Why Schools Are Not Shortchanging Girls
A rebuttal by Judith Kleinfeld from the University of Alaska, in response to the AAUW report:
- The campaigning by women’s advocacy groups since the 1960s has intensified the “female victim” image, asking for special treatment and “policy attention” for women. The continued assumption that girls are victimized by schools has resulted in the educational needs of male students often getting overlooked as their female peers succeed in classrooms. In actuality, the professional gender gap of the 1960s has closed. Today’s classrooms show that female students get higher grades, do better on standardized tests and graduate at a higher rate than male students.
- Girls participate more in class, are called on more often and answer correctly more often than boys (Kleinfeld, 1998, Table 13).
- From the 1960s to the 1990s, the number of women getting post-doctoral degrees has increased. So, any bias that these students report is more often against boys. (Kleinfeld, 1998).
Canadian Trends
- A Report by the HRDC (1999).
- Girls do better than boys in language skills. In Mathematical achievement, there is no gap, but by the end of high school, males tend to do better in problem-solving skills. Still, girls are pulling ahead in all subjects. This may be because girls experience the school environment more positively than boys.
- "Gender differences in numeracy are substantially smaller than differences in literacy.” (Thiessen and Nickerson, 1999).
- One study suggests that teachers tend to diagnose more boys than girls with learning problems. In this study, grades two and three students showed a higher prevalence of reading disabilities for boys. (Shaywitz et. al., 1990).
EQAO Results (2009)
- This study aimed to understand the gender differences in education in Ontario.
- In statistics from standardized EQAO tests for 13 year old students, more females were reaching levels 4 and 5 than males. No significant differences were seen in tests by 16 year olds. (Klinger et. al., 2009).
- As learners, boys are more tactile and kinesthetic, develop motor skills slowly and need more structured teaching. Girls tend to have more organized thought, pay more attention and demonstrate earlier language development. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p. 24).
- Boys at the intermediate level are less motivated to read. Girls are more inclined to read than boys. Girls work hard and hope to be seen favourably by teachers, while boys do not always give their best effort to tasks at hand. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p. 25).
- "Different societal expectations" for boys and girls influence their attitudes to learning as well as their performance in school. Home and community environments play a role in the students' attitudes towards school. There is a bigger disconnect between school and home for boys when parents fail to follow up with comments on progress from teachers and principals. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p.33).
- The campaigning by women’s advocacy groups since the 1960s has intensified the “female victim” image, asking for special treatment and “policy attention” for women. The continued assumption that girls are victimized by schools has resulted in the educational needs of male students often getting overlooked as their female peers succeed in classrooms. In actuality, the professional gender gap of the 1960s has closed. Today’s classrooms show that female students get higher grades, do better on standardized tests and graduate at a higher rate than male students.
- Girls participate more in class, are called on more often and answer correctly more often than boys (Kleinfeld, 1998, Table 13).
- From the 1960s to the 1990s, the number of women getting post-doctoral degrees has increased. So, any bias that these students report is more often against boys. (Kleinfeld, 1998).
Canadian Trends
- A Report by the HRDC (1999).
- Girls do better than boys in language skills. In Mathematical achievement, there is no gap, but by the end of high school, males tend to do better in problem-solving skills. Still, girls are pulling ahead in all subjects. This may be because girls experience the school environment more positively than boys.
- "Gender differences in numeracy are substantially smaller than differences in literacy.” (Thiessen and Nickerson, 1999).
- One study suggests that teachers tend to diagnose more boys than girls with learning problems. In this study, grades two and three students showed a higher prevalence of reading disabilities for boys. (Shaywitz et. al., 1990).
EQAO Results (2009)
- This study aimed to understand the gender differences in education in Ontario.
- In statistics from standardized EQAO tests for 13 year old students, more females were reaching levels 4 and 5 than males. No significant differences were seen in tests by 16 year olds. (Klinger et. al., 2009).
- As learners, boys are more tactile and kinesthetic, develop motor skills slowly and need more structured teaching. Girls tend to have more organized thought, pay more attention and demonstrate earlier language development. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p. 24).
- Boys at the intermediate level are less motivated to read. Girls are more inclined to read than boys. Girls work hard and hope to be seen favourably by teachers, while boys do not always give their best effort to tasks at hand. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p. 25).
- "Different societal expectations" for boys and girls influence their attitudes to learning as well as their performance in school. Home and community environments play a role in the students' attitudes towards school. There is a bigger disconnect between school and home for boys when parents fail to follow up with comments on progress from teachers and principals. (Klinger et. al., 2009, p.33).