It could be said that this conducive home environment could only be operationalised through the paid labour of working class women.
Page 1.
Women and Employment and Education.
The outbreak of two World Wars and the subsequent shortage of manpower opened up opportunities for women to exercise their skills especially in industry, agriculture and commerce. Many were in semi-skilled and skilled jobs, which prompted the 1944 Education Act to tackle the concept of equal educational opportunities. It soon became apparent that this proved to be fruitless as the Government adopted a policy of encouraging women to go back into the home - playing upon a mothers" sense of guilt in leaving her children, thus clearing the path for men to return to the workforce after the war.
It would also appear that the principles of equal opportunities were not equally balanced. It was discovered that in the 11 plus examination to determine the type of secondary school a child went to, females achieved higher scores than males - a fact that could have resulted in more girls obtaining places at grammar schools "highly desirable" especially in a mans" world" (Richard and Robinson 1993).
This "problem" was rectified by girls" performances being weighed differently from those of boys, thus ensuring that females achieved fewer places than their results demanded and boys were awarded more places than their results merited (Deem 1981 cited in Richardson and Robinson 1993).
This attitude was apparent until the 1960s and 1970s when the emergence of many groups concerned with civil liberties pushed for various Acts to be passed i.e. Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in order to dispel the issues concerning inequality for women. But how far has it been successful?.
The Hidden Curriculum.
With regard to equal opportunities it has been laid down by the consultative document on the National Curriculum (DES 1988c) that.