Why is the education system worse for boys?
Last week’s column discussed the growing number of young men aged 15 to 24 years who are not in employment or full-time education.
I made the claim that the education system works better for girls than boys, and promised a follow-up column on the topic.
The big risk in writing about gender and education is viewing education as a zero-sum game. If boys are meant to do better, girls must fare worse. I think that’s total nonsense. A functioning democracy must always aim to provide the best possible education to absolutely everyone. We want to equip as many people as possible with useful life and job skills.
First let’s find some proof that the status quo isn’t working for boys.
Data on educational outcomes (academic performance) shows that girls outperform boys on every level of education. On average, girls outperform boys in most subjects. This isn’t a purely Australian phenomenon as PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) results see girls score higher than boys in reading and writing around the world.
Boys perform slightly better in maths and science. It is also alarming that Australian PISA scores in reading, mathematics, and science have declined over the past 20 years.
Australian NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy) results indicate that girls outperform boys in literacy tests. NAPLAN data sees boys perform slightly better in numeracy tests, but in all four other categories girls end up on top.
Now let’s move on to behavioural insights to see why girls might outperform boys.
Girls generally show higher levels of engagement in the classroom and better compliance with school rules. This results in better academic outcomes. Boys record higher rates of behavioural........
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