“Girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider.” Research has shown that girls in high school have higher grades in all subject areas compared to their male counterparts and score better on English tests, however males score slightly higher on math exams. So if males have higher math test scores, why do they have lower grades in math class? Why do female high school students have a higher success rate, more people on honor roll, and higher high school graduation rates than males? Are males less intelligent than females or is something else effecting these results?
One of the factors researched was what students spend time on outside of school and how that could affect their grades. More females read for enjoyment outside of school, or participate in theatre or dance, which creates a higher success rate in English class. As compared to boys who spend more time playing videogames online, playing sports, are more likely to participate in science fairs; this and the more time spent on the computer seems to give boys a mathematical advantage over girls. This data can help explain the test score differences, as it is easy to see how one can score better in an area of interest as opposed to a class they aren’t very fond of, but then why do girls outperform boys in non-test math and science grades?
The lower grades of males could be attributed to behaviorism in classroom settings. Teachers have reported that their female students are much more well behaved, more attentive and more eager to get good grades. Males however are a much larger cause of classroom disruption and seem less willing to participate in a classroom setting. And high school completion rates (in four years) for boys is around 63%, while for females it is 75%. More males drop out to go into the work force, while the main reason for female dropouts is pregnancy.
Therefore girls aren’t necessarily smarter than boys, but maybe just more focused on their achievement in school, or more willing to participate actively in class then their male counterparts. Personally I think that the data more strongly supports a behavioral causation for poorer grades as opposed to gender causation, and that gender coincidentally correlates to differences in behavior and grades as well.
Source:
Downey, D., & Yuan, A. (2013). SEX DIFFERENCES IN SCHOOL PERFORMANCE DURING HIGH SCHOOL: Puzzling Patterns and Possible Explanations. The Sociological Quarterly, 46(2), 299-321. Retrieved September 28, 2014, from JSTOR.
This was a really interesting blog idea, since that little rhyme caught my eye and is also something I remember taunting my older brother and friends with as a kid I thought it was interesting that you pointed out that “Teachers have reported that their female students are much more well behaved, more attentive and more eager to get good grades. Males however are a much larger cause of classroom disruption and seem less willing to participate in a classroom setting”, I think it is worth noting and see how much gender roles play a part in this idea that girls are more “well behaved”, due to what is expect of them in their education. i read more on that on this website! http://www.education.com/reference/article/gender-role-stereotyping/
Awesome post! Since middle school, I was always wondering why my guy friends often go so much better test grades in math and I got higher grades in reading and writing classes. It does make sense that guys get higher grades on math tests because they spend a lot more time on computers playing video games than girls, whereas girls are involved more in theatre groups, singing, dancing, etc. However, third variables and other factors could be why this occurs. Some girls do get better math test grades than guys and vice versa. I think it depends on the person overall and which subject they perform better academically in. Also, it depends on how much time that individual dedicates time to studying for that particular test, if they completed the homework for that class, and how much they paid attention in class. Here is a youtube video that explains the theory that boys are smarter than girls in math and science is a myth!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPIsm6A_Gxw
Yeah, this article actually answers a big question for me. Start from middle school, I was wondering why the top 3 in the class are all girls even though boys in our class were better in math. Better in math- a class asked for logic and strong brain storm suggests that boys are not stupid at all! They just put too much attention in things out of study. And from the experiment of our daily life, it maybe true that girls are good at emotional things like drawing, dancing or language studying, compared boys are better at something logic, like physics. Here’s one video which talked about this situation
Awesome post! Really great topic choice. Definitely a hard call to make definitively in either the male or female favor. I found an article actually about a study done by Dr. Jame Flynn that took samples of men and women from different parts of the world. He found that women barely surpassed men on the IQ test by a fraction of a point. So, Dr. Flynn explained his findings in a similar way that you did; women tend to be more focused and their temperament plays a large role in it. The nature vs. nurture, in my opinion, also can cause people to learn differently, and should be considered as an altering factor.
I thought this article is something interesting to point out… the fact that if girls are smarter than boys then why do fewer girls pursue STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). They argue that it has a lot more to do with social and gender stigma’s that circulate around STEM subjects. Aside from that, I think that a couple reasons girls may doing better in school is because of better patience and being able to accept/receive criticism better and therefore an ability to learn from mistakes faster (just what I’ve noticed from personal experience).
As for my personal experience in my household, I’m the only daughter and I have two older brothers. One of them is actually pretty smart but never tried in school, had a poor gpa, but scored relatively high on his SAT. When you combine natural “smarts” which good study ethics which is what I, and a lot of other students at Penn State have, I think you have a student who does well in school. My hypothesis, which will most likely remain untested, is that boys do better in math and science because everyone gets the same answer. Let me finish though! Because everyone gets the same answer, to get there, everyone must put in similar amounts of work. Subjects such as English and Composition require more effort to get a better grade, rather than a correct answer. Since girls are supposed to be more likely to put in more effort, it makes sense that they would get better grades on their papers. I found this interesting page on the web with student explanations of why this phenomenon exists.
Very interesting topic. I personally believe it’s too hard to attribute such a general statement to a very large group of people. There are too many confounding variables that take place in a learning environment, which is why it’s so hard to make general statements like these. There are definitely areas where males are more focused than females; I think the attentiveness has more to do with that specific area’s culture and the surrounding environment. The male drop out rate was a nice touch to include. For future reference, maybe more statistics to support the theory would have made the post more convincing. I found one article about girls being smarter than boys in other countries at this site.
Cool post. I noticed when applying to schools that a lot of campuses had a slightly higher number of females compared to males. I was interested in your mentioning the males’ trouble focusing in classroom settings. I read in this article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9404856/Is-the-female-of-the-species-really-more-intelligent-than-the-male.html) that many reports have concluded that women tend to have a greater ability when it comes to multi-tasking. I hadn’t even considered that so many more women were involved in theater and other English-driven activities than men, which makes a lot of sense when you look at the population of an AP English class.
I enjoy reading about this topic because being a girl myself I can definitely relate. When it comes to my academics I may not genuinely be smarter than a male however it may just be that I try much harder than a male. I find myself having a stronger desire to do well in a class as oppose to a male’s attitude which is one of indifference. When looking in a classroom, it is evident that females are more actively engaged in the topic and actively participating by raising their hands more often than males. Now that may only be for some cases, however I definitely agree that this shows a more behavioral causation as oppose to a gender causation. I feel as though males may be smarter in certain subjects more than females based off of their surroundings and involvement with video games as oppose to dance and theatre for females. However, I also feel as though males are lazier when it comes to school work which has an effect in the long run of academics. Check out this article for more information!