Gender Track: Research on High School Tracking Systems According to Gender Roles

Sociologists of education have used the concept of tracking to analyze educational and occupational differentiation. Previous researches have been gender-biased and overlooked intragender differentiation. This article aims to show : 1) high schools work as an allocation system based on non-meritocratic factors like gender roles ; and 2) each high school can be seen as a "gender track," which allocates students according to gender roles that schools transmit. The author administered a questionnaire survey at three girls' high schools (two private, one public) in Japan. Three schools are at the same academic level (they belong to the highest academic achievement group in Japan), but transmit different kinds of gender roles. The research findings are : 1)Japanese high schools allocate their students according to gender roles they transmit ; 2) Japanese high schools organize Gender Track system and allocate their students to different life courses. In this paper, tracking systems according to academic achievement are called "Academic Track." Gender Track and Academic Track in Japan have similarities and differences. They both work as allocation systems, have two selection processes (before and after entering high schools), and basically work as self-selection systems. However, Gender Track allocates students according to gender roles that students internalize, select students by charter or school culture, and canalize students to different aims life courses. Academic Track allocates students according to their academic achievements, select students by academic achievement stratum to which school belongs, and canalize students to the same but hierarchically ranked aims. Gender Track functions independently of Academic Track. Gender Track differentiates students on the same academic achievement level. All students, including boys, are distributed by this double (academic and gender) tracking systems. From the standpoint of functionalism, allocation systems according to gender roles that people internalize produce waste of ability. From the standpoint of reproduction theory, Gender Track can be viewed as a reproduction system of women's career patterns and class differences. Like Academic Track, Gender Track also works as a social tracking system