Male Underachievement in High School Education in Jamaica, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the GrenadinesThe growing regional and international concerns about the educational performance of males reflect a broader social anxiety about the plight of men in general and black men in particular. This concern has culminated in the marginalized male thesis, which has gained considerable academic attention and popular support in the media. In addressing the issue of male underachievement, the book challenges the popularly held assumption that boys fail because girls achieve. Rather than blaming Caribbean females for male underachievement, the book locates male educational performance in the historical context of Caribbean gender relationships, and structural constraints on the development of Caribbean gender identities. UNICEF and the Institute of Social and Economic Research funded the research on gender and Caribbean high school achievement upon which this book is based. Odette Parry and her colleagues conducted extensive in-depth interviews and participant observation research at schools in Jamaica, Barbados, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. After providing the research background and acknowledging the effect of the interviewers' cultural differences, Parry discusses key findings in t |
Contents
Background to the Research | 18 |
The Issue of Male Role Models | 31 |
SexGender Identity Development | 46 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
academic achievement attitudes Barbadian Barbados better black males Caribbean females Caribbean males Caribbean Masculinity classroom behaviour cultural expectations dancehall data collection described educa educational motivation educational performance educationally English experiences female peers female pupils female students female teachers femininity fourth form Furthermore gender differences gender identity gender responses gender socialization gender-appropriate subjects gender-related girls guidance counsellors head teachers high school Homophobia homosexuality implications interac interaction issues leaving school macho male educational male peers male pupils male sex/gender identity male students male teachers male underachievement males and females nerdish occupational structure participants particularly patois policies problems qualitative researchers reflect cultural reinforced relationships respondents felt role models rural coeducational school sarcasm and ridicule school in Jamaica selected single sex education single sex schools sissyish St Vincent subject areas teachers interviewed teaching technical drawing theoretical sampling three territories urban boys verbal discipline West Indies whereas women World Bank