Thoughts About the Topic
The report by the AAUW is refuted by American and Canadian institutions. Results from surveys conducted by the HRDC and EQAO standardized test results give proof that girls tend to outperform boys in many academic respects – on standardized tests, on building favourable relationships with teachers and with other students, and in classroom behaviour. This trend surprisingly continues into higher education, with more female students attending post-secondary schools than males.
Teachers, principals and school administrators feel tremendous pressure to correct the gender gaps present in schools. There is great emphasis on making the home and community environments of students more inclusive and understanding of this pressure. There is a need for cooperation from all such aspects of a student’s life, whether the student is male or female.
To say that the Western education system still shortchanges girls is an out-dated assumption. Social reforms have rendered such concerns unimportant today. The concern has now shifted to the opposite side – the increased attention given to female equity has created a shift in the attentions given on boys. Instead of equity, boys are today not given enough attention academically. This has led to a female- centric education and male students are suffering academically.
In order to correct this situation, schools can promote more inclusive environments in classrooms. Initially, there needs to be extra effort to include boys in class participation and more academic outreach programs to get them comfortable in the classroom.
Yet, the gender gap seen today is not as it was a century ago. So, it could be assumed that society is still on its way to completely closing that gender gap. In a short time, perhaps, the discrepancies seen in schools and in the workplace will be corrected. Until then, continuous effort must be made by everyone, especially by those in education, to work towards that goal.