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Practice Question and Answers

for A Level Sociology

Focussing on the Sociology of Education

AQA, A Level Exam: Paper 1

4, 6 and 10 Mark Questions

Part of the ‘Education Revision Bundle’ 1 © Karl Thompson 2018

Contents

4 and 6 mark ‘outline questions’

1. Outline two positive functions which the education system may perform (4 marks)

2. Outline two ways in which the education system might prepare students for work (4 marks)

3. Outline two ways in which the education system might perform ideological functions (4 marks)

4. Outline two reasons why schools today might fail to create value consensus among pupils (4
marks)

5. Outline two criticisms of the Marxist view of education (4 marks)

6. Outline three examples of ways in which government policies may have reduced social
inequalities in educational achievement (6 marks)

7. Outline three reasons why government education policies aimed at raising educational
achievement among disadvantaged groups may not always succeed. [6 marks]

8. Outline three ways in which education has become increasingly privatised in recent years (6
marks)

9. Outline two ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)

10. Outline two ways in which cultural deprivation may affect educational achievement (4 marks)

11. Outline three reasons why girls are now generally out-performing boys in education (6 marks)

12. Outline three reasons why girls are less likely to choose science subjects than boys (6 marks)

13. Outline three cultural factors that might explain the differences in achievement by ethnicity (6
marks)

14. Outline two ways in which the school curriculum might be ethnocentric (4 marks)

2
10 mark ‘analyse using the item questions’

1. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which the functions of education might
reproduce class inequalities in society (10)

2. Applying material from Item A, analyse two reasons why some pupils join pupil subcultures
(10)

3. Applying material from item A, Analyse two reasons why marketization policies may have
increased inequality of educational opportunities for some students (10)

4. Applying material from item A, analyse two ways in which globalisation has changed the way
pupils experience education (10)

5. Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which cultural capital might give some
children an advantage in education (10)]

6. Applying material from item A analyse two reasons for gender differences in subject choice
(10)

7. Applying material from item A Analyse two ways in which schools might reinforce gender
stereotypes (10)

3
Outline two positive functions which the education system may perform (4)

Candidate X

The first positive function is, according to Emile Durkheim, schools might create value consensus
among pupils.

The second positive function is that schools teach pupils the same subjects through the national
curriculum, thus making them think the same.

Mark: 1/4

Comment: The first function is acceptable – the second is the same as the first. Had the candidate
used this as a development of the first point it would have got 1+1 = 2/4.

NB – It may be the case that a generous examiner treats the second point as a development of
the first, so this candidate may get 2/4, but I wouldn’t bank on it!

Candidate Y

Role Allocation – where pupils are sorted into appropriate jobs based on their qualifications. The
idea here is that different pupils have different levels of ability, and the more able/ harder working
get higher qualifications, proving they are more suited to the more demanding, professional jobs.

Social solidarity – making people feel as if they are working together towards a shared goal.

Mark: 3/4

Comment: the first function is sound with a good explanation. The second function is sound, but
only gets 1, because it just defines solidarity, it does not explain HOW solidarity is achieved
through education – they may have said through team sports, or even repeated the second point
which candidate X made for another mark.

Other points (which all need developing for 1+1) you may have made could have been:

• Secondary socialisation
• Providing greater equality of opportunity
• Getting pupils ready for work
• Performing social control

4
Outline two ways in which the education system might prepare students for work (4)

Possible identifiers (1 mark for each, select 2 and add in the plus 1s below)

• Teaching specific skills for specific jobs

• Teaching soft skills such as team work
• Role allocation (if developed appropriately)
• Teaching to accept hierarchy/ authority as normal
• Motivation by external rewards
• Exams being competitive

Two developed examples, should get 4/4

• Teaching specific skills for specific jobs – a complex economy requires lots of people doing
different jobs, requiring different skills – school starts off with some people specialising in
sciences, other in humanities – later, education splits into more vocational courses and degree
courses to offer more specialisation.

• Motivation by external rewards – at school, pupils learn to put up with boring lessons in order to
reap the rewards of exam results at the end, this prepares them to put up with dull work in
reward for pay at the end of the month in later life.

