Generating data from small group interviews with 41 boys aged 10-11 years from two London schools in 2022, this paper contributes to the field of gender by introducing a new form of non-hegemonic and positive masculinity, which I am calling 'blended' masculinity, and which was the most common formation in each school. Although its features…

The past two decades has seen widespread academic and public concern about boys' academic achievement and the emergence of discourses that identify girls as academic 'winners' in the primary classroom; however, this article aims to problematise these trends. Drawing on ethnographic research carried out in a primary school classroom in London, this…

In recent years, male students at UK schools and universities have been falling behind their female peers in academic achievement. Previous studies have shown that male students are less likely than female students to seek academic help, but have not investigated the relationship between gender-typical attitudes and reluctance to seek academic…

Research has highlighted that engagement with science is highly gendered and that the masculinised culture of science makes it difficult for many girls/women to engage. Meanwhile, a growing body of research has explored the potential of out-of-school spaces to provide more equitable engagement opportunities. In this paper, I examine engagement…

Science education has a seemingly intractable gender problem and remains largely the reserve of White, middle-class men and boys, especially in the physical sciences. In this paper, taking an intersectional approach to Butler's idea of identity as performance, we explore the affordances and limitations of a specific science learning space (a…

In this paper, we explore how what we term "sext education" pedagogies intersect with young people's understandings of, and talk about, sexting through a feminist analysis of two cyber-safety campaign films: "Tagged" from Australia and "Exposed" from the UK. The films tell alarming stories about the ways in which…

Recent research suggests that trans* pupils are subject to much trans-exclusionary practice in schools and find there is little positive change in attitudes, despite statutory requirements and greater recognition of trans* identities. This paper explores the ways in which two female to male trans* pupils in a London girls' school were excluded in…

Gender distinction has been shown to characterise both undergraduate experiences and outcomes. Yet research recounted in this article supports work that shows that young people are often unaware of such trends, subscribing instead to individualist perspectives that foreground equality of opportunity and agency. This article examines the gender…

Utilizes feminist writing on social class to investigate the interplay of ethnicity, race, and class in the production of femininities. Asserts that politically engaged cultural studies of class are important to analyzing the identifications of girls living in multi-ethnic cities. The case study of a London school highlights complexities faced by…

Over the past decade, gradual changes have occurred in some aspects of the social roles taken by men and women. More women with children work outside the home and some men have become very involved in caring for their children. Whether or not such changes have influenced the thinking of members of traditional families and influence parent/child…