8: Gender and Education

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Learning Objectives

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

Define gender roles.
Compare and contrast traditional and contemporary gender roles.
Examine some effects of traditional and contemporary gender roles.

Decades of sociological research has been dedicated to educational attainment and differences in educational attainment. With the believed correlation between educational attainment and occupational attainment (and with it, so many other opportunities for social mobility), connections between other statuses that produce differential social capital, like sex and race, and education have inspired sociological research. The spread of mass education in the 19th and 20th centuries offered opportunities for social mobility that were previously unavailable to many groups. However, especially in its earliest years, the spread of mass education also presented the spread of unequal access to adequate education. Historically and today, race, class, and gender remain influential factors on access to education and educational attainment.