Boys versus girls' educational performance: Empirical evidences

Boys versus girls’ educational performance: Empirical

evidences from global north and global south

Raza Ullah* and Hazir Ullah

Department of Sociology, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Accepted 25 September, 2019

ABSTRACT

Young girls have been dominating boys in terms of educational performance across the globe. This is a

very interesting and remarkable shift observed in the global north as well as in the global south. This review

paper seeks to give a succinct picture of gender differences in educational performance in the socio-

cultural context of various societies across the globe. Thus, the paper is based on the key findings of

different studies, both from global north and global south. The study findings highlight the gender reverse

change in education across the world. It also highlights the reasons of boys’ underperformance and girls’

outperformance in different societies. Skimming a number studies, attests that boys are being dominated

by girls in educational performance, both in the developed as well as developing countries.

Keywords: Gender, educational performance, gender reverse change.

*Corresponding author. Email: razaullahkhan01@gmail.com.

INTRODUCTION

Gender is one of the systematic sources of inequality in

education (Burgess and Parker, 1997). Until recently,

girls fell behind boys in education. Girls’ access to

education was limited and discriminatory. Education was

considered the prerogative of men/boys (Ullah, 2013).

Girls were disadvantaged in education as they received

less teachers’ attention and limited access to higher

education. Such attitude resulted in discrimination

between boys and girls forcing girls to leave school early

than boys and advantaged boys to continue schooling

and perform better than girls. Nevertheless, data from

1990s and 2000 continue to suggest a dramatic change

in education in the form of girls' outperformance. Girls are

outperforming boys in education irrespective of the global

north and south (Burgess and Parker, 1997; Parson and

Ozaki, 2018). A number of studies concluded that girls’

outperformance and boys’ underperformance in

education appears to be a global trend. This paper, after

skimming and sharing the findings of many studies from

different socio-cultural backgrounds across the world,

asserts that the position is rather more complex than the

simple statement ‘girls are now outperforming boys’. We

argue that more and more studies in different contexts

need to be carried out to prove the ongoing trend as

established fact.

The late 20

century has seen a gender reversal

change in education in the form of girls’ outperformance

and boys’ underachievement. A considerable number of

studies and debates have been carried out on this

reversal change in education in global north (Gouleta,

2015; McDowell, 2000; Mburu, 2016; Peter et al., 2005;

Bae et al., 2000:2; Hung et al., 2012; Peter et al., 2005;

Bae et al., 2000) and global south (Datta, 2014; Good et

al., 2003; Twist et al., 2004). The discourse of boys’

outperformance in education that once existed has now

been shifted to girls’ outperformance. Younger and

Warrington (2007) assert that this change has been

evolved from the boys’ underachievement and girls’

higher achievement in education. It is reinforced by the

findings a recent study conducted by Parson and Ozaki

(2018). According to the findings, girls are outperforming

boys in education. They concluded that the performance

gap, favoring girls, is significantly increasing particularly

in secondary education. It is now an established fact that

boys now not only fall behind in terms of educational

achievement at school level (Minello and Blossfeld, 2017;

Lai, 2010; Jürges and Schneider, 2011; Warrington et al.,

2003; Burns and Bracey, 2001) but also at the colleges

African Educational Research Journal

Vol. 7(4), pp. 163-167, October 2019

DOI: 10.30918/AERJ.74.19.036

ISSN: 2354-2160

Review

and universities (Jacob, 2002; Buchmann and DiPrete,

2006; Conger and Long, 2010; Taylor, 2005; Ewert,

2012). Thus, girls outperform boys in education and the

gap between boys and girls educational attainment rises

with every level and grade (Gorard et al., 2001;

Buchmann and DiPrete, 2006).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We deem it important to mention here that this is a review

paper and does not include meta-analysis. Therefore,

methodology section may not be outlined as we do it for

primary data analysis. Nevertheless, we adopted

systematic approach and criteria for the selection of

different studies. We also had vivid criteria for

considering studies for review. For instance, we focused

on studies carried out on girls- outperformance and boys

underachieving in education. For this, we used well

known online research database related to gender

reversal change in education. The online databases are:

a) Eric education, Science direct, Sciverse scopus and

Google scholar. We selected these databases as these

were accessible. We kept reviewing research articles,

using the mentioned online database software until

reaching the point of saturation. We reached the point of

saturation by skimming 49 research studies. The

authenticity of the references of these articles was

ensured by querying Google scholars.

REVIEW RESULTS

A brief overview of the research findings in the global

north is presented here to substantiate the argument.

Boys versus girls’ educational performance in the

developed world

Many studies across various societies in the global north

have revealed that girl students have made worth gains

in all realms of education and outperformed boy students.

