Gender Differences in Educational Achievement
Gender differences in educational achievement describe the pattern, established since national exam results began being broken down by sex, of girls outperforming boys on average across most subjects and levels. External explanations point to changes outside school: the impact of feminism and changing employment opportunities have raised girls' ambitions beyond marriage and motherhood, which Sue Sharpe's research (comparing girls' priorities across decades) found shifted from 'love, marriage, husbands and children' towards careers and independence. Internal explanations point to processes inside school: equal opportunities policies and initiatives such as Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) challenged subject stereotyping, and Gorard's work on measuring the gender gap raises the methodological point that the gap partly reflects a change in the way coursework and assessment methods were structured, favouring the sustained, organised effort girls were on average more likely to demonstrate. Explanations of boys' relative underachievement include a 'laddish' anti-school subculture, similar in structure to Willis's counter-school culture, in which some boys reject academic effort as incompatible with masculinity, and concerns about a shortage of male primary teachers reducing positive male role models associated with achievement.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- State the pattern precisely before explaining it: girls have, on average, outperformed boys in aggregate exam results since national data began tracking the gap, rather than claiming boys underachieve in every subject or every case.
- Separate external explanations (changes in wider society, such as feminism and the job market) from internal explanations (changes and processes within school), just as for class differences.
- Use Sharpe's comparative research on girls' priorities as external evidence: her findings, comparing different decades of girls' own stated ambitions, show a shift from prioritising marriage and family towards prioritising career and financial independence, linked to the wider impact of the feminist movement.
- Use equal opportunities policy as internal evidence, e.g. initiatives challenging subject stereotyping such as GIST, alongside changes to the National Curriculum that made girls and boys study largely the same subjects, removing an earlier source of the gap.
- Be precise about assessment method explanations: some sociologists, including Gorard, have argued a portion of the gap reflects how coursework and continuous assessment reward sustained, organised effort, though be cautious about overstating this without a source.
- Explain boys' underachievement using laddish subcultures, structured similarly to Willis's counter-school culture: some boys treat academic effort as a threat to a 'laddish' masculine identity, so working hard is stigmatised among peers.
- When the item gives a specific example (a policy, a subject choice, a subculture, a teacher expectation), name the exact mechanism it illustrates rather than a generic statement that 'girls do better than boys'.
- Evaluate by testing whether external or internal factors better explain the item's evidence, and note that gender differences intersect with class and ethnicity, so a single explanation rarely accounts for every pupil's outcome.
Worked example
Item A: A survey of secondary school pupils found that girls were more likely than boys to say they wanted a career that required university study, while boys were more likely to say that trying hard in lessons was 'not really something my mates would respect'. Applying material from Item A and your knowledge, analyse two reasons for gender differences in educational achievement. (10 marks)
- Identify the two contrasting statements in the item: girls' career and university ambitions point to an external, changing-aspirations explanation; boys' comment about peer disrespect for effort points to an internal, laddish-subculture explanation.
- Build the first reason from the item using Sharpe's research: girls' rising ambitions reflect wider social change, including feminism and expanded career opportunities, which has raised the value girls place on academic success as a route to independence.
- Build the second reason from the item using laddish subculture theory: boys who see trying hard as incompatible with what their peers respect are prioritising a masculine identity over academic effort, similar in structure to Willis's counter-school culture, which discourages visible academic effort.
- Add one line of development to each: note that the first factor is about a change in what girls want, while the second is about peer pressure actively discouraging boys' effort, so the two operate through different mechanisms even though both affect the same overall gap.
- Check both points are drawn directly from the item's two statements rather than a general list of gender-and-achievement facts.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What is the general pattern in gender and educational achievement referred to in this topic?Show answer
Answer: Girls have, on average, outperformed boys in aggregate exam results across most subjects and levels since results began being compared by sex.
Q2What did Sharpe's research find about how girls' priorities changed over time?Show answer
Answer: That girls' stated priorities shifted from 'love, marriage, husbands and children' in earlier decades towards careers, qualifications and financial independence in later decades.
Q3What was the aim of initiatives such as GIST (Girls into Science and Technology)?Show answer
Answer: To challenge subject stereotyping and encourage girls into subjects, such as science and technology, that were traditionally seen as more suitable for boys.
Q4Explain what is meant by a 'laddish' subculture and how it might affect boys' achievement.Show answer
Answer: A peer culture among some boys in which trying hard academically is seen as incompatible with masculinity, so visible effort is discouraged or mocked, reducing the boys' willingness to engage openly with school work.
Q5Give one internal school factor that might contribute to the gender gap in achievement.Show answer
Answer: A shortage of male teachers, particularly in primary school, which some sociologists argue reduces the number of positive male role models associated with academic achievement for boys.
Q6Give one criticism of explanations that focus only on assessment methods to explain the gender gap.Show answer
Answer: Assessment method changes cannot fully explain the gap, since it persists even in subjects and exam formats that do not rely heavily on coursework, suggesting other factors, such as aspiration or subcultures, also matter.
Q7Explain why gender differences in achievement cannot be fully understood without also considering class.Show answer
Answer: Because the size of the gender gap varies by class background; a working-class boy and a middle-class boy do not underachieve to the same degree, so class and gender interact rather than gender acting alone.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a A Level Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Outline two reasons for the improvement in girls' educational achievement.
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Item B: A teacher noted that in mixed classes, some boys who understood the material well would still avoid answering questions or volunteering for extra tasks, saying they did not want to look like they were 'trying too hard' in front of their classmates. Applying material from Item B, analyse two ways a laddish subculture might explain boys' underachievement. (10 marks)
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Item C: National data over several decades shows the gap between girls' and boys' top exam grades widening in the years after coursework was introduced into many subjects, then narrowing again after several subjects moved back towards final exams only. Surveys in the same period found boys were more likely than girls to say that revising visibly for exams would make them unpopular with friends. Applying material from Item C and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations for gender differences in educational achievement. (20 marks)
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