Gender differences in primary and secondary education: Are girls really outperforming boys?

A moral panic has broken out in several countries after recent studies showed that girls were outperforming boys in education. Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, the present study examines the position of boys and girls in Dutch primary education and in the first phase of secondary education over the past ten to fifteen years. On the basis of several national and international large-scale databases, the authors examined whether one can indeed speak of a gender gap, at the expense of boys. Three domains were investigated, namely cognitive competencies, non-cognitive competencies, and school career features. The results as expressed in effect sizes show that there are hardly any differences with regard to language and mathematics proficiency. However, the position of boys in terms of educational level and attitudes and behaviour is much more unfavourable than that of girls. Girls, on the other hand, score more unfavourably with regard to sector and subject choice. While the present situation in general does not differ very much from that of a decade ago, it is difficult to predict in what way the balances might shift in the years to come.     

Gender differences in adult numeracy skills: what is the role of education?

Previous research suggests that as societies empower women educationally, gender differences in numeracy skills will decline. Using direct measures of 56,142 adults’ numeracy skills from the Programme for International Assessment for Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this article studies whether this claim is evidenced across 20 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Results show that in many countries, as education has equalised over generations, gender differences in adult numeracy skills have indeed declined. However, women’s advances in education have not always been matched by a reduction in the gender difference in adult numeracy. Contrary to expectations, gender differences in fields of study in further and higher education cannot systematically explain gender differences in adult numeracy. This suggests that to achieve gender equality in numeracy skills, societies must do more than empower women educationally. More research is needed on the educational policies, contextual, and life course factors contributing to gender differences in adult numeracy in post-industrial societies.     

Can MOOCs enhance sexuality education?

There is a revolution taking place in teacher/learner/technology relations. At primary, secondary and tertiary education levels, teachers and students are being confronted by new technologies, new pedagogies, new relationships in teacher-student roles, as well as reconsiderations about how information is to be learned. The growth of information technology and its permeation into schools and universities and in the wider world for adults and older people, is quickly becoming ubiquitous. At the same time, and again at all levels, education for relationships, gender, sexuality and reproductive health has never been more urgently needed. Universities provide pre-service teacher education, but very few include courses on learning and teaching in sexuality education. This paper aims to provide an analysis of whether sexuality education pedagogies, using MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), might enhance or detract from competent, in-person delivery of professional quality sexuality education, to people of all ages. Possible advantages and/or disadvantages that characterise MOOCs are identified for the teaching and learning of sexuality education.     

The need for culturally sensitive sexuality education in a pluralised Nigeria: But which kind?

A substantial number of studies have been conducted on sexuality education in Nigeria. These provide evidence of the positive impact of sexuality education on the psychosocial well-being of children and youth and the value of sexuality education for the sexual health of young people. Yet another research has investigated the views of parents on the school-based sexuality education of children and the different models and approaches employed. All of these studies implicitly reflect an issue that has not yet been sufficiently discussed. Nigeria is a uniquely pluralised country, with a multitude of cultures and sexual cultures. The implications of this diversity for policy and practice in sexuality education and for how sexuality education has (or has not) responded to this heterogeneity are rarely considered. This article addresses this gap by seeking to conceptualise how sexuality education might proactively address the cultural diversity of Nigeria. It begins by sketching out key features of this diversity in Nigeria and highlights the need for a culturally sensitive approach. Thereafter, there is a critical engagement with three possible approaches that sexuality education might take. Highlighting the weaknesses of monocultural, multicultural and transcultural approaches, this article argues for an open-cultural stance as the best means of fostering culturally sensitive sexuality education.     

Gender and social class differences in Japanese mothers’ beliefs about children's education and socialisation

Despite increasing rates of university attendance among women, a significant gender gap remains in socialisation and educational processes in Japan. To understand why and how gender-distinctive socialisation processes persist, this study aimed to examine both middle-class and working-class mothers’ beliefs about gender, education, and children's development. Qualitative analyses were conducted on in-depth interviews with 16 Japanese mothers with preschool children who participated in the research study for three years. The meaning of education differed depending on the children's gender and social class context. While there was a social class difference in mothers’ expectations of their daughters’ educational attainment, the majority of women in this study saw their daughters as caregivers of family members in the future. This study also demonstrates the dilemmas and mixed messages in women's narratives in relation to gender norms and the processes of raising their children.     

