Assessing the View That Underachievement in Schools is Related to Gender

Before the 1980’s there was concern about the underachievement of most girls as they did not do as well in exams as boys and were less likely to attend higher education. Since the 1990’s it has tuned around and girls have begun to outperform boys at all levels of education. More girls than before go into higher education and go on to gain high priority jobs whereas less boys are making it through school and gaining enough grades for higher education. This can be for a number of reasons varying from the job market to the behaviour that boys have towards school and qualifications.

Over the years the job market for women has opened up a lot more. It has made it more possible for women to work although it has still been mainly in the service sector of the economy. By 2006 the proportion of women in paid employment had risen to three quarters and many more are now in the higher status and relatively well paid positions. Many mothers are now providing positive role models for their daughters and girls are now more positive about the future than ever before. They have more choices of jobs and so many more girls are working harder in school so that they can gain high grades and move onto higher education. Females nowadays are also looking a long way beyond the mother/housewife role and want well-paid jobs to support their families and themselves. It has increased their incentives to gain educational qualifications and go into higher education and to fulfil their ambitions.

Boys on the other hand are having a “crisis of masculinity” with the growing number of workingwomen in higher status jobs and the lack of masculine type jobs for them to have they are feeling less interested in having qualifications. More of the new jobs are in the service sector and these tend to suit the skills and lifestyles of women better. So males then feel that these kinds of jobs are for women only and that it would be too feminine for them to have one similar to it. Moreover, in many houses the females are becoming the primary breadwinners and so males are feeling less in charge of the family. Many boys, particularly working class, now feel that their future is not very exciting and so do not concentrate on gaining qualifications and find other ways in which to define their masculinity.

Research by Hannan (2000) shows that girls are put at an advantage at school because of the way in which they spend there leisure time. Whereas boy are often active and play sport instead of talking to each other, girls relate through talking and this then puts their language skills ahead of boys. Also among boys peer group pressure is often very strong and so if they take extra help at home for their schoolwork they would be unlikely to tell their friends due to teasing. Girls are different and can confide in each other about this kind of thing, as their friends would not judge them because they are getting extra help.