SACE Stage 2 Women's Studies key terms

Graded work completed during the course, such as essays, reports, and oral presentations, marked by teachers against published performance standards and counting towards the final subject grade.

Tasks set and marked outside the school, such as a written examination, that contribute a fixed proportion of the final grade and are scored against the same standards as school work.

Published descriptions of the quality of learning expected at different levels, used by teachers and external markers to judge student work consistently and fairly.

The process of checking and adjusting school-based marks so that judgements across different classes and schools are comparable and consistent with statewide standards.

An organised collection of a student's work and evidence of learning, gathered over time and used to demonstrate skills, reflection, and progress for assessment purposes.

A scoring guide that lists criteria and describes levels of achievement, helping students understand expectations and helping markers apply standards consistently to a task.

The specific qualities or features of a response that markers look for when judging quality, such as depth of analysis, use of evidence, or clarity of argument.

A written or spoken process in which a student examines their own learning, decisions, and assumptions, explaining what changed in their thinking and what they would do differently.

A deeper form of reflection that questions the student's own assumptions and the social context shaping their views, linking personal experience to broader structures and theory.

An answer written under timed, supervised conditions, typically requiring a sustained argument that addresses the question, uses evidence, and follows a clear structure.

A single sentence that states the central claim or argument of an essay, giving the response direction and signalling to the reader what will be demonstrated.

The planned arrangement of an argument into an introduction, sequenced body paragraphs each developing one point, and a conclusion that draws the argument together.

Specific material such as statistics, research findings, policy examples, or documented events used to support a claim and make an argument convincing rather than merely assertive.

A detailed examination of one example, event, organisation, or person, used to illustrate a broader pattern and to test theory against concrete circumstances.

The socially constructed roles, behaviours, expectations, and identities associated with being masculine or feminine, which vary across cultures and historical periods and can change.

Biological characteristics such as chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy used to classify bodies, generally distinguished from gender, which is socially constructed rather than biologically fixed.

The lifelong process through which families, schools, media, and peers teach and reinforce expected masculine and feminine behaviour, shaping identity and limiting or expanding possibilities.

Shared expectations about how people of a given gender should look, feel, and behave, which are enforced through approval and disapproval and vary between societies and eras.

A framework that divides people into two exclusive categories, male and female, treating these as natural opposites and marginalising identities and bodies that do not fit.

An oversimplified, generalised belief about a group that is applied to all its members, often used to justify unequal treatment and to limit what individuals are expected to achieve.

A social system in which men hold dominant power and authority in political, economic, and family life, producing structures and norms that advantage men over women.

A movement and body of thought advocating equal rights and opportunities for women, analysing how gender shapes power and working to change unjust structures and practices.

The idea that knowledge is shaped by social position, so starting analysis from the experiences of marginalised women can reveal realities that dominant perspectives overlook.

The concept that gender inequality interacts with race, class, disability, sexuality, and other social categories, so experiences of disadvantage cannot be understood by looking at one factor alone.

Unequal outcomes built into institutions, laws, and economic arrangements rather than arising only from individual prejudice, persisting even when formal rules appear neutral.

The difference between average earnings of women and men in paid work, driven by factors including occupational segregation, caring responsibilities, and discrimination in hiring and promotion.

The concentration of women and men in different kinds of work, often with female-dominated occupations paid less, reflecting social expectations and shaping lifetime earnings.

A preconceived negative attitude towards a group or its members, formed without adequate evidence and often based on stereotypes rather than direct experience.

Unequal treatment of people because of their gender or another characteristic, occurring in areas such as employment, education, and housing, and often prohibited by law.

Attitudes, language, or practices that devalue people because of their sex or gender, ranging from everyday comments to institutional policies that produce unequal outcomes.

The assumption that heterosexuality is normal and expected, which shapes institutions and everyday expectations and marginalises people of other sexual orientations and gender identities.

Freely given, informed, and ongoing agreement to take part in an activity, which can be withdrawn at any time and cannot be assumed from silence or previous behaviour.

The allocation of different tasks and responsibilities to women and men, commonly assigning unpaid domestic and caring work to women and paid public work to men.

The unpaid housework and caregiving that many women perform after completing paid employment, producing a double workload that shapes time, income, and career opportunities.

How groups are portrayed and how many of their members appear in media, politics, and leadership, which influences whose perspectives are heard and treated as normal.

A method of examining images, language, and stories in media to identify patterns in how gender is represented, including repetition of stereotypes and absence of certain voices.

The capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and act on them, even within constraining social structures, a concept used to discuss resistance and change.

The process by which individuals or groups gain confidence, resources, and power to make decisions about their own lives and to challenge conditions that disadvantage them.