A Critical Discussion of Academic

Introduction

The contemporary issues are referred to the problem which is presently raised and affecting places or people as a result of not been explored or resolved. In the UK education system, one of the contemporary issues is gender inequality and educational achievement. This has currently become an issue because more female compared to the men in the UK are found to be highly involved in educated that is entirely different from the common gender inequality surfaced in education where the females are found to be more deprived compared to male (Weale, 2016). This contemporary issue concerns the male gender and the education system of UK because it is men who are found to be deprived of higher education and the motive of the system is to impart equal education to all which in case not achieved that would lead to create social problems. It is evident as less education of the men compared to female would create a matriarchy society currently from the patriarchy society that still maintains unmediated acquisition of goods and services and a gender gap (Coughlan, 2017; Weale, 2016). The contemporary issue is important to be researched because it concerns the economic growth of the country as gender inequality in education would lead to cause the unequal presence of gender-based human resources to support all form of business growth in the nation to enhance economy (Weale, 2016). The discussion of the topic would ultimately benefit the education system to be aware of their actions that have currently led to the situation, in turn, making them consider the changes to be made to maintain equality in education. In the current portfolio, existing literature is to be reviewed to inform the past and present history of gender and education in the UK. However, the key focus would be to explore the issues that led to raise the current contemporary condition of gender inequality and education in the UK.

Main Body

The history of gender and education in the UK informs that in the past during the 19th century, higher education is mainly considered as the role of male pursuit. This is evident as in 1920, it was seen that 72% of the men were acquiring first degree in high education and in them 75% trying to obtain higher education were male compared to women. The gender inequality in education became more unstable in the progressing years and in 1980s it was seen that 76% of high degree is pursued by male and 63% scored first degree in the high education compared to women (Closer, 2012). The pace of gender gap however changed from the 1990s were more female were found to be participating in the higher education at par male. In 1989, Ken Baker who was Secretary of the State Education and Science in the UK predicted that in the next 25 years, women are going to be in majority in the UK education compared to male leading the inequality in education to be shifted from the female focus to male (Hillman and Robinson, 2016). However, the predicted event found to occur much earlier as it took only 10 more years to make female in higher education in the UK to be more than male (Closer, 2012). This is evident as in 2013-14 in England, it was seen that 42% of the men and 51% of the female are pursuing higher education and the scenario is found to be similar in other parts of the UK (Finding, 2013).

In the present, as of 2015, according to the University and Colleges Admissions and Services (UCAS) it is informed that an 18-year-old-woman is found to be 35% more likely in entering higher education in the UK compared to men of the same age. It indicates that 36,000 less men of 18-years-old in the UK would avoid accessing higher education if case the rates of men and women is considered to be equal (UCAS, 2015). In 2017-18, the rate of participation in education based on gender became further unequal which is evident as 56.6% of female and 44.1% of men of 18 years are found to be participating in the higher education in the UK (Maddrell et al., 2016). The UCAS informs that men are found to be in minority among the full-time students, postgraduate students, part-time students and undergraduate student compared to female. However, focusing on the discipline choice rate informed that men are more likely to select involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects compared to women. It is evident as only 15% of women are found to be studying computer science compared to men whereas in education only 17% of the men are found to be studying in the discipline compare to female (Hillman and Robinson, 2016).

There are wide number of issues that led to create this gender inequality in the education system in the UK out of which the differential attainment in education is one of the key causes. This is evident from the study of Crawford and Greaves (2015) who mentioned that in the higher education, the relatively poor score performance of the men compared to women lead them to avoid and at times unable to pursue higher education. This is because the poor score leads the men in the higher education unable to meet performance criteria for admission which makes them avoided to be preferred over the female. It in turn creates increased opportunity for the female to participate in higher studies compared to men where selection is based on scores. It is evident as in 2019, it is reported that in England nearly 5.4% of the female of 16-years achieved nearly to grade 9 compared to only 3.9% of the boys being able to achieve grade 9 in the education level (Hewittt, 2019). Moreover, nearly three quarter of the female in the secondary education were reported to achieve the grade 4 that is pass level compared to 2/3rd of the boys being able to achieve the pass grade in the secondary education to apply for high education (Hewittt, 2019). Thus, men were seen to fail in achieving pass criteria for higher education compared to the female that may have created the gender gap in the education field.