A world apart? Higher education transformation in the US and South Africa

Higher education transformation is context dependent. However, through a comparison of transformation in South Africa and the United States, this paper highlights challenges and issues confronting higher education leaders and policy makers. Contrasting the experiences and issues of transformation in a long-standing democracy and in a newly emerging one surface key elements such as the structures of national mandates, challenges of urgency and abundance, the importance of a language of “transformation”, and issues of legitimate and tested decision making processes. This paper raises some of the implications for effecting change based upon this trans-national comparison, and concludes with implications for leaders interested in affecting transformation.     

Gender differences in the influence of parental class on young adults’ participation in postsecondary education in the US

As with earlier social disparities in educational achievement, re-enrolment in college education can depend on parental social background. We link this finding with gender differences using data from the US National Longitudinal Study of Youth 79 and ask if the decision to re-enrol in college is influenced by parental social class in a gender-specific way. The results show that adding maternal class position to the operationalisation of social origin can be beneficial and result in a better model fit. Moreover, there are gender differences on the part of the child. Working-class men are constantly disadvantaged in their chances to re-enrol in education throughout their lives compared to men with more privileged family backgrounds, while working-class women are only disadvantaged among early re-entrants. This result is reversed in later years and women with working-class parents re-enrol more often.     

Comprehensive for who? Neoliberal directives in Australian ‘comprehensive’ sexuality education and the erasure of GLBTIQ identity

At present, Australian sex(uality) education curricula aim to equip students with information which facilitates ‘healthy’ sexual choices as they develop. However, this is not neutral information, but rather socially and culturally regulated discourse which encodes a normative binary of sexuality. The largely US-focused sexuality education literature tends to categorise curricula as belonging to either ‘comprehensive’ or ‘conservative’ factions, consisting of progressive, secular approaches or religious- or abstinence-based programmes, respectively. Neither of these factions, however, appear to be able to cater for the integration of issues relevant to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) students nor does this binary conceptualisation represent the reality of Australian sexuality education policy and practice. This paper argues that contemporary sexuality education has a fundamentally neoliberal focus, which aims to assimilate GLBTIQ people into existing normative frameworks (economic and social), rather than challenge them. Such an approach does not foster critical student understandings of oppression, power or morality. The development of critical literacy around sexuality is regarded as essential to meaningfully address the complex needs of GLBTIQ students. The paper explores missing queer discourses within Australian teaching resources. The inclusion of these would benefit GLBTIQ students by bringing previously silenced issues to the fore.     

Who cares? Gender dynamics in the valuing of extra-curricular activities in higher education

Despite the assertion that higher education is becoming increasingly ‘feminised’ and that male students are the relative losers, gendered meanings continue to permeate higher education in ways that mean that the recognition of women's experiences are frequently marginalised. Our paper reports on research designed to explore student participation in extra-curricular activity from a perspective informed by a broader conceptualisation of the extra-curricular as a site of gendered, raced, and class practices intimately tied to the development of an employable self. We found that women frequently undervalue their participation and are more likely to be dismissive of extra-curricular activity as of value to their employability than men and that they rarely consider caring to be a form of capital which can be utilised or invested in to support their future employment. We argue that higher education institutions need to support students, in particular women, to recognise the value of their participation.     

Could Australia have its own teacher professional standards for teaching relationships and sexuality education?

In many countries, there are no professional standards determining attributes, praxis, effectiveness and evaluation for teachers of relationships and sexuality education in schools. However, in the USA, a new set of pre-service teacher preparation standards has been developed for sexuality education and health. Australia has a set of generic teacher professional standards, but none specifically designed for teachers of relationships and sexuality education. This study aims to explore the possible development of such specific education professional standards for Australian teachers, by comparing and contrasting the knowledge, skills, and competencies exemplified in the prospective USA preparation standards with those in existing generic Australian teacher standards at graduate level. The analysis points to common areas of suitability, competencies, and effectiveness that could help pre-service/initial teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators find appropriate and relevant benchmarks for the teaching of timely and comprehensive relationships and sexuality education. The findings show structural similarities, content consistencies, and helpful commonalities in both standards’ sets, comprising seven USA teacher preparation standards, and seven Australian teacher professional standards. Such information may be useful for teachers and educators wishing to generate professional standards for the teaching of relationships and sexuality education in Australia.     