Outline two ways in which the education system might perform ideological functions (4)

Outline two ways in which the education system might perform ideological functions (4)

Possible identifiers (1 Mark each, select 2 and add in the plus 1s below)

• Passive subservience of authority/ hierarchy

• Motivation by external rewards
• Fragmentation of subjects
• Reinforcing of gender domains in subject choice
• Teachers ignoring sexual abuse of female students

Two developed examples, should get 4/4

• Passive subservience of authority/ hierarchy – in school students learn they should accept the
authority of teachers, later at work they have to accept the authority of managers – this makes
them passive and obedient, thus easily controlled, according to Marxists

• Teachers ignoring sexual abuse of female students – according to Radical Feminist analysis
this reinforces patriarchal control as it means girls are more likely to grow up learning to say
nothing about male violence against women in later life.

5
Outline two reasons why schools today might fail to create value consensus among pupils
(4)

Two developed examples, should get 4/4

• The ethnocentric curriculum may alienate some students – Christian assembles and holiday
times may make non-Christian students feel less welcome, for example.

• The growth of home schooling where parents can teach their children different things (rather
than sticking to the National Curriculum and over-testing) means more and more children have
different experiences, meaning they are less likely to grow up with shared values.

Further possible identifiers

• The existence of private schools

• Class/ gender or ethnic subcultures
• Differential teacher labelling
• Postmodernism – greater diversity

Outline two criticisms of the Marxist view of education (4)

Three developed examples, 2 times any of these should get 4/4

• There are many critical subjects taught at university that criticise elites (e.g. sociology), which
criticises the idea that education performs ideological functions.

• It is deterministic – not every child passively accepts authority – many children truant and end
up in Pupil Referral Units for example.

• Some students from poor backgrounds do ‘beat the odds’ and go on to achieve highly – so the
idea of the reproduction of class inequality doesn’t apply to all students.

6
The next two exemplars are taken straight from the AQA’s own specimen A level exam
papers!

Outline three examples of ways in which government policies may have reduced social
inequalities in educational achievement (6)

Two marks for each of three appropriate examples clearly outlined or one mark for each
appropriate example partially outlined, such as:

• abolition of the tripartite system (1 mark) meant all pupils would go to the same type of
secondary school, rather than middle-class pupils taking most of the places in the grammar
schools (+1 mark)
• Education Maintenance Allowances (1 mark) provided financial support to enable poorer
students to continue in post-16 education (+1 mark)
• the Pupil Premium (1 mark) earmarks funds for schools to spend on meeting the needs of
disadvantaged pupils (+1 mark)
• Education Action Zones (1 mark) targeted funds on schools in socially deprived areas to raise
achievement (+1 mark)
• grants for higher education (1 mark) make it easier for poorer students to attend university (+1
mark).

Source: MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY PAPER 1 – 7192/1 – SPECIMEN MATERIAL

SECOND SET

Outline three reasons why government education policies aimed at raising educational
achievement among disadvantaged groups may not always succeed. [6 marks]

Two marks for each of three appropriate reasons clearly outlined or one mark for appropriate
reasons partially outlined, such as:

• it is difficult to implement policies (1 mark), for example if they involve intervening in pupils’
home life to change how parents socialise/motivate children (+1 mark)
• educational policies alone cannot overcome poverty as a cause of underachievement (1 mark).
This requires far-reaching redistributive economic policies to tackle it (+1 mark)
• means tested educational policies such as free school meals (1 mark) may have low uptake by
targeted groups because of the stigma attached to them (+1 mark)
• schools or local authorities may fail to carry out the policies properly (1 mark), for example they
may misuse the funds provided for their implementation, eg the Pupil Premium (Ofsted 2012)
(+1 mark)
• privileged groups may take advantage of such policies (1 mark), which may exclude
disadvantaged groups, eg the assisted places scheme largely benefited middle-class pupils
(+1 mark).

Source: MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL SOCIOLOGY PAPER 1 – 7192/1 – SPECIMEN