In contrast, the study by Hillman and Robinson (2016) mentioned that gender gap in the higher education is been created due to the less hardship and interest of the men compared to female in pursuing higher studies. This is because of the fascination of accessing good job with higher pay by the high school graduate male compared to female in the UK. It is evident as reports mention that high school graduate male in the UK earn £1,600 more in a year compared to women in similar job (Brynin, 2017). As argued by Pepin (2019), most societies consider men compared to female to be self-dependent and primary bread earners for the family so that they can support the family's upbringing. It leads men to develop attraction towards early income compared to female in turn making them leave to participate in higher education. This is because it is problematic for them to manage time in enhancing their existing skills through participation in higher education in the college and universities (Fleming et al., 2018).

In comparison, the study by Shelley (2017) argued that gender gap in UK higher education has become a contemporary issue because women are found to consider high education as vital factor for successful career compared to men. This is because women consider that education provides them data and skills as backup to take actions in the professional field to be successful. However, the men believe in accessing hand-on experience through early jobs to be effective compared to high education in making them achieve successful career in the professional field (Hillman and Robinson, 2016). In addition, the study by Van Bavel et al. (2018) mentioned that women have more availability of social preferences to either work or involve in education or stay at home. However, the men are being forced by the family members at the early age to be responsible in earning and working full-time. It creates less opportunity and time for the men to think involving in higher education leading to raise gender gap n the higher education (Shelley, 2017).

The other reason behind the rise of the gender gap issue in higher education as contemporary problem is boys expressing to lag in reading and writing compared to female by one and half years (Torppa et al., 2020). The fact is also supported by the study of van Tetering et al. (2018) where the researcher analysed impact of two factors that is child sex and parental education in influencing education among gender. The study mentioned that compared to boys of 8-12 years, it was seen that girls excelled in executing actions in education through easier understanding of new information. Thus, this establishes a performance gap among the gender and it is considered to endanger the boys develop dislike in participating in school and higher education as they require more hardship in fulfilling the learning and achieving skills (Torppa et al., 2020). In comparison, the study by Shelley (2017) argued that the gender gap in higher education is raised because females are found to execute a more cooperative approach whereas men showcase an independent approach towards learning. It leads the men in the secondary education show more emphasis on action-oriented learning which can be difficult to be established at the college level. This is because in the higher education the learning is found to be lowly structured and involves presence of support systems to be used which required collaborative approach for its accomplishment compared to independent approach.

The study by Brzezinski et al. (2018) mentioned that lack of enhanced presence of governmental and non-governmental financial aid for the men compared to female in the UK has led to raise the contemporary issue of gender gap in the higher education attainment. This is evident various grant and scholarships such as BOLC Scholarships, British Federation of Women Graduates Scholarship, Amazon Women in Innovation Bursary Scholarship and other presents to financially support women in the UK for achieving higher education (wisecampaign, 2020). However, in case of men, no separate financial scholarships are found. They are required to participate in accessing scholarships where men and women are equally provided opportunity to access them without any form of reservation for them (Shelley, 2017). It causes men to lack effective financial resources that can be used in earning the sources and participating in the colleges for higher education or meet their financial crisis in continuing education. This, in turn, makes men form the different socio-economic background avoid engaging in higher education out of being deprived of adequate financial aid like the women leading to create the gender gap issue in education in the UK (Shelley, 2017).

