Gender

• Women's movement and feminism

  Improved rights and raised expectations and self-esteem of women and girls. They have challenged the traditional stereotypes of women as housewives and mothers and more people are aware of sex discrimination and the effects of patriarchy.
• Equal opportunities

  Sociologists in the past highlighted the educational underperformance of girls, leading to a greater emphasis on equal opportunities. These policies included monitoring teaching and resources for gender bias, encouraging girls into male-dominated subjects. Initiatives such as WISE (Women into Science, Engineering and Construction) have aimed to inspire girls into STEM careers.  
• Positive role models and more employment opportunities

  There has been a decline in recent years of traditional ‘men’s jobs’ and an increase in employment opportunities for women in the service sector. Many girls growing up today have mothers working in paid employment, who provide positive role models for them. Sharpe’s study (1976, 1994) showed a change in girls’ ambitions from love and marriage to careers and independence. 
• Girls work harder, are more motivated and have more peer support than boys.

  There is evidence that girls work harder, are more conscientious and better motivated than boys. Girls spend more time on homework and put more care into their work. They care more about the opinions of their teachers and they concentrate more in class. Girls are also thought to be better organised and therefore excel over boys in coursework which requires organisation.  
• Girls mature earlier

  By the age of 16, girls are estimated to be more mature than boys by up to two years. This means girls are more likely to take exams seriously and consider the importance of academic and career choices ahead of them.
• Lower expectations of boys

  There is some evidence that teachers are less strict with boys than girls. They are more likely to extend deadlines for work and lower expectations of boys assuming they will be disruptive and expecting more poorly presented work. This could create a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
• Boys are more disruptive

  They are generally more disruptive than girls in the classroom. They are more likely to be part of an anti-school subculture which devalues school work (especially in the working class - Paul Willis’ lads). They are four times more likely to be permanently excluded from schools and three times more likely to be excluded for fixed terms than girls. 
• Masculinity and anti-learning subcultures

  Peer-group pressure encourages boys, particularly from working-class backgrounds, to adopt a dominant masculine identity. This can include rejecting academic work as "feminine" and engaging in disruptive behaviour. In some cases, boys gain status within their peer groups by adopting these attitudes. Epstein et al. (1998) supported this idea, finding that working-class boys faced bullying and the risk of being labelled "gay" if they appeared to work hard or excel academically.
• The crisis of masculinity

  Mac an Ghaill (1994) suggested the decline of traditional male working class jobs impacts boys achievement. They lack motivation and ambition because they feel they have limited prospects. The collapse of the traditional male breadwinner role in the family brought about by poor job prospects and the rise of feminism has led to an identity crisis for men who feel insecure about their masculine role and position. This leads boys to try to create a positive self-image through laddish behaviour, aggressive macho posturing and anti-school activity.  
• Feeling and behaving differently

  Boys and girls feel differently about their ability with most boys overestimating their ability and girls underestimating theirs. Stanworth (1983) found that girls lacked confidence and felt undervalued in the classroom. Renold and Allan (2006) suggest this remains true today. Their research on high achieving girls found that such girls were torn between being seen as academically bright and being attractive to boys. Consequently, they played down their academic abilities.  
• Different leisure

  Boys run around and kick footballs, play computer games or sports, and engage in other laddish behaviour. Girls on the other hand are more likely to read or stand around talking. Therefore, girls relate to each other through talking while boys relate through doing. The value of talking, even if it’s about boys, is that it tends to develop communication and reasoning skills valued in education and the service sector. 
• Boys don't like reading

  Boys tend to see reading as a feminine activity which is boring, not real work, or a waste of time. Reading is feminised in our culture: women are not only the main consumers of reading but they are also the ones who talk about and spread the word about books and they are more likely to be the ones who read to their children. Girls are therefore more likely to have positive role models of their own sex than boys regarding education. 
• Feminist views on education

  Feminism has improved women’s rights and education, raising girls' self-esteem and achievements. Efforts for gender-neutral schooling, especially in science, have helped, but gender stereotypes and narrow subject choices remain. Some feminists argue the focus on boys' underachievement is a 'moral panic,' as social class and ethnicity have a greater impact on education.