December 29, 2008 / C H Thompson

Gender and achievement

by Sam Cook a former student

Until 1980s the underachievement of girls was the major concern however since 1990s girls started to outperform boys in all areas of the education system.

At GCSE girls tend to do better in the majority of subjects:

64% of girls and 53.8% of boys achieved 5+ A*-C GCSEs or equivalent in 2006 – a gender gap of 9.6%
largest gender differences (a female advantage of more than 10% on those gaining an A*-C GCSE) are for the Humanities, the Arts and Languages
smaller gender differences (a female advantage of 5% or less) tend to be in Science and Maths subjects
girls are more likely than boys to gain an A* grade at GCSE
boys are a little more likely to gain a G grade at GCSE or to gain no GCSEs at all

At A –Level gender differences in pass rate are much narrower but gender differences still remain:

across all subjects, the range of difference is 4%. This is in the context of a very high pass rate
girls perform better than boys in terms of those attaining an A grade (for the majority of subjects), which is a significant change over the last ten years
more supporting data on gender and achievement

It is worth noting at this point gender is not the strongest predictor of attainment:

social class attainment gap at Key Stage 4 (as measured by percentage point difference in attainment between those eligible and not eligible for free school meals) is three times as wide as the gender gap
some minority ethnic groups attain significantly below the national average and their under-achievement is much greater than the gap between boys and girls

Why are girls doing better than boys?

Mitos and Browne (1998) found

the women’s movement and feminism raised girls’ expectations and self-esteem
the increasing number of employment opportunities for women
many girls mother are in paid employment and act as positive role models for them
girls’ priorities have changed: Sue Sharpe (1976) ‘Just Like a Girl’
girls are better motivated and organised than boys
girls at 16 are seen to be more mature than boys
girls benefitted from introduction of coursework in GCSEs/A-Levels
national curriculum made more subjects compulsory
teachers less likely to gender stereotype girls into set roles or careers

Why do boys underachieve?

boys are generally more disruptive in class than girls
boys appear to gain ‘street cred’ by not working hard
decline in traditional male jobs
teachers tend to have lower expectations of boys
lack of male role models in schools
laddish subcultures
identity crisis in men – uncertain future removes purpose in achieving
boys do not like reading as it has become feminised
boys tend to overestimate their ability
feminisation of assessment – coursework rather than competitive exams

Teacher-Pupil Interaction Impact on the Gender Gap?

Micheal Barber (1996) found boys tend to over-estimate their ability, with GCSE results showing the opposite to be true
Michelle Stanworth (1983) found boys dominated classroom interaction pushing girls to the margins which lowered their self-confidence and made them feel less valued hence girls underestimating their ability
Dale Spender (1982) found teachers gave priority to boys giving the impression what girls said was less important
A number of studies have identified the different ways teachers interact with boys and girls.
Howe (1997) found that such differences in interactions emerge very early, even in preschool.

Masculine Identity Can Be Seen as Incompatible with Academic Success

Forde (2006) boys are more likely to be influenced by their male peer group which might devalue schoolwork and so put them at odds with academic achievement. It is argued that girls do not experience a conflict of loyalties between friends and school to the same extent as boys
Jackson 2002 found disruptive behaviour will have a number of benefits by increasing a boy’s status with his peer group and can it can deflect attention away from academic performance
Kelly (1987) found science and the science classroom remain ‘masculine’ environments with boys dominating science classrooms

Are Changes in the Examination System Responsible for the Gender Gap?

Stobart (1992) found a direct relationship between the relative improvement of girls’ achievement and the weighting and type of coursework required in different subjects
Perceptions of girls’ perceived advantage in coursework is high amongst teachers. Over half (53%) of teachers felt that that there was a difference between boys’ and girls’ ability to do coursework Bishop (1996)

Gender socialisation

Lobban (1974) found evidence of gender stereotyping in children’s books with women occupying traditional roles. Best (1993) found little had changed in almost 20 years
Kelly (1987) – gender stereotyping in science classrooms as well as science text books where women are largely invisible

Gender and Education: the evidence

Boys are Doctors, Girls are Nurses

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