Studies across the developed world conclude that boys

have been outperformed by girls in education at school,

college and university level (McDowell, 2000; Tshabalala

and Ncube, 2016). Similarly, Hung et al. (2012) argues

that female students in United Kingdom have

outperformed boys in education, especially at secondary

and higher secondary levels. He further explained that

girls have secured good grades than boys at school,

college and even at university levels. It is also asserted

that girls in United State of America are constantly

performing better than boys in terms of educational

achievement. Peter et al.’s (2005) study of the American

universities revealed that girls are securing good grades

at school and college levels. Similarly, in the United

Afr Educ Res J 164

States girls outperform boys not only at school and

college level but they are outperforming boys at

university. A recent study, commissioned by the United

States Congress, concluded that girls are doing well than

boys in school and college (Bae et al., 2000). In Japan,

there are ample evidences that girls are outperforming

boys in education at both secondary and higher

secondary level. Morita et al. (2016) asserted that

academic performance and achievement in education is

constantly high among female students in Japan. They

concluded and argued that outperformance of girls and

underachievement of boys in education is not limited to

school but encompass college and university. In

Australia, female students outperform male students in

education at school and college level. Adler et al. (1992)

highlighted that female students were found to be more

serious and doing well in education than male students.

Similarly, a study conducted by Whitney and Smith

(1993) revealed that boys are performing worse than girls

at primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary

level. In Germany, female students are constantly

showing good results and securing good grades than

male students at every education level. As reinforced by

Weiler (1991) that female students have been dominated

male students in German schools, colleges and

universities in terms of grades. Further, by Allen (1992)

that German female students have outperformed males

not only at college and school level but also in higher

education in terms of grades and results. The case of

French girls is not different. In France, girls are securing

good grades and outperforming boys in education. In

France, female students are constantly outdoing boys in

secondary and higher secondary education (MacLeod,

2018). He further asserted that the gap in academic

performance favoring girls is significantly increasing with

each passing year. McDowell and Ray (2000) in their

study asserted that in the United Kingdom (UK) girls

outperforming boys at levels of education. Similar

findings have also been discussed by Glennerster (2002).

He states that female students are doing well not only at

school and college level but they are outclassing male

students on a slight margin at university level. In

summary, it can be argued that girls' outperformance and

boys' underperformance in education have become an

established fact in the developed world.

Boys versus girls’ educational performance in the

developing world

The trend of girls’ outperformance in education is not

limited to the developed world but has become a norm in

the developing world as well. We deem it important to

mention here that the status of boys and girls education

in developing countries is different than developed

countries, that is, majority of the world illiterate are in the

developing countries. Developing countries have their

own cultural contexts which are entirely different from the

industrialized countries. In developing countries, access

to education, especially for young girls, is not

widespread. Different cultural and social contexts allow

and provide different access to education in developed

and developing countries. Despite of these differences

and challenges in the way of women, girls are still

performing better than boys (Grant and Behrman, 2010;

Mensah and Kiernan, 2010; McDonald et al., 2011).

A recent study conducted by Datta (2014) on Kenyan

society revealed that girl students have performed better

than male students and secured good grades. Likewise,

the findings of the study conducted by Kabeer (2005) in

Zimbabwe, revealed that girls have outclassed boys in

terms of education achievement at both school and

college level. In Thailand, a similar reversal change has

been observed at the school and college levels. In case

of Thailand, the similar reversal change has been

observed at both school and college levels. In India, the

gender gap in education in favor of girls has been

observed by the early 2000. Natta et al. in their study of

Indian society concluded that girls are showing good

results at all level in education. They further, asserted

that this gap is wider in urban centres where boys are

lagging behind, especially at the school and college

levels.

Boys versus girls’ educational performance in the

Muslim world

The gender reverse change in education has also been

observed in Muslim countries. In Turkey, female students

have excelled and performed better than male students in

terms of educational attainment. Boys have been lagged

behind by girls in terms of educational performances,

especially at the school and college level. Yenilmez

(2016) asserts, female students are often found to smash

male students in secondary and higher secondary

education. He further added that females’ students have

secured good grades at school and higher secondary

school examinations (Yenilmez, 2016). In Malaysia, the

same trend has been observed in educational institutions.

Female students are doing well at all levels in education.

According to Malaysian Ministry of Education (2000),

female have shown good results with great consistency in

Science, English, Malay and even Mathematics. A study

conducted by Goolamally and Ahmad (2010) reveals that

in Malaysia girls are performing well than boys in primary,

secondary and higher secondary examinations in all

subjects. The findings of the same study further show

that boys poor performance grows with the course of time

with huge disparity, especially in secondary and higher

secondary education. According to the findings of the

Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the

Islamic Republic of Iran, the performance of girls was

found better in the competitive examination. In the

Ullah and Ullah 165

competitive national college entrance examination, 51

percent females and 49 percent male qualified the exam.