Gender differences in motivation and strategy use in science: Are girls rote learners?

This study explored Ridley and Novak's (1983) hypothesis that gender differences in science achievement are due to differences in rote and meaningful learning modes. To test this hypothesis, we examined gender differences in fifth- and sixth-grade students' (N = 213) self-reports of confidence, motivation goals (task mastery, ego, and work avoidance), and learning strategies (active and superficial) in whole-class and small-group science lessons. Overall, the results revealed few gender differences. Compared with girls, boys reported greater confidence in their science abilities. Average-achieving girls reported greater use of meaningful learning strategies than did their male counterparts, whereas low-ability boys reported a stronger mastery orientation than did low-ability girls. The results further showed that students report greater confidence and mastery motivation in small-group than whole-class lessons. In contrast, students reported greater work avoidance in whole-class than small-group lessons. In general, the findings provide little support for Ridley and Novak's hypothesis that girls tend to engage in rote-level learning in science classes. Differences in self-reports of motivation and strategy-use patterns were more strongly related to the student's ability level and to the structure of learning activities (small group vs. whole class) than to gender. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Can difference make a difference? A critical theory discussion of religion in sexuality education

This article conceptualizes religion as a critical theory challenge to sexuality education. Religious views in sexuality education are often perceived as intolerant and incompatible with today’s progressive and modern society. This article engages with the idea that the inclusion of religious viewpoints on sexuality will challenge the efficacy of current sexuality education in Australia and New Zealand school contexts, to create a more contemporary and inclusive learning experience that caters for all students’ sexual needs and lives. Utilizing a critical theory lens, I demonstrate how religion can challenge dominant views of sexuality education, introduce alternative modes of content and delivering, promote critical thinking skills and more egalitarian ways of learning about sexuality. Drawing on data collected from Australian and New Zealand public schools, this article endeavors to reframe current discussions of the relationships between religion and sexuality education.     

Gender & Education Association: a case study in feminist education?

This article focuses on feminist activist academics who were instrumental in creating the UK Gender & Education Association at the turn of the twenty-first century. Drawing on my own intellectual biography (David, M. E. 2003. Personal and Political: Feminisms, Sociology and Family Lives Stoke-on-Trent. Trentham Books.) linked to the collective biography and life history of feminism in academia over the last 50 years, Feminism, Gender & Universities: Politics, Passion and Pedagogies (David, M. E. 2014. Feminism, Gender & Universities: Politics, Passion & Pedagogies. Farnham: Wheatsheaf.), I consider how we, as feminist educators, developed our pedagogies and professional approaches to gender and education. In so doing, I also look at three cohorts or generations of feminist academics, from the university pioneers of second-wave feminists like myself, through to those who might be considered third wave feminists. In this it is clear that whilst feminist values of women's liberation and/or gender equality shine through, there are clear differences of emphasis. This is in relation to personal, political and professional values, and approaches to education through teaching or the social sciences. Indeed, neither feminism nor gender was in the lexicon of higher education or public policy when we were starting out, and by the third cohort gender equality had become incorporated into forms of neo-liberalism. In reviewing the developments of feminisms in higher education, I also look towards what might be considered a feminist future in global higher education, given learning from previous waves to new waves of feminists such as fourth wave and beyond. Here I briefly consider the work of our EU Daphne funded research project (2013–2015) into challenging gender-related violence (GRV) through education and training for professionals working with children and young people.     

Motivational aspects of community support for school‐based comprehensive sexuality education

Various surveys have documented widespread support among US parents, students, teachers and health professionals for school‐based comprehensive sexuality education. In many school districts, however, the sexuality education provided is minimal, incomplete or fragmented, and essential topics are often omitted or inaccurately presented. To help explain the discrepancy between support and accomplishment, this study develops a set of theory‐based research hypotheses regarding the potential motivational roles of stakeholders' goals, emotions and personal agency belief patterns in explaining this lack of achievement. A series of exploratory interviews and focus groups with 36 California parents, adolescents and professionals was conducted. A modified grounded‐theory approach was used to guide the collection and analysis of qualitative data, and the development of a theoretical framework anchored in Martin Ford's motivational systems theory. This framework suggests the complexity of the interacting factors involved, and provides a basis for specific hypotheses for further research. Potentially important goals, emotions and personal agency belief patterns are identified and discussed.     

