Gender : Boys overestimate their ability

• Boys overestimate their ability

  Barber (1996): Boys often think they are achieving higher than they are and girls often underestimate their ability. This was confirmed by Francis’s research in three London secondary schools in 1998/99 which showed that boys generally thought they could do well without putting the effort in. When they did fail, they tended to blame the teacher but not their ability. Therefore underachievement in boys could be due as a result of them overestimating their ability then blaming external factors.
• Boys overestimate their ability

  Stanworth (1983) found that girls lack confidence in their ability and felt undervalued in the classroom this is still true today according to Renold & Allen (2006), who studied two primary schools in South Wales and found that girls were torn between appearing academically 'bright' and being attractive to the boys. Girls would play down their ability to be popular with the boys. Though girls play down their ability publicly, they still do better at GCSE’s since they harbour knowledge privately.