How Can We Explain the Difference in Achievement with Boys and Girls?
How can we explain the differences in achievement between boys and girls? Statistics show that it is clear that girls achieve more A* to C grades at GCSE then boys. This obviously shows that girls do better and achieve more in schools. In fact, since 1980 to the present day, the percentage of boys who have achieved these grades has risen. But so has the girls. When it comes to girls and boys choosing their options for GCSE, although they are open to pick the same subjects, there still seems to be a split. Girls tend to op for cookery, design technology and sociology. Whereas boys tend to op for resistant materials, P.
E and science. So it is clear that there are the ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ subjects. One way the difference is shown in achievement is by setting and streaming in different schools. It is more common for girls to be placed in top set for all their subjects then it is for boys. Girls tend to do better in school then boys. This could be influenced by a teacher (self- fulfilling prophecy). If girls and some boys are told that they are capable of getting great grades in school, then they are bound to achieve better than other students that are put in bottom set and are told they can only get a D or E, which are mostly boys.
This shows that there is a difference between the achievement of boys and girls because girls are more likely to be placed in top set and are encouraged by their teachers to do well, whereas boys are not. Another way the difference is shown is by society and through the jobs that different gender roles take. There has been a divide in women and men jobs for a while. However now, there are increasing job opportunities for women. It is still known that women are more likely to take up jobs like nursing, caring, teaching and so on then it is for men.
Men usually take up the job of mechanics, firemen, policemen etc. So in schools, they prepare the students for the job they believe is right for their gender. This shows that there are differences because boys must need to be more educated for the jobs they are required to get, whereas girls don’t need to be as much. If boys are ‘more’ educated then girls, then they are more likely to get better grades, but that still doesn’t explain why girls are achieving better than boys! Individual attitudes have a big impact on how a student achieves.
Girls tend to always do their homework, always be well behaved and are in the pro- school subculture. Whereas boys tend to never do their homework, always misbehave and are in the anti-school subculture. This shows that girl want to do well in school to have a good life and a well-paid job, but it also shows that boys don’t really care about school and haven’t really thought about their future. This shows that there is a difference in achievement between girls and boys because girls have a better opinion of school and so will achieve better grades then boys as they have a negative opinion of school.
It’s not that boys’ do less well. Boys’ achievement has been improving but girls have been improving more. All the matters that I have stated are linked. They all seem to state that girls achieve better in school than boys and that boys take their education for granted. There is also a link with boys and girls attainment. Boys tend to be at school less than girls and girls have better punctuality then boys. So, we can conclude that girls achieve better than boys because of their positive attitudes, actually wanting a good life and a good education.
