GENDER GAP

• The gender gap in education refers to the fact that girls get better GCSE and A level results than boys in practically every subject
• Girls are much more likely to go to university than boys
• In 2022, 52.5% of girls and 46.8% of boys achieved grade 5 and above in GCSE Maths and English
• The gender gap at GCSE has reduced slightly since 2019, when the gap was 6.6%
• In 2022, girls were 9.9% points more likely to be entered for the Ebacc compared to boys
• At A-level in 2022, 83.9% of exam entries by girls achieved grades A*-C compared to 80% of boys
• Boys are much less likely to do A-levels than girls
• In 2022, there were just under 60,000 BTEC entries for both males and females
• 43% of 18-year-old females entered university through UCAS in 2022 compared to only 32% of males
• Girls outperform boys in most subjects at every level of education: from primary school to degree level
• Five main social factors external to the school that explain why girls outperform boys in education:

  • Changes in women’s employment
  • Changes in the family
  • Changing girls’ ambitions
  • The impact of feminism
  • Differential socialisation of boys and girls
• Changes in women’s employment:

  • The number of men and women in paid work is now virtually the same
  • Women have greater opportunity in the world of work compared to the 1970s
  • Decline in traditional working-class men’s jobs has led to a decline in opportunities for men
  • Improvement in female educational achievement can be explained by increasing post-school expectations for females and increasing probability of high-income occupations for women
  • Lack of high status higher vocational courses and qualifications in England and Wales
• Changes in the family:

  • Changes in family life and structure mean it is more normal for women to start a career in their 20s
  • Dual earner households are now the norm
  • Divorce rates and rates of single parent households encourage women to work
  • Increasing independence of women has led to a more uncertain role for men in British society
• Girls’ changing ambitions:

  • Sue Sharpe's research found that priorities shifted from getting married and having a family to getting a career and having a family later in life
• The impact of feminism:

  • Campaigned for equal rights and opportunities for women in education and the workplace
  • Highlighted gender inequalities and encouraged genuine equality of opportunity
• Differential socialisation:

  • Gender stereotypes disadvantage boys and advantage girls in education
  • Verbal skills are more important than maths skills in gaining a place at university, and females have better verbal skills than males
• Personal level factors:

  • Teacher bias plays a role in why girls do better than boys in education
  • Students’ attitudes towards learning, behaviour in school, use of leisure time, and self-confidence are important reasons for the gender gap
  • Males are more likely to experience reading disabilities, antisocial behaviour, attention deficit disorders, dyslexia, and speech difficulties
  • Adolescent girls score higher in non-cognitive skills such as attentiveness, organisational skills, and self-discipline
• Differential treatment of boys from infancy leading to the Male Crisis
• Genetics models favor individuals in higher socioeconomic environments
• False beliefs in genetics justify the plight of less affluent persons as less intelligent or not working hard enough
• Female students in the same socioeconomic environments outperform Male peers collectively
• Boys are treated very differently from girls from infancy by parents, teachers, peers, and society
• Aggressive treatment of boys from a young age to make them tough creates learning problems and fear of authority figures
• Boys are given love and honor feelings of self-worth only on condition of achievement or status
• Boys turn attention to sports and video games to gain measures of love and honor not received in the classroom
• Differential treatment creates lower academics and other problems for many boys
• Girls receive continual positive mental social/emotional support and verbal interaction from an early age
• Girls enjoy lower average stress for ease of learning and positive communication from parents and teachers
• Girls receive love and honor simply for being girls, creating all the good things
• Girls enjoy much freedom of expression and care from society
• Differential treatment amplifies as the lower socioeconomic bracket is considered
• Women taking over many areas of society leads to more lavishing of love and honor on women while men face more ridicule and abuse
• Subject choice in post-16 education remains heavily influenced by gender in 2022
• Girls and young women are more likely to choose subjects conforming to female norms and roles like performing arts and health and social care
• Boys and young men are more likely to choose subjects aligning with male gender norms and roles such as physics and computing
• Traditional gender-divide in subject choice has been reducing over time
• Computer Science: 80% of pupils are male
• Physics: 75% male
• Further Mathematics: 65% male
• Design and Technology: 64% male