The presence of different motivational orientation of women and men is found to be related with the attribution made by them for the success at work. In general, people are seen to hold increased self-efficacy related to the goals which are essential in their life. This means that people are self-confident in achieving desirables goals through their personal actions. Thus, in this respect, men valuing competency-related goals more often than women leads them to personally belief that they have relevant attributes to be able to accomplish the goals. It leads the men as a consequence to be likely to pursue technical knowledge and skills instead of education compared to female (Cheryan et al., 2017). Therefore, the increased self-confidence in them compared to women leads them to show increased participation in access technical skills instead of higher education in turn creating gender gap issue in the high education. The OCED data gathered through international PISA test informs that boys express less likeliness to work hard in studying, express more interest in pleasure compared to reading and has negative attitude towards attaining education to doge their homework (OECD, 2019). Therefore, the lack of specific interest of the young men compared to female in the study may have led to create the gender gap or difference in higher education. This is because men out of having pleasure and lack of interest in studies show likeability to drip out early and avoid having higher education (Ong et al., 2018).

In contrast, the study by Hodges et al. (2017) mentions that lack of effective male educational role models in the educational field may have led young male to avoid pursuing higher education. This is because the lack of gender-specific role model may be leading male to feel value and motivation to continue education and instead focus on intervening to do business as well as involved in other strenuous work activities. The lack of male role model in the UK educational field is evident as 85% of the teacher are found to be female who support and encourage female (Shelley, 2017). However, the fact is found to controversial according to the study of van Uden et al. (2014) where it is mentioned that the researcher did not found any form of empirical evidence that supports presence of male role model enhanced education performance and progress of high education among male.

The study by Hillman and Robinson (2016) mentioned that men 8% more likely consider high education or attaining school or college to be waste of time compared to female. This is because of the existing underachievement been experienced by the men compared to young females in the secondary education. In addition, the exam-system which is based on coursework in the UK compared to the final examination had led to create gender differences in the education field. This is because such examination system is found to be favourable for the female student compared to men. It has led men become gradually disinterested in pursuing higher education and drop out from the system to find jobs on their own which provides them enhanced earning opportunity and security of life rather than wasting time to get further educated (Shelley, 2017).

Conclusion

The above discussion led to the conclusion that there is wide rate of gender gap in the education system in the UK. This is evident as young men are found to be less likely in availing higher education compared to the female. It has led to create presence of a greater number of women than men in the educational field. The discussion informed that enhanced educational attainment among the young female compared to men is one of the reasons behind the contemporary issue in the education system. This is evident as presence of greater A-level results among the women compared to non-performing young male in the education has led the male unable to get approved for studying at the universities. This is because they fail to meet the performance criteria or level set for admission in the higher education. The other cause that led to create the gender gap in education system as the contemporary issue in the education field is lack of employment assurance at the end of the higher education. Moreover, the increased income opportunity for non-graduate males compared to females in the UK has influenced more male to avoid pursing higher education and join jobs in turn creating gender gap in the education. The lack of male supportive coursework, lack of financial aid and presence of male role model in the education system in the UK has led to create the contemporary issue of gender gap. In relation to education, the difference in gender gap is seen where more male is seen to pursue the technical disciple and avoid accessing higher education compared to female because men believed they are technically competent in successfully accomplish the disciple compared to female.

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References

Brynin, M., 2017. The gender pay gap. Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Report, (109).pp.1-60

Brzezinski, S., Millar, R. and Tracey, A., 2018. What do tertiary level students in the USA and Northern Ireland (UK) worry about? An exploratory study. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 46(4), pp.402-417.

Cheryan, S., Ziegler, S.A., Montoya, A.K. and Jiang, L., 2017. Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others?. Psychological bulletin, 143(1), p.1.

Closer 2012, Students obtaining university degrees, Available at: https://www.closer.ac.uk/data/students-obtaining-university-degrees/ [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Coughlan, S., 2017. Record gender gap in university places, Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/education-41470331 [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Crawford, C. and Greaves, E., 2015. Socio-economic, ethnic and gender differences in HE participation. Department of Business and Research Skill. 2015. pp.23-56.

