Mary Cobbett
Biographic Data
| ID | 6155408 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mary Cobbett |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mary |
| FAMILY NAME | Cobbett |
| SIGNATURE | COBBETT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 26 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Beyond ‘victims’ and ‘heroines’
Girls are receiving increasing attention from international development actors. However, this attention has been insufficiently analyzed within development studies. Therefore, this article aims to reflect on the emergence of girls as a focus of concern. The instrumentalist benefits of girls’ schooling and awareness of the disproportionally high rates of HIV infection amongst adolescent girls stand out as two major reasons why development actors h…
Inviting Backchat
Being ‘nuff’ and ‘scudding class’
This paper will report on the findings from classroom observations and focus group discussions conducted on the topic of popularity and fitting in at school with girls and boys from four government secondary schools in Antigua. The findings show that whilst boys did experience difficulties negotiating academic success and acceptable masculinities, the consensus was that popularity was associated with low achievement for both girls and boys. Howev…
Creating ‘participatory spaces’
Sexuality education in African contexts is riddled with socio-cultural complexity, tension and taboo. Such tensions are compounded when the focus of intervention is primary school children who are presumed 'innocent'. However, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region of the world most severely impacted upon by the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, thus heightening the need to talk to children about sex and sexu…
Sometimes it's fun to play with them first’
This paper discusses findings from a qualitative study conducted in four government secondary schools in the Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda on students' experiences at school in relation to sexuality. Both girls and boys experienced a range of anxieties and confusions in relation to sexuality, whilst also seeing (hetero)sexual attraction as an exciting part of schooling. Sexual harassment of girls emerged as a widespread and serious (as w…
Boys’ educational ‘underachievement’ in the Caribbean
Education ministries in the Caribbean countries have directed considerable attention over the last decade to ‘solving’ the ‘problem’ of boys’ underachievement. Rather than considering such interventions, our central concern in this paper is to revisit debates about the interpretation of the issue, to explore whether boys’ underachievement is indeed a ‘problem’, in the sense of both an empirical reality and an issue requiring political attention. …
Beauties’, ‘geeks’ and ‘men-john’
Whilst it is known that Caribbean girls academically outperform boys, much less is known about their experiences of school. This paper, based on qualitative research in Antiguan secondary schools, is concerned with who girls can ‘be’ in their school contexts and the consequences of positioning oneself (or being positioned) within different discourses. Drawing on interview narratives and classroom observations, this paper discusses the stories of …
Beyond ‘victims’ and ‘heroines’
Girls are receiving increasing attention from international development actors. However, this attention has been insufficiently analyzed within development studies. Therefore, this article aims to reflect on the emergence of girls as a focus of concern. The instrumentalist benefits of girls’ schooling and awareness of the disproportionally high rates of HIV infection amongst adolescent girls stand out as two major reasons why development actors h…
Boys’ educational ‘underachievement’ in the Caribbean
Education ministries in the Caribbean countries have directed considerable attention over the last decade to ‘solving’ the ‘problem’ of boys’ underachievement. Rather than considering such interventions, our central concern in this paper is to revisit debates about the interpretation of the issue, to explore whether boys’ underachievement is indeed a ‘problem’, in the sense of both an empirical reality and an issue requiring political attention. …
Beauties’, ‘geeks’ and ‘men-john’
Whilst it is known that Caribbean girls academically outperform boys, much less is known about their experiences of school. This paper, based on qualitative research in Antiguan secondary schools, is concerned with who girls can ‘be’ in their school contexts and the consequences of positioning oneself (or being positioned) within different discourses. Drawing on interview narratives and classroom observations, this paper discusses the stories of …
Inviting Backchat
Being ‘nuff’ and ‘scudding class’
This paper will report on the findings from classroom observations and focus group discussions conducted on the topic of popularity and fitting in at school with girls and boys from four government secondary schools in Antigua. The findings show that whilst boys did experience difficulties negotiating academic success and acceptable masculinities, the consensus was that popularity was associated with low achievement for both girls and boys. Howev…
Boys’ educational ‘underachievement’ in the Caribbean
Education ministries in the Caribbean countries have directed considerable attention over the last decade to ‘solving’ the ‘problem’ of boys’ underachievement. Rather than considering such interventions, our central concern in this paper is to revisit debates about the interpretation of the issue, to explore whether boys’ underachievement is indeed a ‘problem’, in the sense of both an empirical reality and an issue requiring political attention. …
Beauties’, ‘geeks’ and ‘men-john’
Whilst it is known that Caribbean girls academically outperform boys, much less is known about their experiences of school. This paper, based on qualitative research in Antiguan secondary schools, is concerned with who girls can ‘be’ in their school contexts and the consequences of positioning oneself (or being positioned) within different discourses. Drawing on interview narratives and classroom observations, this paper discusses the stories of …
Creating ‘participatory spaces’
Sexuality education in African contexts is riddled with socio-cultural complexity, tension and taboo. Such tensions are compounded when the focus of intervention is primary school children who are presumed 'innocent'. However, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region of the world most severely impacted upon by the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, thus heightening the need to talk to children about sex and sexu…
Sometimes it's fun to play with them first’
This paper discusses findings from a qualitative study conducted in four government secondary schools in the Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda on students' experiences at school in relation to sexuality. Both girls and boys experienced a range of anxieties and confusions in relation to sexuality, whilst also seeing (hetero)sexual attraction as an exciting part of schooling. Sexual harassment of girls emerged as a widespread and serious (as w…
Beyond ‘victims’ and ‘heroines’
Girls are receiving increasing attention from international development actors. However, this attention has been insufficiently analyzed within development studies. Therefore, this article aims to reflect on the emergence of girls as a focus of concern. The instrumentalist benefits of girls’ schooling and awareness of the disproportionally high rates of HIV infection amongst adolescent girls stand out as two major reasons why development actors h…
Inviting Backchat
Being ‘nuff’ and ‘scudding class’
This paper will report on the findings from classroom observations and focus group discussions conducted on the topic of popularity and fitting in at school with girls and boys from four government secondary schools in Antigua. The findings show that whilst boys did experience difficulties negotiating academic success and acceptable masculinities, the consensus was that popularity was associated with low achievement for both girls and boys. Howev…
Sociology (7 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Gender Roles and Identity Studies (4 works) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (4 works) · Developmental psychology (3 works) · Human sexuality (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Social Psychology (3 works)