7
Outline three ways in which education has become increasingly privatised in recent years
(6 marks)

Privatisation involves the transfer of public assets to private companies

• Marketization = exogenous privatisation, or introducing the principles of the free-market,

private sector into how schools are run. This involved giving parents the right to choose (like
consumers) and making schools compete for funding (funding per pupil) =
• The expansion of Academies – Many academy chains are private companies (such as Harris)
and have an ‘executive structure’ like businesses, with one ‘CEO’ overseeing many schools.
• The control of exam boards by international companies - Edexcel is owned by the global
publishing company Pearson’s for example, which makes money from exams (colleges pay for
students to enter exams), but also publishing text books and running revision courses linked to
those exams.
• Global ICT companies such as Apple and Google producing educational hardware and
software which schools are required to purchase. iTunes Edu is a good example of this (may
overlap with the point above!
• Education or knowledge becoming a commodity – through the introduction of fees in higher
education – this turns students into ‘consumers’ and makes them want knowledge they can
use to get a career and make money, rather than knowledge for its own sake. So Marketing
courses expand, English Literature courses decrease.
• The emergence of the Education Services Industry - Private companies building and
maintaining schools through public-private partnerships – in which the state enters into a long
term contract and pays a private company to either build a school or carry out repair and
maintenance work (electrics/ plumbing/ gardening)
• The expansion of private tuition – increased competition for results has led to most parents
employing private tutors in addition to regular education – sometimes through agencies, which
are private businesses.

8
Outline two ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement (4
marks)

Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations as to HOW these factors have a negative
effect on educational achievement.

• Smaller, overcrowded houses

• Poor diets and higher levels of sickness
• Less/no educational books/toys, PC’s
• Parents can’t afford to support children in education after 16
• Less access to nursery facilities
• W/C more likely to have part time jobs.
• Schools themselves, less resources etc than schools in M/C areas
• Selection by mortgage
• Can’t afford private tutors

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)

• (ID) Low income means families will live in smaller houses which could mean there is lack of a
private study space, or children may even have to share bedrooms. (EX) This means there is
no quiet space for children to do homework, which could result in them falling behind at school.

• (ID) Children from low income households are more likely to have poor diets, the low nutritional
content of which could result in higher levels of sickness. (EX) This could result in them having
time off school, which could have a detrimental effect on their education.

Outline two ways in which cultural deprivation may affect educational achievement (4
marks)

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining two ways)

• (ID) Working class pupils are more likely to have immediate Gratification (wanting to work
straight after school to earn money immediately) (EX) this explains working class
underachievement because working class kids are more likely to be poor thus more likely to
want to earn money immediately after finishing their GCSEs, which means they are less likely
to stay onto further education

• (ID) The working classes are more likely to be fatalistic, which is where one resigns oneself to
the fact that they can’t improve their lot in life. (EX) This explains working class
underachievement because they think they are inevitably going to go into working class jobs so
don’t try hard at school as there is no point.

9
Outline three reasons why girls are now generally out-performing boys in education (6
marks)

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)

• (ID) Introduction of coursework: (EX) has enabled girls to do better as they are more
organised, meticulous, persistent, etc than boys and this is rewarded in coursework.

• (ID) Changes in the family such as more divorce (EX) has given girls a greater incentive to
gain useful qualifications, as they cannot now expect to be full-time housewives
permanently provided for by their husbands.

• (ID) Changes in the labour market such greater numbers of women working and
opportunities for promotion (EX) have given girls more role models and the inspiration to
achieve qualifications with which to pursue a career.

Outline three reasons why girls are less likely to choose science subjects than boys (6
marks)

Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations in most cases.

• Teacher’s sexist ideas channelling girls into ‘girls subjects’

• Science taught in a male way using male examples (engines), put girls off
• Biological differences. Girls better at communication, not much discussion in science subjects
• Differential parental encouragement
• Boys more likely to play with technical toys
• Fewer girls in text books
• Fewer female science teachers
• Boys dominate classroom by dominating practical equipment

Suggested full answers (outlining and explaining three ways)

• (ID) Teachers may have stereotypical ideas that girls would struggle in male dominated
subjects such as physics, (EX) and they may try and put them off, steering them towards other,
more traditionally feminine subjects such as English, meaning fewer girls end up doing science
subjects.

• (ID) Science subjects are often taught using masculine examples – for example, physics text
books might use cars to illustrate the laws of motion. (EX) This might put girls off doing physics
because they have no interest in the masculine examples used to teach these subjects.

• (ID) Girls are more likely to be socialised into discussing their feelings, (EX) and thus they
might be more likely to choose subjects such as history and English where you need to discuss
things more, rather than sciences where there is less discussion and ‘one right answer’.

10
Outline three cultural factors that might explain the differences in achievement by ethnicity
(6 marks)

Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations in most cases.

• Stricter parenting styles of Asian parents

• Single parent households amongst Caribbean Families
• Lack of interest in education among White Working Class Families

Outline two ways in which the school curriculum might be ethnocentric (4 marks)

Suggested points, you need to add in the explanations in most cases.

