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Unlock This CourseOne of the most significant changes in education over the past few decades has been the shift in achievement patterns between boys and girls. Until the 1980s, boys generally outperformed girls in most subjects. Today, girls outperform boys at almost every level of education in the UK.
Key Definitions:
Since the early 1990s, girls have consistently outperformed boys in GCSE examinations. In 2022, 30.0% of girls achieved grade 7/A or above, compared to 24.2% of boys. This pattern continues into A-levels and university entrance.
Before the 1980s, boys generally performed better than girls in education. Several key changes have contributed to the reversal:
Girls now outperform boys in:
Several factors within the school environment help explain gender differences in achievement:
Research shows that teachers often interact differently with boys and girls:
Boys typically receive more teacher attention but much of it is negative and focused on behaviour management. Girls receive less attention but it's more likely to be focused on academic work.
Boys tend to dominate physical and verbal space in classrooms. They're more likely to call out answers and interrupt, while girls often take a more passive role.
Teachers may unconsciously reinforce gender stereotypes about 'boys' subjects' (maths, science) and 'girls' subjects' (English, humanities), though this is less common now.
The way students are assessed can significantly impact gender performance:
Girls often perform better in coursework-based assessment, which rewards organisation, consistent effort and attention to detail. Boys tend to perform relatively better in high-stakes exams. Recent moves back towards exam-based assessment may affect the gender gap.
Most assessment methods rely heavily on reading and writing skills, areas where girls typically have an advantage. This can impact boys' performance across all subjects.
Factors outside the school environment also play a crucial role in gender differences:
From an early age, children learn what society expects from their gender:
Girls are often socialised to be compliant, neat and conscientious - qualities that align well with school expectations. They're more likely to read for pleasure and engage in quiet, focused activities.
Boys are often socialised to be active, competitive and to resist authority - qualities that may conflict with school expectations. The 'laddish culture' among boys can lead to anti-school attitudes where academic work is seen as 'uncool'.
Sociologist Carolyn Jackson's research found that many boys adopt 'laddish' behaviours as a self-protection strategy. By pretending not to care about academic work, they protect themselves from the shame of failure. If they don't try, they can't truly fail. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where fear of failure leads to actual underachievement.
Wider social changes have influenced gender and education:
Girls now have more female role models in professional careers, raising their educational aspirations. The growth of women's employment opportunities has provided clear incentives for girls to achieve academically.
The decline of traditional male manufacturing jobs and the growth of service sector employment has changed the skills needed in the job market. Many traditionally 'male' jobs requiring physical strength have disappeared, while jobs requiring communication skills (where girls often excel) have increased.
Feminist sociologists highlight how changes in wider society have impacted girls' achievement:
Liberal feminists see girls' improved performance as evidence of successful equal opportunities policies. They argue that when barriers to female achievement are removed, girls naturally perform well.
Some feminists argue that despite girls' academic success, gender inequality persists in how this translates to the workplace. Women still face a gender pay gap and glass ceiling in many professions.
Despite overall female academic success, girls remain underrepresented in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), particularly physics and computer science. In 2022, only 23% of A-level physics students were female. This has implications for career choices and future earnings, as STEM careers often offer higher salaries. Initiatives like 'Girls Who Code' and 'Women in Science and Engineering' (WISE) aim to address this imbalance.
Some sociologists argue that boys' underachievement reflects a wider 'crisis of masculinity':
Traditional male roles have been disrupted by economic and social changes. Boys lack clear models of what it means to be male in the modern world. This can lead to disengagement from education as they search for alternative ways to express masculinity, often through anti-school behaviour.
It's important to remember that gender doesn't operate in isolation. Other factors like social class and ethnicity interact with gender to create more complex patterns:
Middle-class boys still outperform working-class girls in many measures. The gender gap is often smaller in middle-class groups than in working-class groups.
The gender gap varies significantly between ethnic groups. For example, Black Caribbean boys face particularly significant educational challenges, while Chinese girls and boys both tend to perform well above average.
The relationship between gender and educational achievement is complex and constantly evolving. While girls currently outperform boys overall, this pattern varies by subject, social class and ethnicity. Both in-school and out-of-school factors contribute to these differences and sociological perspectives help us understand the wider social context of gender patterns in education.
Understanding these patterns is essential for creating educational environments that support all students regardless of gender and for addressing persistent inequalities in how educational achievement translates to opportunities in later life.