Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Abbreviations (selected)
- Part I Introduction
- Part II The early school years
- 1 Peer influences on gender differences in educational aspiration and attainment
- 2 Beginning school transition and academic achievement in mid-elementary school
- 3 Gender differences in teachers’ perceptions and children’s ability self-concepts
- 4 Emerging gender differences in times of multiple transitions
- Part III Career planning during adolescence
- Part IV Choosing a science career
- Part V Longer-term consequences of early experiences
- Part VI The role of context
- Index
- References
4 - Emerging gender differences in times of multiple transitions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Abbreviations (selected)
- Part I Introduction
- Part II The early school years
- 1 Peer influences on gender differences in educational aspiration and attainment
- 2 Beginning school transition and academic achievement in mid-elementary school
- 3 Gender differences in teachers’ perceptions and children’s ability self-concepts
- 4 Emerging gender differences in times of multiple transitions
- Part III Career planning during adolescence
- Part IV Choosing a science career
- Part V Longer-term consequences of early experiences
- Part VI The role of context
- Index
- References
Summary
Abstract
Gendered identities can develop throughout the life-span in an undulating process spurred by significant physiological, cognitive, and social events. Two important developmental transitions occur in early adolescence: changing schools and puberty. This chapter reviews the development of gender identity and gender differences in school engagement, aspirations, and achievement during these multiple transitions. It synthesizes the findings of in-depth, longitudinal studies of school transition from the early 1970s to the 2000s. Most gender differences documented by this literature occur independently of school transition. These regard children’s friendships, dating, emotional health, attitudes to learning, and academic competencies. With school transition comes the tendency for girls to focus more on their physical and emotional selves, and a risk for boys to disengage from education. Gender differences in early adolescents’ attitudes toward subjects, learning, and career choice appear to have reduced since the 1970s as wider social stereotypes have changed. However, the majority of gender differences noted are conserved across time, suggesting a great deal of biological and social stability across 40 years.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Gender Differences in Aspirations and AttainmentA Life Course Perspective, pp. 101 - 122Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
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