Critical factors influencing secondary school pupil’s decisions to study computing in tertiary education: Gender differences

This paper aims to determine the factors affecting the decisions of both male and female secondary school pupils whether or not to pursue undergraduate studies in Computing. It is based on research conducted in Greece, on a sample of 248 pupils, 135 of whom were female. All were aged 17 and about to decide on their future undergraduate studies. Questionnaires were used, addressing issues in the following four main categories: a) the reasons pupils chose/rejected Computing, b) how family and friends, the media and the school environment contribute to their decision, c) how pupils perceived their future after studying Computing and d) how pupils perceived the profile of a computer professional in terms of gender.

Who likes math where? Gender differences in eighth-graders’ attitudes around the world

Some of the most male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations and degree programmes are found in the world’s most affluent societies. This article assesses whether gender gaps in attitudes follow similarly surprising patterns. Multivariate analysis of eighth-graders’ affinity for mathematics and aspirations for mathematically related jobs in 53 countries shows that the attitudinal gender gap is indeed larger in affluent ‘postmaterialist’ societies. Moreover, both girls and boys view mathematics more negatively in these societies. The authors suggest that cultural ideals of individual self-expression, highly prevalent under conditions of broad-based existential security, operate to reduce girls’ and boys’ interest in pursuits thought to be economically practical but personally non-expressive. Girls may be particularly susceptible to this negative effect, because taken-for-granted cultural beliefs about core female personality traits (and girls’ gendered understandings of their own authentic inner selves) are often at odds with dominant representations of mathematical and technical work.     

What does the counseling field say about sexuality?A content analysis

Despite the counseling field adopting holistic health and developmental frameworks, sexual health is often absent or underrepresented in these discussions. Via content analysis, the authors examined publications in three counseling journals to assess the current state of the sexuality literature in the field. Almost half (46.6%) of publications are on the topic of sexual identity. There are notable gaps in the literature on topics related to anatomy/physiology, sexual functioning, and pleasure/sexual lifestyle. Implications for counselors and counselor training are discussed.     

Gender differences in adolescents’ academic motivation and classroom behaviour

The present study investigated gender differences in adolescents’ academic motivation and classroom behaviour and gender differences in the extent to which motivation was associated with, and predicted, classroom behaviour. Seven hundred and fifty students (384 boys and 366 girls) aged 11–16 (M age?=?14.0, 1.59 SD) completed a questionnaire examining academic motivation and teachers completed assessments of their classroom behaviour. Girls generally reported higher levels of academic motivation, whilst teacher reports of behaviour were poorer for boys. Interestingly, boys’ reported levels of academic motivation were significantly more closely associated with teacher reports of their classroom behaviour. Furthermore, cognitive aspects of boys’ motivation were better predictors of their classroom behaviour than behavioural aspects. On the other hand, behavioural aspects of girls’ motivation were better predictors of their behaviour. Implications for understanding the relationship between motivation and behaviour among adolescent boys and girls are discussed, in addition to interventions aimed at improving adolescents’ classroom behaviour.     

Failing intercultural education? ‘Thoughtfulness’ in intercultural education for student teachers

This paper proposes a rethinking of intercultural education in teacher education, arguing that discussion of the intercultural education of student teachers tends to have the following two gaps: one, such discussion tends to overlook student teacher education as a context for teaching intercultural education, and two, it tends to ignore the self of the teacher educator. This paper aims to address both gaps. In doing so, the first task of the paper is to analyse student teacher education critically, as a structural, ideological context for intercultural education; the second task of the paper is to rethink the pedagogical relationship between a student teacher and a teacher educator, considering the self of the teacher educator in particular. The paper concludes by suggesting ‘thoughtfulness’ as a fruitful idea for the intercultural education of student teachers.