ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the secondary education system, and, in particular, the subject and career choices of fifth-form schoolgirls. It discusses some of the factors which must be addressed if attitudes are to be changed in the future. The chapter shows the relationship between career choices, that is, those girls who had made this decision, and whether or not a girl is studying a non-traditional subject. According to Walker and Barton the social system under capitalism operates through a contradiction in that schools are predicated upon and articulated through norms and values which promote and inhibit individual development. The chapter also discusses the Secondary Level Education in Northern Ireland. In fact, across all Northern Ireland's secondary schools, the choice of subjects for examination remains highly stereotypical, becoming even more pronounced at A level. Boys continue to study craft and technically related subjects, while more girls study stereotypical female subjects such as home economics.