Finding, S., 2013. Gender, education and employment in education in Britain. Observatoire de la société britannique, (14), pp.173-204.

Fleming, P.J., Silverman, J., Ghule, M., Ritter, J., Battala, M., Velhal, G., Nair, S., Dasgupta, A., Donta, B., Saggurti, N. and Raj, A., 2018. Can a gender equity and family planning intervention for men change their gender ideology? Results from the CHARM intervention in rural India. Studies in family planning, 49(1), pp.41-56.

Hewittt, R., 2019, Mind the gap: gender differences in higher education, Available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2020/03/07/mind-the-gap-gender-differences-in-higher-education/ [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Hillman, N. and Robinson, N., 2016. Boys to Men: The underachievement of young men in higher education-and how to start tackling it. Oxford: Higher Education Policy Institute.

Hodges, E.A., Rowsey, P.J., Gray, T.F., Kneipp, S.M., Giscombe, C.W., Foster, B.B., Alexander, G.R. and Kowlowitz, V., 2017. Bridging the gender divide: Facilitating the educational path for men in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(5), pp.295-299.

Maddrell, A., Strauss, K., Thomas, N.J. and Wyse, S., 2016. Mind the gap: Gender disparities still to be addressed in UK higher education geography. Area, 48(1), pp.48-56.

OECD 2019. Addressing discriminatory social institutions to accelerate gender equality in G20 countries, Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/OECD_DEV_W20-report_FINAL.pdf [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Ong, M., Smith, J.M. and Ko, L.T., 2018. Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(2), pp.206-245.

Pepin, J.R., 2019. Beliefs about money in families: Balancing unity, autonomy, and gender equality. Journal of Marriage and Family, 81(2), pp.361-379.

Shelley, J., 2017. Ten Reasons Why Men Aren't Going to College. New Male Studies, 6(1).pp.12-22.

Torppa, M., Vasalampi, K., Eklund, K., Sulkunen, S. and Niemi, P., 2020. Reading comprehension difficulty is often distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and accompanied with problems in motivation and school well-being. Educational Psychology, 40(1), pp.62-81.

UCAS 2015, End of Cycle report UCAS Analysis and research December 2015, Available at: https://www.ucas.com/file/43181/download?token=lnUjPHdK [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Van Bavel, J., Schwartz, C.R. and Esteve, A., 2018. The reversal of the gender gap in education and its consequences for family life. Annual Review of Sociology, 44, pp.341-360.

van Tetering, M.A., de Groot, R.H. and Jolles, J., 2018. Boy–Girl Differences in Pictorial Verbal Learning in Students Aged 8–12 Years and the Influence of Parental Education. Frontiers in psychology, 9, p.1380.

van Uden, J.M., Ritzen, H. and Pieters, J.M., 2014. Engaging students: The role of teacher beliefs and interpersonal teacher behavior in fostering student engagement in vocational education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 37, pp.21-32.

Weale, S., 2016. UK's university gender gap is a national scandal, says thinktank, Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/12/university-gender-gap-scandal-thinktank-men [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

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CRITICAL REFLECTION

Introduction

The contemporary issue in education been focused is gender and education in the UK. The particular topic is focused because the increased number of men in the UK is seen to avoid continuing education that has led to create increased gender gap in the college and universities. Moreover, the topic interest me because in gender gap in education shows lack of participation of female compared to men in the society due to different social reasons and consideration of the female as lowly gender. However, the gender gap in education with men lacking participation is major issue as no factor that may influence the actions is known by me. Thus, to develop better understand behind the reasons which led to the situation, the current topic as contemporary issue is been focused. The presence of lowly educated men is also going to create lack of increased presence of qualified individuals of equal gender in the job market which would influence lower-quality human capital to be present (DiPrete and Buchmann, 2013). For instance, in production department, usually educated men are been recruited as they have physical efficiency compared to women to perform the task. However, the lack of proper educated men would create lowering of men as human capital to be available for the production part of the business which may hinder their productivity. In this context, a previous critical review of the topic is been presented and currently in this portfolio it is to be reflected to present my personal arguments and the way it would affect me in future as educational practitioner.

