It was in the news last week that white working-class boys are choosing to shun university. It is now considered such a problem that the government introduced new rules earlier this month, requiring universities to work closely with schools in poorer areas to target those boys.
However, to understand the complex issue of why working-class boys are rejecting university you really need to look at the gender divide that is in schools. Historically girls have always outperformed boys at school. Why is this? I believe that a major contributing factor is the expectations we place on girls and boys from when they are young. In our society girls are expected to be hardworking and quiet, something that is reinforced by the ‘princess’ labels we see on clothes. A princess is seen as quiet and obedient. Where as a boy is labelled as a ‘cheeky monkey’. You can read more about my thoughts on gender labelling here but basically I believe that these labels from a young age contribute to how the children perform in education. If a boy is misbehaving in class then it is much more likley to be excused with the “well boys will be boys.”
Our societal expectations of a girl means that they are more likely to behave in the classroom and therefore develop good learning habits. Research has shown that girls are happy to sit quietly and read more and this has a direct positive impact on their other studies. A girl is also more likely to spend longer on her homework. Research has shown that completing homework set by teachers will lead to better peformance in maths, reading and science. Boys are also known to spend more times on gaming. 17% more likely to be precise. Boys are also more likely to go on the internet more. Peer pressure is also a factor in boys preformance. Boys are more likely to think that they are too cool for school. They are more likely to be rowdy in class, like those those labels we put on their t-shirts, they are behaving like cheeky little monkeys and teachers will mark them down for this.
Whilst getting boys to cut down on their computer games and getting them to spend more time on homework will help with closing the gap between boys and girls a key one has to be to get rid of the gender stereotypes. How can we do this? A study has shown that we need to be careful in how we address boys. So teachers should take care not to use the term “silly boys” or lamment the boys for “not being able to sit nicely like girls”. Discouraging the use of this phrases will help raise expectations in behaviour for boys.
By 8 years old boys and girls will both believe that boys are less focussed and less able than girls.
This simply isn’t the case but then what happens is that boys can start acting on a self-fulfiling prophecy.
As adults and parents we play an important role in helping our children achieve and whilst it is good that the government is trying to do something about this they really need to focus on helping children a lot earlier. From the age of 4 girls will think that they are cleverer than boys so it is no wonder that many working-class boys are deciding that higher education isn’t for them.
Why do you believe girls outperform boys?
Nice blog - alluded to this on my blog recently and think it a critically important overlooked subject.
http://wp.me/p6WQ8o-ei
Do you fancy joining #TeamMildew ;)
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Thanks. I have just read your post and will be commenting later as it is a great post but consider me enlisted for #TeamMildew :-)
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Great stuff - you get Team Mildew membership number 00000003.
Not only that, but you’ve guaranteed yourself an acknowledgement in the book (!) as after three and a half months and 48 blog posts, that’s my first like!
Thanks
Read and enjoyed one of your other posts too about the feminist label. I regard myself as one but am growing to dislike the label as first and foremost I believe in equality for both women and men and I find the feminist label can be divisive but it’s as good as any for the moment I suppose
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Great, I hope I get a badge too ;-) Glad to hear that you enjoyed another one of my posts. Yes, I agree about the feminist label being divisive. I am very against labels in general!
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Another though provoking post. I have a daughter and a son and I think my son, two years younger is actually showing signs of being quicker to pick things up then my daughter was at the same age. I can see that the temptation would be higher for him to mess around though. He is already showing signs of wanting to be the class clown, he loves getting a reaction by making everyone giggle whereas my daughter is far more focused and serious about things. I’m going to need to help him to stay on track a little more I think. Thanks for linking up to the #bigpinklink
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Thanks for your comment. From the studies I have read it seems that one of the keys to helping boys stay on track is encouraging them to read :-)
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As the mum to a boy I find this a really interesting subject. I went to school with my husband, and I still find it amazing that I did far better than him in exams. I think it’s fair to say that he’s much cleverer than me, especially in science and technology, but he didn’t perform at school at all. I hope that we can encourage my son as much as possible, as it’s already clear he has his Dad’s scientific brain. Thanks for sharing this - it’s good to start thinking about the kind of language we use now, while he’s still little.
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Thanks Katy. It is a fascinating subject and one that I could go on about for ages! I’m glad you found it useful. :-)
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As the mum of a boy, and a teacher, I found this post quite interesting and, in the majority, i agree with you. I just hope my son has the drive and motivation to do whatever he wants in life. #bloggersclubuk
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I’m sure he will, especially with your support and as you are also a teacher you know what to look out for. Thanks for your comment :-)
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I find this hard to comment on, as I don’t really have experience of girls, but I have two boys and both are of completely different ability levels and have skills in completely different areas. They are both also impeccably behaved at their schools, a fact their teachers always remark on and the fact they always try their hardest.
Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix
Stevie
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That’s fantastic :-)
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