• Christian assemblies
• English literature
• Term times based around the Christian calendar.

11
 10 Mark Education Practice
Questions
Analyse two things, using the item

Hint: Point – Explain – Expand/ Analyse (*2)

Planning

• Identify two 'hooks' in the item, which will form the basis of your two points for further analysis
• Identify what the question is asking you to apply the hooks to

For each hook:

(1) Write a point which answers the question directly – relating one of the hooks to the specific
target in the question.
(2) Develop that point –(e.g. by applying a perspective or discuss differences by class/ gender/
ethnicity)
(3) Develop that point again – (e.g. by applying a second, contrasting perspective, or
discussing further differences by class, gender or ethnicity)
(4) Add in an evaluative sentence

12
Applying material from item A and elsewhere, analyse two ways in which the functions of education
might reproduce class inequalities in society (10)

Hooks. What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

Functionalist sociologists have suggested that education generally performs positive functions for society,
such as equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills for the world of work while at
the same time creating a sense of social solidarity and value consensus.

However, critics have suggested that education also reproduces class inequality in society.

Point 1: Marxist sociologists argue that schools equipping students for work reproduces class inequality
because different classes of students are taught different sets of skills

Development – According to Bowles and Gintis’ Correspondence Principle, working class students are
taught to obey the authority of teachers, accept hierarchy as natural and are taught to be ‘motivated by
external rewards’ (by grades, not the ‘joy of learning’ – this prepares them for ‘dull factory jobs later on in
life, where they have to accept similar inequalities from management and are motived by their pay packet
rather than the ‘joy of the job’.

Further development – Meanwhile in independent schools, attended by the top 7% of the population,
students are basically taught a higher level of knowledge, and they typically do more difficult subjects such
as sciences, which better prepare them for ‘top careers’ in medicine ect. They are also more likely to be
taught softer skills (for example interview techniques) and are given a sense of confidence that they can go
to the best universities and get a ‘top job’, and thus are given a cultural capital boost which prepares them
for their future jobs as managers.

Further development – A feminist take on this is that gender stereotypes in careers advice and subject
choice may lead to girls doing subjects like health and social care, and going into lower paid caring
professions, while boys are more likely to be channelled to higher paid jobs like computing and
engineering, thus reproducing the gender pay gap across the generations.

Point 2: Marxist sociologists argue that teaching social solidarity and value consensus around the idea of
meritocracy creates what they call a ‘myth of meritocracy’ – working class students end up thinking they
have an equal chance to succeed, and thus blame themselves for their own failure, rather than their higher
levels of material and cultural deprivation

Development – Structural Marxists (such as Althusser) see this as deliberate – school is part of the
‘ideological state apparatus’ – and teaching things like having a ‘shared national identity’ or the ‘importance
of team work’ to the working classes, rather than the ‘objective truth’ of their exploitation creates a sense of
false consciousness, ‘keeping them in their place’ and less likely to push for revolution.

Further development – However, Paul Willis’ research found that there was ‘no solidarity’ in school - the
lads he researched had formed a counter school culture and had rejected the school as middle class and
pointless to their future jobs, thus class inequality was reproduced because of the different values they
brought to school rather than school performing this function.

However, another way in which ‘value consensus’ in schools might reproduce inequalities is that a ‘one size
fits all national curriculum’ might turn off certain students – for example, ethnic minorities might find the
teaching of British Values ethnocentric, or non-academic students who are more creative might just ‘switch
off’ – thus ‘equality of provision’ might lead to inequality of outcome for many different reasons.
13
Applying material from Item A, analyse two reasons why some pupils join pupil subcultures
(10)
• Hooks in the item
• What to apply the hooks to

Item A

Schools give status to pupils on the basis of characteristics such as their perceived ability, behaviour and
attitude, and this is often related to pupils’ class, gender and ethnicity.

Pupils with desirable characteristics are given higher status and treated differently. These pupils are likely
to do well and to feel positive about school. Some other pupils may be more concerned about their friends’
opinions of them than with the school’s view of them.

The text below has been modified from the AQA’s student responses and examiner commentary.
NB the response got 10/10.