Similarly, Twist et al. (2004) asserted that girls

outperformed boys in some Arab specking countries i.e.

Arab Emirates, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.

The study conducted by Rahman (2005) revealed that

female students in Bangladesh, especially at the school

and college levels, shown good results as compared to

male students. Similarly, the same trend has been

registered by Yenilmez (2016) in his recent study

Yenilmez asserted that the top position belonged to girl

students at school and college levels.

Factors of girls’ outperformance and boys’

underperformance in education across the globe

In case of developed countries, girls outperform boys in

education for a number of factors. For instance, in the

context of United States of America, the role of parents is

significant factor in the outperformance of their female

children. As pointed out by Durden and Ellis (1995) that

parents’ education achievement is an important

contributing factor to their female children education.

Arellano and Padilla (1996) agreeing with Durden and

Ellis, girls whose parents are educated, do well in

education. Similarly, in Canada, United Kingdom and

Australia boys’ underachievement in education is largely

linked with the authoritarian approach for them to be

taught (Stormquist, 2007; Younger and Cobbett, 2014). In

England, findings of a survey of 137000 parents and

280000 students in 500 secondary schools found that

parents have greater educational aspiration for their

daughters (Derby, 2007; Deary et al., 2007; Yenilmez,

2016). In Northern Ireland, boys’ underachievement in

education is due to their anti-school and non-serious

behavior. As posited by Gallagher (1997) that the positive

attitudes of girls towards schools, results in their

outperformance in education and make them distinctive

from boys in educational achievement. Gallagher goes on

and suggests a number of factors including lack of male

teachers, gender stereotyping by teachers, assessment

favoring girls, boys rejecting authority and girls friendly

and conducive environment are contributing factors in

boys underperformance in England, Scotland and New

Zealand. As Wilce (2007) pointed out that that children in

the age group 7 to 11 had never have a male teacher.

Bawden (2007) goes one step ahead and stated that

feminization of teaching profession at school level has led

to lack of male role model which adversely affects boys-

educational performance especially at school level. One

of the authors of this study is conducting research on the

reasons of boys' underperformance in Pakistan.

A considerable number of studies in the developing

countries encompass a range of reasons of girls’

outperformance and boys’ underachievement in

education. Brown et al. (2010) argues that in Mongolia

boys’ underachievement in education has greatly

associated with their personal freedom and higher status

in family which spoil them. Alanen and Mayall (2001)

further added that in Mongolia such situations in the long

run result rebellious behavior among boys who disobey

their teacher in the school, which in return, affect their

studies badly. In Mongolia, family and cultural beliefs are

favoring girls’ education. Mongolia has traditional

preferences for educating females. As discussed by

Undarya and Enkhjargal (2011) that as in Mongolia, girls

are not living with their parents for long time and thus the

tradition has been to impart them education to ensure

their future. A number of studies reported that boys’

underachievement in Mongolia, Philippine and Thailand

are due to their engagement in socio-economic activities

(Dunne et al., 2005; Jha and Kelleher, 2006; Jha et al.,

2012). For instance, poverty is one of the main factors in

the way of boys’ underperformance in education in

Philippine. Along with their schooling boys perform labour

work to assist their parents in fulfilling the needs of their

family. They are helping in the family economy at a very

early age Reimer (2012) assert that male child engages

in various labour forces which badly affect their

educational achievement. Similarly, in Philippine parental

role is very important in the educational achievement of

their children. Parents’ check and balance upon children

significantly affect the educational performance of their

children (Rojiani, 2017; Spera et al., 2009). Ogbu (2003)

claims that the absence of parents, especially the father

being out country/city for job, affects the boys education

in many ways i.e. young boys do not care for their study

and indulge in useless activities which, in turn, adversely

affect their educational achievement.

CONCLUSION

The overall conclusion that we reach from the findings of

many studies across different societies is that there is a

vivid trend of girls’ outperformance and boys’

underperformance in education across the world. The

review also highlights that girls are outperforming not only

at the school and college levels, but also in higher

education. However, the position is rather more complex

than the simple statement ‘girls are now outperforming

boys’ as the factors of girls’ outperformance and boys’

underachievement vary from society to society and even

within a society. Thus, this study asserts that the current

trend needs to be examined in different socio-economic

contexts and across discipline as it has been argued that

boys do slightly better in science, especially mathematics

(Arnot et al., 1998). It will not be a sweeping statement to

argue that the findings of existing studies have

challenged the biological and brain differences argument:

girls are weaker and less intelligent and therefore lag

behind boys in education. These findings suggest that

girls can be as good in education as boys if they provided

get opportunities like boys to prove themselves.

Afr Educ Res J 166

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interest.

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Citation

Ullah, R., and Ullah, H. (2019). Boys versus girls

educational performance: Empirical evidences from global north

and global south. African Educational Research Journal, 7(4): 163-

167.