Source A Sharpe (1994) repeated her earlier study of working-class girls in London schools. She found that girls' priorities had changed significantly since...

(a) Gender role socialisation is the process by which individuals learn the behaviours, attitudes, interests and expectations that their society considers appropriate for males or females. [1] It begins from birth and operates through agencies such as the family (where parents may dress, address and interact with boys and girls differently), the media, peer groups and education. Through these agencies, children absorb messages about what it means to be masculine or feminine. [1]

(b) One reason is changes in curriculum and assessment. The introduction of coursework-based assessment has benefited girls, who tend to be more organised, methodical and capable of sustained, careful work. [1] This advantage is particularly evident in subjects requiring extended writing and independent research. [1]

A second reason is changing aspirations. The feminist movement, the increase in female role models in professional careers and broader cultural shifts have raised girls' ambitions. [1] Girls are now more motivated to achieve qualifications because they see education as the route to careers and financial independence that were previously dominated by men. [1]

(c) The hidden curriculum refers to the informal learning that takes place through the way schools are organised, the attitudes of teachers and the unwritten expectations about behaviour. It teaches lessons beyond the formal timetable:

1. Historically, the hidden curriculum reinforced traditional gender roles. Boys were encouraged towards science, technology and physical activities, while girls were channelled towards home economics, caring subjects and the arts. [1] This narrowed the range of subjects girls felt were 'for them', limiting their career aspirations. [1]
2. Teachers may hold different behavioural expectations for boys and girls, praising boys for assertiveness and leadership while expecting girls to be quiet, compliant and neat. [1] These expectations can shape pupils' self-image and their beliefs about what they are capable of achieving. [1]
3. Textbooks and learning materials have historically portrayed men and women in stereotypical roles, with men as scientists, leaders and adventurers and women as mothers, nurses and support figures. [1] Even subtle representations can influence pupils' perceptions of what they can achieve and which subjects and careers are appropriate for their gender. [1]

(d) The source shows that Sharpe found a significant shift in girls' priorities between the 1970s and the 1990s. In her original 1976 study, working-class girls valued love, marriage and family life most highly. By the 1990s, their priorities had shifted decisively towards careers, education and being able to support themselves independently. [1] This transformation in aspirations suggests that broader social changes had reshaped what girls expected from life and from school. [1]

From the source, the move towards valuing self-sufficiency and independence indicates that girls were no longer content to rely on marriage as their primary route to economic security. [1]

Drawing on wider knowledge, the feminist movement has been a powerful force in challenging traditional gender roles and promoting equal opportunities for women in education and employment. [1] Economic changes, particularly the decline of heavy industry and the growth of the service sector, created more job opportunities suited to women, giving girls a practical incentive to pursue qualifications. [1] Legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) helped remove formal barriers to female achievement, making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex. [1] The visibility of female role models in politics, medicine, law and business has broadened girls' sense of what is achievable. [1] These combined social changes have transformed the educational ambitions and outcomes of girls across social classes. [1]

(e) This question requires evaluation of the significance of gender as a factor in educational achievement, weighed against social class, ethnicity and school-based factors.

Arguments that gender is a significant factor:

• Statistical evidence: Girls outperform boys at every level from primary school through to A-level and university entry. The gender gap in achievement is persistent and well-documented across subjects and cohorts.
• Gender socialisation: Oakley (1974) demonstrated that children are raised with different expectations based on their sex, and these expectations shape attitudes towards education. Boys are socialised to value physical toughness and risk-taking, which can conflict with academic discipline.
• Laddish subcultures: Francis (2000) found that 'laddish' anti-school subcultures among boys treated academic effort as feminine and uncool. Boys who worked hard risked ridicule from peers, creating social pressure to disengage from study.
• Economic motivation: Mitsos and Browne (1998) argued that the decline of traditional male employment in manufacturing reduced boys' motivation, as they could no longer see clear links between education and the types of jobs they expected to get.

Arguments that other factors may be more important:

• Social class: Class has a greater statistical impact on achievement than gender. A middle-class boy is still more likely to achieve strong results than a working-class girl, suggesting that material and cultural resources outweigh gender effects.
• Ethnicity: The interaction between gender and ethnicity produces varied outcomes. Chinese and Indian girls achieve very highly, while some ethnic minority boys face additional barriers through teacher stereotyping and institutional racism.
• School-based factors: Labelling, teacher expectations and curriculum design affect both genders and may override gender-based differences in some contexts.
• Subject variation: The gender gap is not uniform across all subjects. Boys continue to outperform girls in some areas of mathematics and the physical sciences, complicating any simple claim about gender as a blanket factor.

Conclusion: Gender is a significant factor in educational achievement, but its impact varies depending on social class, ethnicity and the specific educational context. The interaction between gender and other structural factors means that broad generalisations about male and female achievement can be misleading. The most convincing sociological explanations recognise gender as one variable within a complex web of intersecting inequalities. [15]