Main Body

The study by Crawford and Greaves (2015) mentioned that boys compared to girls get lower grades and perform low in the primary and secondary education in the UK which has led men to avoid participating in the higher education and create the gender gap. I agree with the study interpretation because in the existing education system in the UK there is still value of score higher than imagination. This is evident as during admission at the higher education or education regarding special technical skills, certain amount of performance and grades are mentioned to be present as must for the individuals because it proves their worth and educational potential to be accepted for further studies (Murphy and Wyness, 2020). However, failure of the men to attain pass marks or higher grades compared to women leads them to be considered as ineligible individuals to be admitted accessing further education. Thus, it led me to consider that in resolving the gender gap in the education system of the UK, I would try to understand which factors are responsible in low performance of the men compared to women while remaining in the same educational environment. This is because it would help me in future to identify and implement potential interesting actions which would influence men to increase their score and perform at par with the women to attain enhanced score. In contrast, the study by Hillman and Robinson (2016) argued that interest of the men to access job as early as possible compared to female land presence of high salary for non-graduated men leads them to avoid pursuing higher and quality education and create gender gap in education. However, I disagree to the fact provided by the study because, in the current 21st century, it is seen that men and women are equally interested in involving practising job at the earliest while trying to get education to be the earning member. This is because in the current condition in the UK, there is no presence of patriarchy society and men, as well as women, are considered to be equally responsible for their family to earn and manage everyday need as well as become self-dependent (Kester, 2019). In the UK, gender pay gap exists in the UK job market, still female are found to continue studies and perform job to earn extra for supporting them. This is because women from the lower socio-economic classes are found to lack enhanced financial support to continue education for long. It leads the women to involve in jobs and earn to fund their education to be qualified individuals with better career opportunity (Bloodworth, 2018). This is evident as in 2020, it is reported that 72.4% of women compared to 80.1% of men are participating in doing job from 16 years of age along with continue education (catalyst.org, 2020). Thus, this reason would affect me in the future as an educational practitioner to inform men regarding the importance of education and the way they can access assistance from the women who are continuing their education and executing jobs to be qualified individuals at the same time to be able to execute similar action. The study by Brzezinski et al. (2018) informed that gender issues in the educational system in the UK has been raised due to men being deprived from financial aid and scholarships for higher education. I agree with the argument because according to my perception it is seen that current there are more financial aid and scholarship available for female to continue their education irrespective of their social condition. This is because to allow more female to participate in the education by overcoming social domination of being the less strong gender. However, it is also evident that there are many men belonging from the lower social class who do not have adequate financial resource to support and continue their education. In this condition, the lack of separate scholarship and financial aids for the men leads them to avoid education and orient to execute jobs to lead their life. The existing scholarships are also available in gender-neutral way with no extra advantage for the poor men to avail them. This fact in the future would impact me as an educational practitioner to inform management about the importance of presence of separate scholarship and financial aid for men so that they can feel boosted and have adequate financial resources in thinking to continue education, in turn, acting to lower the gender gap. The study by Ong et al. (2018) argued that young men or boys are more inclined to avail pleasure compared to women, in turn, making them doge homework and show lesser performance in education making them hard to be qualified for continuing high education. I agree with the fact as according to my experience I have seen that the increased number of boys show interest in playing games instead of concentrating on the studies. It is also evident from the OCED report where it is mentioned that 19.6% of the young boys are involved in video games compared to 2.2% of girls or young women who are pursuing education (OCED, 2019). The lack of interest toward studies leads the men to show lesser performance in turn creating opportunity for women to access good grades to pursue higher education. The fact is going to impact me in the present as well as in the future as practitioners in educational field to make boys and young men determine the way they are to control their pleasure activities such as games to concentrate in the studies. I would assist the men to determine the way they can develop enhanced schedule to ensure studies and pleasure activities are performed at equal making them to develop good grades and continue higher education. The study by Hodges et al. (2017) mentions that lack of male role model in the educational field is responsible for creating the contemporary issue. I agree with the fact as presence of enhanced role model of the same gender helps the men to share their personal issues and actions freely with the individuals to access assistance and develop encouragement to continue education. This is because individuals of same gender think they are better understood compared by the opposite gender. Thus, the fact would impact me in the present as an educator to understand the way male role model can be available for men in the educational field for providing encouragement and resolve personal difficulties in continuing education. The study by Hillman and Robinson (2016) mentioned that men lack interest in studying due to which there is gender gap in the education field in the UK. However, I disagree with the fact as enrolment of boys and girls in education are similar. Moreover, in my personal experience, I never meet male students who report that they wish to quit school because they do not like education, but they have reported that the educational system is causing them to be depressed due to which they are facing hardship in accessing enhanced learning.

