Douthit, Chris

ET

Voyer, D. & Voyer, S. (2014, April 29). "Girls make high grades in all school subjects, analysis finds." Retrieved on 9 May 2014 from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/girls-grades.aspx.

Summary

According to the authors’ study of research collected from 30 and spanning from 1914 through 2011, female students do better than male students in all academic subjects, including science and math, which have traditionally been seen as the strong suit of males.  Statistically, boys score better on standardized tests in these subjects, but girls outperform in classes where steadiness and diligence take precedence.   These findings cast doubt on the idea of a current “boy’s crisis” because they seem to show that girls doing better than boys is the historical norm. The authors note that there could be various reasons for this, including parental involvement and gender differences in study habits.  

Evaluation

These findings are very important in recasting gender ideas in the academic environment.   First, it dispels the ugly rumor that female students are weaker in these fields.   Second, it dispels the idea that male students are somehow “weakening.”   Further analysis and discussion of these ideas could (should? will?) lead to more openness and empathy--basis decisions on individual’s strengths rather than gender stereotypes--and more cooperative work in which each individual’s strengths are used to help the whole.   However, as always, we need to be cautious of competition that can develop from general findings about academic scores.  Ideas such as this could influence the way student work is assessed as well.