Hargreaves argued that schools streamed pupils on the basis of their behaviour (Item A line 2).
Those students who were labelled as a trouble-maker were put in the lower stream. They had two
negative labels put on them. They were penalised by being put in a secondary school (modern)
and by being put in the lower streams. The teachers called them worthless louts. The students
were denied status and came together to create a sense of self-worth forming anti-school
subcultures. They did this by inverting the values of the school. In an anti-school sub-culture being
bad became being good. Thus they didn’t hand in homework, cheated and broke school rules. The
more they did this the more their respect increased amongst their peers. Because these pupils
were treated differently (Item A line 3) they developed a sub-culture.

The way teachers treat pupils causes pupils to form a subculture. This may be because they are
labelled by teachers in the classroom. Labelling means attaching a definition such as bright or high
achiever. This labelling may be due to external factors such as possessing elaborated language
code. Lacey found that teacher labelling can result in polarisation of pupils, where they become
even further apart in achievement and behaviour. Those who are positively labelled form pro-
school subcultures, they tend to mix with other who are similarly labelled. The pupils in these
subcultures work hard and have good behaviour. These pupils gain more favour with the teachers
and research by Ball showed how this meant the teacher spent more time with them. Linking to
the first point, these pupils are also more likely to end up in higher streams, further improving their
chances of educational success.

14
Examiner commentary

Good knowledge and understanding of two relevant reasons, streaming and labelling, for the
reasons why pupils form subcultures. These include relevant sociological evidence and concepts.
The points show developed application of the material from the item. The answer also draws links
between the two reasons for the formation of subcultures. 10/10 marks awarded

Karl’s Commentary – How to answer 10 mark questions?

From this example, it seems obvious that the student has nit-picked the item to the extreme. What
they’ve done in both responses is linked the first section of the item to the second section, so if
you can do this, then that’s clearly best practice!

They’ve also done the following to ‘differentiate’: note – they talk about four different things!

• Streaming – linked to anti-school subcultures

• Labelling – linked to pro-school subcultures.

An alternative strategy may have been to pick up on the class, gender and ethnicity element and
use this to differentiate even further in both points!

Source

AQA: Student Responses with Examiner Commentary Specimen Paper 2015

15
Applying material from item A and elsewhere analyse two reasons why marketization
policies may have increased inequality of educational opportunities for some students (10)

• Hooks
• What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

Since the 1980s, a major aim of government policy has been to increase parental choice in
education. In order to increase choice, the government introduced Open Enrolment, allowing
parents to choose more than one school and league tables on school performance were also
made publicly available.

However, critics of marketization argue that such polices have increased inequality of
educational opportunity.

The first reason is that although open enrolment gave parents the right to choose more than one
school, technically giving all parents the right to choose the ‘best schools’, middle class children
have more effective choice than working class parents.

This is because middle class parents have more cultural capital than working class parents – they
are more comfortable with reading school literature, attending open evenings and filling in multiple
application forms (where they can use their elaborated speech skills), while working class parents
are less confident and just end up sending their children to the local schools.

This is further compounded by the ‘school-parent alliance’ – schools want middle class children
because they know they get better results, which

An even more basic reason is selection by mortgage – schools have catchment areas, and the
houses which fall inside these catchment areas are more expensive, meaning only wealthier
children get selected for such schools.

All of this means that ‘choice policies’ have resulted in unequal opportunities for working class
children, because they are less likely to be selected for the best schools, not because of their
individual potential, but because the higher levels of material and cultural capital of the middle
classes gives them more effective choice and thus a greater opportunity to be selected for the best
schools.

A second reason is league tables have resulted in schools tending to focus more on formal
academic subjects such as English and maths which possibly disadvantages those children who
are not good at formal academic subjects.

Because schools are now concerned about their position in the league tables, which depends on
their reports and exam results, they have narrowed the curriculum to focus more on core subjects
such as English and Maths, putting more resources into these subjects – this is good for those
pupils who like those subjects, but bad for students who are gifted in sports or creative subjects,
as these are now relatively less funded, meaning there is no equality of opportunity for all students
to fulfil their diverse potentials.

16
Postmodernists would argue this is especially problematic in a postmodern society which is
supposed to be more individualised – surely in such a society, if schools are to provide equality of
opportunity then they would diversify the way their resources are distributed rather than focusing
them more narrowly on ‘core subjects’ for the sake of going up the league tables.

