Girls achieve Higher Grades than Boys in All School Subjects and have done so for decades, Analysis - Polidicks

[quote] Despite the stereotype that boys do better in math and science, girls have made higher grades than boys throughout their school years for nearly a century, according to a new analysis published by the American Psychological Association. “Although gender differences follow essentially stereotypical patterns on achievement tests in which boys typically score higher on math and science, females have the advantage on school grades regardless of the material,” said lead study author Daniel Voyer, PhD, of the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. “School marks reflect learning in the larger social context of the classroom and require effort and persistence over long periods of time, whereas standardized tests assess basic or specialized academic abilities and aptitudes at one point in time without social influences.” Based on research from 1914 through 2011 that spanned more than 30 countries, the study found the differences in grades between girls and boys were largest for language courses and smallest for math and science. The female advantage in school performance in math and science did not become apparent until junior or middle school, according to the study, published in the APA journal Psychological Bulletin®. The degree of gender difference in grades increased from elementary to middle school, but decreased between high school and college. The researchers examined 369 samples from 308 studies, reflecting grades of 538,710 boys and 595,332 girls. Seventy percent of the samples consisted of students from the United States. Other countries or regions represented by more than one sample included Norway, Canada, Turkey, Germany, Taiwan, Malaysia, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Africa and Finland. Countries represented by one sample included Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Mexico, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Jordan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Slovenia. ... The study reveals that recent claims of a “boy crisis,” with boys lagging behind girls in school achievement, are not accurate because girls’ grades have been consistently higher than boys’ across several decades with no significant changes in recent years, the authors wrote. [b]“The fact that females generally perform better than their male counterparts throughout what is essentially mandatory schooling in most countries seems to be a well-kept secret, considering how little attention it has received as a global phenomenon,”[/b] said co-author Susan Voyer, MASc, also of the University of New Brunswick. As for why girls perform better in school than boys, the authors speculated that social and cultural factors could be among several possible explanations. Parents may assume boys are better at math and science so they might encourage girls to put more effort into their studies, which could lead to the slight advantage girls have in all courses, they wrote. Gender differences in learning styles is another possibility. Previous research has shown girls tend to study in order to understand the materials, whereas boys emphasize performance, which indicates a focus on the final grades. “Mastery of the subject matter generally produces better marks than performance emphasis, so this could account in part for males’ lower marks than females,” the authors wrote. [/quote] [url]http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/girls-grades.aspx[/url]

this is completely anecdotal but I've noticed girls seem to have a better work ethic when it comes to schoolwork

Well I guess I'm a girl then.

[quote]“The fact that females generally perform better than their male counterparts throughout what is essentially mandatory schooling in most countries seems to be a well-kept secret, considering how little attention it has received as a global phenomenon[/quote] I dunno about that, I feel like I've heard this loads of times before

[QUOTE=Yumyumbublegum;44684932]this is completely anecdotal but I've noticed girls seem to have a better work ethic when it comes to schoolwork[/QUOTE] There's some credence to that, especially when organisational skills are just as important as intellect. [quote] Previous research has shown girls tend to study in order to understand the materials, whereas boys emphasize performance, which indicates a focus on the final grades.[/quote] Can't say for sure about girls, but nearly every guy I know crammed the night before. All it really takes is those organisational skills to develop later in boys and there's your explanation.

Isn't this mostly because most girls prioritize school over other things? I read somewhere about this, and it also mentioned them being way less happy and having a lot of stress.

When I was at school the girls generally used to spend all of their free time studying and revising and such while the guys fucked around hitting each other and trying to find places to smoke without getting caught by teachers, so I can believe this!

How shocking, two groups in the society who are held to a completely different standard, completely different expectations, and who clearly differ in basic brain structure, developmental pattern and hormonal balance, preform differently in a completely arbitrary task. Of course they perform differently, but there can be about two zillion explanations for that. From my own experience girls tend to be more orderly, less reckless and impatient. Of course, that alone can have a dozen different causes. [editline]30th April 2014[/editline] I guess it's worth researching only because there still are idiots who imply that girls can't handle maths but that should be obvious bullshit by today.

Odd. Previous research indicated a difference in performance, but only in certain subjects (for instance, men generally score higher on math and natural sciences) and contrarywise as well. Then again this is only a singular analysis.

This is really old news. I saw something a long time ago where this study showed that teachers spend way more time with girls than boys, and that that's supposedly a cause behind it. Girls get more attention, so they try harder. Boys get less attention, so they give up easily.

[QUOTE=Chief Martini;44685277]Odd. Previous research indicated a difference in performance, but only in certain subjects (for instance, men generally score higher on math and natural sciences) and contrarywise as well. Then again this is only a singular analysis.[/QUOTE] Except this study showed that scores in math and science were higher on average too. Read past the title. [QUOTE=Robman8908;44685328]This is really old news. I saw something a long time ago where this study showed that teachers spend way more time with girls than boys, and that that's supposedly a cause behind it. Girls get more attention, so they try harder. Boys get less attention, so they give up easily.[/QUOTE] This particular study isn't old news.

