexually experienced teenage girls regularly attending religious services were less likely to have used an effective, medical method of contraception than those who were rarely attending religious services.
This chapter discusses recent empirical work in the sociology of education which emerged from a widespread concern about equality of educational opportunity. Four bodies of empirical work can be linked to this concern: status attainment studies, school effects studies, research on the organization of schools and instruction, and research on school and classroom processes. The chapter discusses how these bodies of research are linked to an interest in social equality and how they have developed beyond that initial concern. While some comparative, cross-national and cross-cultural research exists in these traditions, this review is limited to work conducted in the United States.
Reviews the origins and development of the assimilation perspective in American sociology, in terms of both its theoretical and empirical foundations. Reviews the evidence on whether there has been a trend towards ethnic assimilation in the US. Various dimensions of assimilation are included, such as socioeconomic inequality, residential segregation, intermarriage, and popular attitudes. The review of the empirical literature is purposely limited to studies of ethnic and racial inequality in the US. While the assimilation model has been the dominant perspective in sociological studies of ethnic relations, it has been the subject of much debate as well as theoretical challenge. The final part of the paper reviews some of the major alternative theoretical frameworks and their implications for the position of the assimilation perspective in guiding sociological research.-from Author
This report examines whether a high school curriculum organized around the five "new basics" suggested by the National Commission on Excellence in Education is likely to enhance student achievement. Data from the ETS Growth Study reveals that completion of the core curriculum has sizable effects on senior-year test performance, even when prior levels of test performance are controlled. It is also shown that completing the entire core curriculum enhances test performance beyond the effects of coursework in a particular outcome area alone. Importantly, though, completion of the core is effective only if students perform at relatively high levels in their courses. It is concluded that the new basics can be effective in promoting generic skills in the verbal and quantitative domains. For this, the commission gets high marks. However, it is also the case that the commission has failed to provide a comprehensive stocktaking on the condition of American education. This is discussed in the concluding comments. An appendix shows course categories used to construct the new basics core curriculum. (Author/TE)
Longitudinal data on a national sample of 2,077 students first surveyed as high school sophomores in 1955 and later followed up in 1970 are used to assess sex main and interaction effects in an elaborated school process model. The results indicate that (a) despite positive sex effects for women in terms of academic performance and self-concepts and despite simultaneous controls on status background variables, ability, curriculum, the influence of significant others (parents, teachers, and peers), and college plans, a relatively strong and unmediated depressant sex effect remained for the educational attainment of women in the late fifties; (b) status background influences were a double liability for women in that such influences were found to be considerably more determinant of high school process and outcome variables for females, while academic ability was more important for males; and (c) at the college level, whereas the influence of family origins was modest for both sexes, ability remained considerably more important for the continuing educational progress of men.
This paper explores the relationships between primary‐aged boys, hegemonic masculinities and sexualised/violent behaviours in the school setting. The data for this paper arise out of a year‐long ethnographic study of two primary schools in the North‐East of England. The aims are twofold: to explore the way in which heterosexual harassment features in the particular hegemonic masculinity of each school; and secondly, to consider the extent to which primary school boys of different ages and social class backgrounds draw upon sexually harassing/violent attitudes and behaviours as one of the key processes in defining their male identities within their peer groups.
Found that athletes' status among male adolescents is still high as it was in Coleman's 1957-1958 data, but there is evidence that its importance may decline in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
a b s t r a c t This study offers a structural explanation for the female advantage in college completion rates, stressing the importance of horizontal sex segregation across fields of study in shap-ing educational outcomes and gender inequality. Results from a nationally representative sample of students who matriculated at 4-year institutions in 1995 reveal a high level of gender segregation by field of study. Field of study creates the immediate learning environ-ment for the students and between-major differences in academic and social arrange-ments—such as different grading norms, academic intensity, size and social support— shape both female and male performance. We find that this variation is a key factor in the creation of the female advantage in grades and graduation likelihood. The simulation we conduct demonstrates that if sex integration were achieved and both groups had the male distribution of majors, the female advantage in graduation likelihood and grades, which remains after socioeconomic and academic factors are netted out, would be substan-tially reduced.
The article begins with a brief review of prior school reform movements and how and why they are different from today. Unlike past reform movements, school reform efforts are now focused on two key ideas: performance and scientific evidence. Motivated in part by economic considerations, the underlying rationale for many school reform programs is to raise the performance of U.S. students by strengthening their knowledge base and skills. Similarly, the emphasis on scientific evidence can be viewed as an economic global response to rising costs of research and development in fields such as medicine, criminology, and social welfare. This focus on performance and scientific evidence is embodied in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which expanded the federal role in education and substantially altered what the purpose of education should be, when and how it should be measured, and what type of evidence should be used for its improvement. The review concludes by examining how these performance-driven reforms and the push for evidential science to assess their effectiveness can be viewed as part of a changing scientific intellectual movement.
Prior research on the relationship between religion and/or religiosity and nonmarital sexuality (i.e., premarital, extramarital, and homosexual relations) has found an inverse relationship with enough consistency to qualify as an empirical generalization. However, while parsimonious, such a generalization is overly simplistic. Moreover, the research findings on which this generalization is based were biased by specification errors due to the employment of a theoretically inappropriate functional form. In this paper, we propose models, derived from reference group theory, which stress an interactive influence of both religion and religiosity on sexual attitudes, rather than the simple bivariate linear effects common in earlier studies. These models were assessed with data from the NORC General Social Surveys. Our findings, obtained from logistic regression analyses, support our theoretical models: The effects of religiosity on nonmarital sexuality vary predictably by religious affiliation.