Having said this, the above point only applies to schools: it is quite possible that students who are
more creative or vocational will put less emphasis on the cores subjects and instead take
advantage of the greater diversity of ‘learning opportunities’ now available outside school to
explore their talents, such as online courses and apprenticeships, which you could say ‘fit in’ with
the idea of ‘an education market’.

17
Applying material from item A analyse two ways in which globalisation has changed pupils’
experience of education (10)

• Hooks
• What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

Globalisation, or the increasing interconnectedness of countries across the globe, creates both
challenges and opportunities for the United Kingdom. For example, economic globalisation has
resulted in both more opportunities abroad and more competition for jobs for these jobs; and
increasing migration has resulted in greater multiculturalism in the UK.

Education has had to adapt to globalization, and as a result, pupils today experience education
very differently to previous generations.

• Economic globalisation – increased opportunities and competition

• Cultural globalisation – migration, multiculturalism and division.
Suggested Answer

Point 1 – Economic globalisation means increased competition from abroad, which means British
students today are expected to spend longer in education (as evidence by the increasing of the
school leaving age. So one change in the experience of education is that students stay in school
for longer.

Development – globalisation has meant that most of the unskilled factory jobs have now moved
abroad, and increasingly British workers need to be better educated in order to get jobs at all, thus
the expansion of higher education means that more students ‘experience’ higher education and
are better qualified than their parents.

Further development – however, ironically, poorer UK students are put off by the fees universities
now charge, meaning that the globalisation of HE is possibly resulting in more class inequality.

Further development – increased competition also means more pressure to succeed, schools are
now ranked by PISA league tables, which means even more ‘teaching the test’ and ‘narrowing of
the curriculum’, which is a final way the experience of education has changed.

18
Point 2 – The item also refers to the pressures of increased immigration resulting in more
multiculturalism – and British schools have long had multicultural education in response to this,
which also changes pupils’ experiences of education.

Development 1 – For example, religious education has long taught about other religions, and
increasingly schools and colleges have events such as ‘black history month’ raising awareness of
diversity.

Analysis 2 – schools have also introduced compensatory education to help recent immigrants from
Eastern Europe, such as extra support for pupils who don’t have English as a first language.

Analysis 3 – however, some policies may be seen as potentially divisive, for example, the prevent
agenda in schools seems to target Muslim pupils through ‘categorical suspicion’.

Analysis 4 – There is also doubt that these inclusive policies are working, many people, especially
in working class areas, object to the extra resources being spent on minority groups, and given the
fact that it is the white working classes who have the lowest achievement, they might have a point.

19
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which cultural capital might give some
children an advantage in education (10)

• Hooks
• What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

According to the Marxist sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, middle class parents possess more cultural
capital, than working class children.

Bourdieu argues that the skills and knowledge middle class parents possess, such as themselves
having benefitted from education, and the fact that they are more comfortable dealing with middle
class institutions such as schools, is passed down to their children, which explains why they do
better in school.

Hooks in the item:

• Skills – might be research skills)

• Knowledge (might be linked to tastes)
• Better education
• More comfortable dealing with middle class institutions

Suggested answer

Point 1 - More cultural capital means middle class parents are better educated than working
class parents and they are more able to help children with homework and coursework.

Analysis 1 - This is especially likely to advantage children from high income earning families
which can afford to have stay at home mums, so they have the time to advantage their children

Analysis 2 - This advantages middle class children early on in their school careers by boosting
confidence. This early advantage accumulates over time and develops through school.

Analysis 3 – This takes place at home, not in school. It is unlikely that schools will have the
resources available to close this gap

Point 2 - Cultural Capital also means middle class parents are skilled choosers – They are
more able to research schools, take time filling in application forms, and networking with teachers
to give their child more chance of getting into the best schools – Stephen Ball found this.

Analysis 1– The opposite of this is working class parents who are disconnected choosers, they
don’t have the skills to complete large amounts of applications and so just send their children to
the local school.

Analysis 2 - This aspect of cultural capital has become more significant since the introduction of
the 1988 education act which introduced marketization and parentocracy and gave parents’ choice
over schools.

Analysis 3 - This means that the system has changed recently to allow those with more cultural
capital to have even more of an advantage.
20
Applying material from item A analyse two reasons for gender differences in subject choice (10)

• Hooks
• What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

Subject choice at both GCSE and ‘A’ level is still heavily gendered, with subject such as physics
and engineering being dominated by boys, and psychology and health and social care dominated
by girls.