[QUOTE=Falubii;44685417]This particular study isn't old news.[/QUOTE] I'm just saying, why isn't anything being done to help this situation if they keep finding out the same results (essentially)? It's like bitching about your hair growing and being too lazy to get it cut.

Not in my school, or anywhere near me, no. :v:

[QUOTE=joost1120;44684968]Isn't this mostly because most girls prioritize school over other things? I read somewhere about this, and it also mentioned them being way less happy and having a lot of stress.[/QUOTE] Isn't that because girls mature faster overall? Not just of body, but also in mental levels? (correct me if I'm wrong) Which I would guess, leads to more responsibility towards school.

I am really surprised this still isn't a major topic of discussion because this has been known in child development/psychology cirlces for quite some time. I remember hearing reports of girls doing better in school over 15 years ago, but it has been known quite a bit longer than that and yet it goes relatively untouched as a subject of study despite its overwhelming importance. Especially alarming is that it seems to be getting worse. [QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;44685545]Isn't that because girls mature faster overall? Not just of body, but also in mental levels? (correct me if I'm wrong)[/QUOTE] This is a myth. Mentally, girls don't mature any faster than boys.

[QUOTE=Rocâ„¢;44685545]Isn't that because girls mature faster overall? Not just of body, but also in mental levels? (correct me if I'm wrong) Which I would guess, leads to more responsibility towards school.[/QUOTE] Boys indeed mature slower, but only because they don't really give two shits.

[quote] The degree of gender difference in grades increased from elementary to middle school, but decreased between high school and college.[/quote] In the end, I don't see what's the big deal, it's not like one gender is consistently smarter, they just care more or are better earlier on.

[QUOTE=trotskygrad;44685702]In the end, I don't see what's the big deal, it's not like one gender is consistently smarter, they just care more or are better earlier on.[/QUOTE] Later in high school and especially once in college, you have more control over your education. Boys picking things they're good at and closing the gap a bit is normal, but still indicative of a larger overall problem.

There's no real need to put much effort into school work or study hard until you hit GCSE level (maybe at the end of primary school as well if you want to get into a snobby secondary school). You gotta feel sorry for the kiddies who waste their childhood studying for nothing.

I know for a fact at my school that girls had a far better system of copying off each other than boys. Girls had kik groups, snap circles, and dedicated experts in every school subject to give the best answers possible to each other. Dudes were just like: "hey let me take a picture of that k?" And hoped the other was right

[QUOTE=A_Pigeon;44686080]I know for a fact at my school that girls had a far better system of copying off each other than boys. Girls had kik groups, snap circles, and dedicated experts in every school subject to give the best answers possible to each other.[/QUOTE] We had at our school thing called "a master's degree seller(translated from finnish mestarimyyjätutkinto)" according to Google and this one girl in my class pretty much did it for every other girl.

So more anecdotes: I was sitting alone in my form room in the morning browsing fp on my phone and 2 of the girls in my form walk in and sit down, they begin to read practice exam questions to each other and give answers. I notice by the looks on their faces, ton of voice and the fact they keep finish each other's sentences that they are reciting stuff exactly from memory. Then my friend walks in, I put my phone away and we start to talk about games and how fucked we are in our coursework on a scale of barely scraping a pass to I have no work done. I think it's just work ethic.

I always question this stuff, I feel like individual differences far outway generalizations of this sort.

Organization is key when a huge chunk of your grade involves seeing if you have the right papers. *sad old memories*

[QUOTE=Yumyumbublegum;44684932]this is completely anecdotal but I've noticed girls seem to have a better work ethic when it comes to schoolwork[/QUOTE] and their handwriting is so pretty omg mine always looks like I'm in the process of having a panic attack while rabid hedgehogs chew at my toes

boys to college to get more knowledge girls go to jupiter to get more stupider

Mandatory schooling material is memorization at it's finest. Show me numbers when girls exceed in, labor, advanced mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, electronic engineering, etc. until thin I am not surprised that women exceed men in required topics

What do you expect when literally every role model for males in media today is a fuck up. In every sitcom, movie, tv show, etc. males are always displayed as impulsive and stupid. All the while the female just shakes her head and puts up with his bullshit. And people wonder why there is an achievement gap between genders.

[QUOTE=SteelReal;44700986]What do you expect when literally every role model for males in media today is a fuck up. In every sitcom, movie, tv show, etc. males are always displayed as impulsive and stupid. All the while the female just shakes her head and puts up with his bullshit. And people wonder why there is an achievement gap between genders.[/QUOTE] I agree, though somehow it manages to switch around when it comes to jobs, where men are usually prefered. It's weird.

[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;44701487]I agree, though somehow it manages to switch around when it comes to jobs, where men are usually prefered. It's weird.[/QUOTE] I imagine men tend to be more motivated by money or status than women are. There's no money or status in compulsory education.