Schoolboys and schoolwork: gender identification and academic achievement

Abstract

This paper discusses the educational biographies of a group of young men who, at secondary school, had been part of a larger sample of pupils identified as ‘academically able’. Through examining their personal accounts of schooling, we argue that processes of gender identification have significant implications for the ways in which academic ability is perceived, developed and displayed. In particular, the development of masculine identities may foster but also jeopardize academic achievement. For some boys, such jeopardy can be contained or overcome through drawing on cultural and material resources. For others, the development of a relationship to certain masculinities within particular institutional contexts can lead to impeded educational progress. We illustrate this through three case studies. Finally, in the light of the current emphasis placed on educational certification and the changing climate within the labour market, the paper asks whether, for such boys, disrupted school lives will have more far‐reaching consequences for occupational destinations than might previously have been the case.