This may be because of factors external to the school such as gender differences in socialization,
and because of peer pressure within the school.

The first reason is gendered differences in early socialisation

Fiona Norman (1988) found that most parents socialise boys and girls in different ways – they tend
to be more gentle with girls, protect them more, and encourage them in more passive activities,
such as reading with them, whereas ‘typical boys’ are encouraged to run around and ‘let of steam’
more.

Later on in school, this might explain why more boys do active subjects such as P.E. and why
more girls do reflective, academic subjects such as English and sociology.

A further gender difference in socialisation is the toys boys and girls play with – dolls for girls and
cars and tool sets for boys, which could explain differences in vocational subjects – health and
social care subjects (working with children) are very female dominated, engineering (making and
fixing) are very much male dominated.

However, Postmodernists would say that these stereotypes are breaking down, and that gender
stereotypes in socialisation are much less common than in the past, hence why we are seeing
more gender diversity in subject choice today.

Peer group pressure might also encourage boys to do ‘typically boys subjects’ and girls to do
typically girls subjects.

This linked to hegemonic (dominant ideas about) masculinity – stereotypically, ‘real men’ are good
at sport, and so boys are under pressure play sport to fit into their male peer group, this doesn’t
apply to girls and could explain why more boys do PE later in their school careers.

Similarly hegemonic femininity also requires that girls ‘look good’ (as Louise Archer found) which
could explain why it is mostly girls who do hair and beauty courses.

Verbal abuse is one way these peer groups reinforce dominant gender identities. Boys choosing
girls’ subjects can be accused of being ‘gay’, and vice versa for girls, and this may steer them
away from subjects which don’t fit in with their gender domains.

To analyse this even further all of this is especially true of working class girls and boys, and for
younger children, less so for middle class and older children (doing A levels for example)

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Applying material from item A Analyse two ways in which processes within school might
encourage students to adopt traditional gender identities (10)

• Hooks
• What you need to apply the hooks to

Item A

Despite the fact that girls outperform boys at every level of education, there is still evidence that
stereotypical labels about what constitutes a ‘typical boy’ or a ‘typical girl’ may encourage
boys and girls to adopt traditional gender identities.

Subcultures may also reinforce ‘hegemonic’ gender identities – with boys and girls who display
non-traditional gender identities suffering verbal abuse and other forms of bullying.

John Abraham found that teachers’ expectations of pupils academic performance were based on
stereotypical labels about‘ typical boys’ and ‘typical girls’ ‘(item A) – teachers generally expected a
‘typical girl’ to be well behaved and studious, and a ‘typical boy’ to be more likely to mess around
and get easily distracted.

According to labelling theory (and the self-fulfilling prophecy) this would mean that teachers would
expect less of boys than girls, thus not encouraging them to try harder, which could lead to them
getting discouraged and being more likely to adopt an anti-school attitude, while girls would be
pushed harder to achieve, and be less likely to be disciplined if messing around.

According to David Gilborn, this process is especially likely to happen with black boys – teachers
expect them to be aggressive and anti-school, and are thus more likely to discipline them for
‘messing around’ compared to boys from other ethnic backgrounds, and this might reinforce the
‘hyper-masculine identity’ which Tony Sewell identified among boys of this ethnic group.

A similar process of labelling can be applied to subject choice – teachers tend to steer girls into
typical girls subjects such as health and social care, which may encourage them to take on such
careers and go into traditional ‘caring professions’, and thus this reinforces traditional gender
norms.

A second way is that peer group pressure can encourage boys to avoid taking ‘girly subjects’ –
such boys may be subject to verbal abuse such as called ‘gay’ and so stick to traditional male
subjects. IF it is true that black boys have a hyper-masculine identity, this should apply especially
to them.

Male peer groups can also encourage boys to be ‘anti-school’ more generally – as Paul Willis
found with his counter school culture in which boys gained status for ‘having a laff’.

HOWEVER, a lot of the above research may be dated, and only apply to younger children, today,
and especially in post-16 education, there is much more acceptance of diverse gender and sexual
identities, suggesting that peer groups don’t have total power to reinforce the adoption of
traditional gender identities.

Louis Archer found that female subcultures can reinforce traditional femininities in some ways - the
working class girls she interviewed were concerned about their appearance, but were also not
especially concerned with their school work, showing that gender identities are complex and
diverse, and that peer groups may not reinforce every aspect of traditional gender identity’
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