Gender Differences and Academic Success in the Classroom

Introduction: The Gender Gap in Academic Achievement

For some time, educational psychologists have recognized that at certain points during childhood and adolescent development, a gender gap exists between boys and girls in terms of intellectual maturity, physical makeup, and emotional growth. Boys and girls differ in many ways, particularly in how they approach problem solving, cognition, spatial awareness, and memory. The concept of emotional literacy should not be underestimated, since it is precisely this kind of thinking that enables the brain to make leaps in cognition that translate into higher levels of analysis and synthesis. Equally, a lack of emotional maturity may lead to behavioral issues that reduce time spent on studies. "Deficits in the understanding of emotion expressions and emotion experience could contribute to developmental deficiencies in adaptive social behavior and to the emergence of behavior problems" (Izard, Schultz, and Ackerman, April 1997).

This dynamic translates into a school system in which 75% of class leadership positions, National Honor Society memberships, and advanced placement classes go to girls. And although there are statistically more male geniuses than female geniuses, far more boys than girls are found at the bottom of the academic curve. Girls outperform boys in elementary, middle, and high school, as well as in college and graduate school. After decades of special attention directed toward girls, they appear to be thriving academically while boys are stagnating. "Girls are being told, 'Go for it, you can do it. Go for it, you can do it.' They are getting an immense amount of support," one researcher notes. "Boys hear that the way to shine is athletically. And boys get a lot of mixed messages about what it means to be masculine and what it means to be a student. Does being a good student make you a real man? I don't think so… it is not cool" (Kindlon and Thompson, 2000).

Scholarly research confirms that particularly in the elementary classroom, boys and girls receive different levels of educational engagement. This may be due to perceived differences in behavior or interest, but in nearly every measure of achievement, boys appear not to be developing at the intellectual level that age-appropriate academics requires (Sadker, 1994). Statistical analysis underscores this point: boys receive more disciplinary referrals, earn the majority of D's and F's in school, make up two-thirds of students identified as learning disabled, account for 90% of drug and alcohol violations, and are responsible for four out of five cases that go to juvenile court. Boys also account for 80% of high school dropouts and attention deficit disorder diagnoses (Mulrine, 2001).

Neurological Differences Between Boys and Girls

The literature clearly indicates that female brains outperform male brains on tests requiring the recognition of emotions or the interpretation of relationships among people. There is a clear distinction in empathy between the sexes, even though the gap between adult men and women appears larger than that between younger children. One recent study found that a subdivision of the prefrontal cortex — an area involved in social cognition and interpersonal judgment — is proportionally larger in females than in males, even though the male brain tends to average approximately 10% larger overall. This subdivision is called the straight gyrus (SG), and its size correlates with females' ability to score higher on measures of interpersonal awareness and cognitive activities related to interpretation (Wood, Murko, and Nopoulos, 2008).

This is not to say, however, that environment and social experience do not play a significant role in the expression of these differences. While boys and girls differ psychologically and anatomically, these differences are likely predispositions — tendencies toward particular behaviors or intellectual abilities that are hardwired — but the actual expression of those behaviors and abilities is shaped more by upbringing and experience than by biology alone (Eliot, 2009).

Socialization, Gender, and the Classroom

The socialization of gender begins as soon as a child is born, even before the child is aware of it. Research shows that dressing boys and girls in different clothing, painting their rooms different colors, and purchasing different baby toys are merely the visible tip of the iceberg when it comes to cultural expectations. Once a child reaches toddlerhood, girls are encouraged to behave more femininely, while boys are allowed to play roughly, get dirty, and engage in more physical activity. In school, students are frequently segregated by gender in lines, seating arrangements, and even in the frequency with which they receive praise. Each time this occurs, teachers implicitly affirm that boys and girls should be treated differently. Phrases such as "Be nice to the girls" or "Boys will be boys" reflect the ongoing socialization through which children are taught from an early age to notice and act upon gender differences (Murphy and Gipps, 1996).

Even in the modern classroom, teachers tend to socialize girls toward a feminine ideal. Girls are praised for being neat, quiet, and calm, while boys are encouraged to think independently, be active, and speak up. Girls are socialized to understand that being likable and popular is important, but that intellectual achievement is more associated with boys. Paradoxically, this socialization has backfired in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: the very expectations imposed on boys have had the effect of distancing them from academics, giving girls more time and energy to focus on their studies while boys are pushed toward physical activities and sports.

This effect becomes even more pronounced when ethnicity and diversity are factored in. Despite differences in the attention students receive, girls are watched more carefully to ensure that their homework is completed on time, that their work is neat and well explained, and that their reading skills continue to develop at a rapid rate (How Schools Shortchange Girls, 1992).