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Information Brief 2014-12
ACT Research & Policy
March 2014
Gender Gaps in High School GPA and ACT Scores
Richard Buddin
High School Grade Point Average and ACT Test Score by Subject and Gender
3.24
3.24
3.39
3.15
3.38
3.07
3.11
3.27
3.04
3.12
3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4
High School Grade Point Average
Note: Data come from 1,799,243 ACT-tested students who expected to graduate from high school in 2013.
Female high school students earn higher grades than their male
peers. The gender gap is particularly large in English, but female
students also earn higher grades in math, social science, and
science courses.
The differences between male and female students’ scores on
achievement tests (as measured by scores on the ACT
®
college
readiness assessment) are much less consistent than the differences
seen in grades. While female students outperform male students in
English and social sciences, male students have higher achievement
levels in math and science. The overall or composite scores of male
and female students are quite similar.
Although both grades and test scores measure academic
achievement, they may delineate different components of it. Grades
reflect day-to-day performance in an academic discipline, but
students are often rewarded or punished for noncognitive factors that
are not direct measures of academic learning. For example, teachers
may reduce grades for students with late homework, disruptive
behavior, or inattention. Jacob argues that male students get lower
grades because they have more behavioral problems and are less
interested in school.
1
In contrast, ACT test scores are a point-in-time estimate of academic
achievement. Because the ACT excludes items that might create a
gender bias, it provides an objective, summative measure of student
learning.
1
Brian Jacob, “Where the Boys Aren’t: Non-Cognitive Skills, Returns to School and
the Gender Gap in Higher Education.” Economics of Education Review 21 (2002):
589–598.
Female students who
graduated from high school
in 2013 averaged higher
grades than their male
counterparts in all subjects,
but male graduates earned
higher scores on the math
and science sections of
the ACT.
20.86
20.39
21.38
20.52
20.63
20.95
21.16
20.89
21.38
19.85
19.5 20.0 20.5 21.0 21.5
Overall
Science
Social
Science
Math
English
Average ACT Score
Male students
Female students
