This module explores a number of social, economic and cultural issues which impact upon and shape an individual’s educational opportunities. It explores a range of issues effecting education such as the construction of identities; inequities created by social class, ethnicity, sexuality; sexual harassment; and the divergence in subject choice according to gender. This gendered divergence is also evident in vocational training and higher education. As research suggests the subject areas which are adopted more frequently by males tend also to be those in which it is easiest to find jobs, and where jobs are most highly remunerated. Importantly, the module asks what we understand by `masculinities' and `femininities¿
‘ through an analysis of theoretical perspectives on gender.