Why Do Girls Do Better In Their Gcse Exam Results?

[anotheoldgit]

Could it be that these days, one reason could be that schools are lacking in male teachers and another that some come from single parent families, so therefore are not given the opportunity of a father figure, during most of their school life?

[Jackdaw33]

No, girls tend to be far more conscientious, especially when it comes to coursework.

[EcclesCake]

Could you expand further AOG? I just cannot fathom the logic of your argument as it stands.

[Bazile]

Neither can i EcclesCake

[Jackdaw33]

It was my mother who pushed me hard in school, not my father. Mind you, that was because she wanted a trophy child.

[smoneybags]

Girls generally have a stronger work ethic than boys.

[Old_Geezer]

Were I young enough to have had coursework inflicted on me I'd never have passed anything. Luckily I was taught and conscientiously learnt for the exams instead.

[Islay]

Are you saying that girls are now exceeding boys because less men go into teaching and the women are taking over.

Or

Are you saying that boys are suffering because men lack the backbone to be good fathers?

Not entirely sure

[anneasquith]

Girls tend to see the " big picture " re the future. SOME boys at that age have heads full of mince.

[Peter Pedant]

// Could you expand further AOG? I just cannot fathom the logic of your argument as it stands.// Ecc

and what makes you think you will fathom his logic if he expands/ expatiates further ?

[ sorry a bit of David Hume's philosophy showing there.my apolz )

the effect of gurlz doing better than boys at O level and then boys going better than gurlz at uni
has been discussed for fifty years....

the one I like is
girls fathom that they will please people by doing well at studies
and then a few years later think - o *** where is the lipstick and where are the boys .....

[Peter Pedant]

^^^ s+o+d it - but an ess is a piece of earth innit ?

[Peter Pedant]

// Girls tend to see the " big picture " re the future.//

yeah I agree but they (all) lose it by the time they are at uni

[TheChair]

I suspect it has to do with motivation. Back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, boys tended to perform better than girls in exams, so any explanation has to derive from what has changed since then.

I'll probably be pilloried for saying this, but boys tend to work well when they are interested in the subject, whereas girls (in general) have a greater desire to please.

When teachers were encouraged to use their initiative and make their subjects interesting, boys did better. Now that schooling is based almost entirely around a tests, tests, and tests, girls perform better.

[atalanta]

A lot of boys think they are more admired by their pals for fooling around in class than for working. Many boys who do want to work are sneered at by some as "swots" by those who resent their better position in class and want to drag all the others down. The fathers of such boys in the past were able to get moderately well-paid jobs as labouring or mining, for instance, but the message has not sunk in that such labouring jobs no longer exist. I am sorry to say that it seems that most such boys are white.

[jim360]

It's interesting all the same to see AOG expound the idea of familiar role models being important to a child's development or motivation in a particular area.

It's a very difficult question to answer, as there are dozens of potential contributing factors. It varies between subjects and between schools, from city to city, based on household income, family background and so on. These other factors tend to dominate over gender differences anyway, so the media is slanting one particular feature while ignoring many of the rest.

Incidentally, the gender gap almost disappears when comparing only the very top A* grade, but can be observed in the A*-C pass range, so that suggests that there's a sharp peak in high-achieving (and, sadly, low-achieving) boys compared to the rest of the field.

Whatever the reason for the difference, we shouldn't generalise.

[ummmm]

Single parent families?

Are you assuming men don't have contact with their children when their relationship breaks down?

[Peter Pedant]

statistics show they dont ummm
fathers for justice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathers_4_Justice

says it is 75-90% ( lose contact )

[mikey4444]

Perhaps I can help out AOG here.

What he saying ( I think ) is that lots of boys don't have positive male role models anymore. Boys are not the same as girls, and perhaps more male teachers would help certain boys.

[Tilly2]

I don't think there's a dearth of male teachers in secondary schools.

Is there?

[mikey4444]

Tilly...to be honest, I don't know, but I suspect that a dearth exists in Primary Schools, or at least it is my locality.

This DT link seems to say that there are more female Primary School teachers than male ::::

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11668169/Why-arent-we-doing-more-to-encourage-men-to-be-primary-school-teachers.html

Teaching doesn't start just before the kids sit their GCSEs....it has to be a progression from age 5.