ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with exploring the curricular experiences of pupils involved in Masonfield Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) in the pilot years. It examines the dominant equal opportunities emphasis of TVEI: the promotion of non-traditional option choices and career routes. The chapter focuses on the evidence of the unequal involvement of girls and boys in both TVEI generally, and within specific TVEI options, in the Masonfield project. It discusses the use of single sex provision in Masonfield, which reveals a great deal about the underlying priorities of TVEI. Hertfordshire and Wirral TVEI projects had the highest rates of female participation, young women accounting for 58 per cent of the cohort in 1985/1986. As TVEI Cohort membership was dependent on choosing a specified number of TVEI subjects, the gender ratio of the cohort within each of the schools was largely contingent on the perceived gender bias of the TVEI subjects on offer.