Conclusion

The above discussion mentions that I have agreed to the fact that lower grades among men compared to women is creating gender gap issue in the education. The fact has led me to impact in thinking regarding the way men and young boys could be made more interested in studies and make them show enhanced performance similar to the women to achieve and continue higher education. However, I have disagreed to the fact that men trying to be involving in job are quitting education creating gender gap in the educations system of UK. This is because I consider that job is equally required by men and women to be self-dependent and avail financial stability. I have agreed to the fact that lack of financial aid specifically to the men leads the poor men in the lower social class unable to continue education. Thus, it is required that more financial aid specifically for poor men is to be arranged for helping them continue education and do not face increased competition in accessing financial aid from gender neutral scholarships. The presence of male role model in education continuation for men is important but mentioning men are interested in getting educated or attained school is not agreed. This is because effective participation of men is seen in the schools, but the problem faced by them is failing to attain good grades compared to women.

References

Bloodworth, J., 2018. Hired: Six months undercover in low-wage Britain. Atlantic books.

Brzezinski, S., Millar, R. and Tracey, A., 2018. What do tertiary level students in the USA and Northern Ireland (UK) worry about? An exploratory study. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 46(4), pp.402-417.

Crawford, C. and Greaves, E., 2015. Socio-economic, ethnic and gender differences in HE participation. Department of Business and Research Skill. 2015. pp.23-56.

DiPrete, T.A. and Buchmann, C., 2013. The rise of women: The growing gender gap in education and what it means for American schools. Russell Sage Foundation.

Hillman, N. and Robinson, N., 2016. Boys to Men: The underachievement of young men in higher education-and how to start tackling it. Oxford: Higher Education Policy Institute.

Hodges, E.A., Rowsey, P.J., Gray, T.F., Kneipp, S.M., Giscombe, C.W., Foster, B.B., Alexander, G.R. and Kowlowitz, V., 2017. Bridging the gender divide: Facilitating the educational path for men in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 56(5), pp.295-299.

Kester, K., 2019. Whiteness, patriarchy, and peacebuilding in UN higher education: some theoretical and pedagogical implications from one case institution. Irish Educational Studies, 38(4), pp.481-499.

Murphy, R. and Wyness, G., 2020. Minority Report: the impact of predicted grades on university admissions of disadvantaged groups. Education Economics, pp.1-18.

OECD 2019. Addressing discriminatory social institutions to accelerate gender equality in G20 countries, Available at: http://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/OECD_DEV_W20-report_FINAL.pdf [Accessed on: 1 December 2020]

Ong, M., Smith, J.M. and Ko, L.T., 2018. Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(2), pp.206-245.