Library & Information Science

My new library topic page Gender and Achievement examines the much touted educational achievement gap between boys and girls. Ever since the American Association of University Women (AAUW) released a report arguing that American schools were “shortchanging” girls, an increasing amount of attention and government funds have been given to raise the academic achievement of girls.

Of course, this was not without unintended consequence. Girls quickly began to pull ahead, while boys were being left behind. So writes the Independent Institute’s Krista Kafer:

“Girls surpass boys in reading, writing, civics and the arts. Girls get better grades and more honors; they have higher aspirations, are more engaged in school and are more likely to graduate from high school and college. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to be suspended or expelled, need special education, smoke, drink and do drugs, repeat a grade, commit suicide, become incarcerated, leave school without attaining literacy, drop out of school or be unemployed. Marginal advantages in math and science for boys pale compared to the sheer advantage girls enjoy throughout school.”

In their book The Minds of Boys: Saving Our Sons from Falling Behind in School and Life researchers Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens reveal the surprising and worrisome facts about boys’ educational problems:

• "Boys today are simply not learning as well as girls
• Boys receive 70% of the Ds and Fs given all students
• Boys cause 90% of classroom discipline problems
• 80% of all high school dropouts are boys
• Millions of American boys are on Ritalin and other mind-bending control drugs
• Only 40% of college students are boys
• And three out of four learning disabled students are boys"

How did this disturbing situation come to pass?

First, with the rise of the Progressives’ influence on education, American classrooms began to implement a “child-centered” approach which deemphasizes structure, discipline and competition, and which focuses instead on increasing self-esteem, creativity and cooperative learning. Parent and educators of boys know, they need structure, discipline and they thrive on competition. Ignoring or trying to change these fundamental tendencies in boys results in detrimental effects on them.

Second, especially in public education, time and money are scarce and politicized resources, as any teacher and administrator will attest. Pressure to assist girls more academically affects how much resources educators can devote to boys.

Hence, for organizations like the AAUW to insist that increasing girls’ academic success has not come at the expense of boys is not credible, and rather disingenuous, given the facts about boys’ nature and the results of research.

In addition to Gender and Achievement, you can find more great topics in our library. Many thanks to our intern Annie Holmquist for creating this topic! For more information about becoming an intern with IT.