Gender Gap In Science And Gender

Evidence suggests that girls are more likely to spend their leisure time in ways which compliment their education and contribute to educational achievements. Mitsos and Browne place considerable emphasis on reading. Women are more likely to read than men, and mothers are more likely than fathers to read to their children. Therefore girls are more likely to have same-sex role models to encourage them to read. Poor language and literacy skills are likely to affect boys' performance across a wide range of subjects.

Historically boys were top of the class. Today that is no longer the case. A recent article in The Economist discusses a 2009 study by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) that examined how 15-year-old boys and girls performed in reading, mathematics and science. They found that girls are performing better than their male classmates. This gender gap is worldwide. Girls score higher than boys on tests measuring reading ability in every country in the world (Loveless).

It is no secret that, in general, boys and girls differ in their learning styles. Capitalizing on these differences could advance classroom performance. With on-going concerns about student success in school, any changes in the classroom that could increase student achievement should be considered. Recognizing the learning differences between boys and girls, one of the changes that could be instituted is single-gender classrooms.

In the past females have achieved less well than boys at higher levels in the education system, then during the 1990', the girls over took boys at all levels in the education system. The percentage of females in the UK achieving two or more A-levels or equivalent has increased from 20% in 1990 to 42% in 2006. Over the same time period, the percentage of males achieving the same level increased from 18% to 33%. On the other hand, there still continues to be a large difference in the choice of subjects by males and females. Even with the national curriculum being restrictive in the lower levels, meaning both male and females do the same subjects, when they get to a-levels and degree level, both male and females still tend to choose different

Gender differences in achievement can be explained best by changes that have occurred in factors outside of school, known as external factors. A DfES (2007) bar chart showed that throughout the years (1985 – 2007), there has been a higher percentage of females that achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE. The percentage has been constantly increasing at a faster rate than the male percentage. This proves that changes in wider society have affected both genders differently, but girl’s achievement has benefited from this more.

A further possibility in explaining the differences in educational achievement in regard to educational system changes could be the phasing out of more practical subjects that have historically been advantageous for boys, the majority of whom are kinaesthetic learners and do better with this type of examination. In the past where subjects such as woodwork or design technology consisted of largely practical assessments (making or designing things); they now consist more of exams which probably do not suit boy as much as the practical, kinaesthetic way of learning and being assessed. This can be said for many other traditional subjects, such as the sciences, which used to contain more actual experimentation that students would be graded on, but has now become more exam based. Girls on the other hand learn better either through visualising or listening which could favour them in exams. This could be the reason why girls, when these sorts of subjects were more practical didn’t do as well as boys, but since the changes, have enabled them to do better than the boys.

Society is the one creating differentiation between genders. Genders always have problems with various aspects culture, politics, family, and etc. However, society, mainly the elementary teachers, who brews the students for future, draws a line between boys and girls by external problems like the idea of feminism and some internal problems such as subculture, teachers’ attention, and positive role model, which shape in boys been less successful academically and socially than girls. The problem with feminism, as mentioned in Christina Hoff Sommers, “From The War Against Boys: How misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men,” boys are always been viewed as predator, while girls are portrayed as prey.

In today’s society, education has become a very important factor in a student 's life. Everyone tries to do and implement whatever is best for the student to learn and become successful. Therefore, as a result, society tries to separate schools based on gender. Schools should be separated by gender for many reasons. The first reason is that gender separation will help eliminate bullying. It has been demonstrated that boys, in general, tend to be more rude and violent than girls causing the boys to “bully” girls. Another reason they should be separated is to help break down stereotypes. An example of this is that girls are free of the pressure to compete with boys in male dominated subjects such as math and science. Another reason they should be separated is that it makes it easier on the teacher to use different learning techniques that are geared toward specific genders. It is a great idea to separate students by gender at schools if they want the students to have a better education. This will help prevent bullying at schools, help breakdown stereotypes, and encourage teachers to use different educational techniques.

However social class is not the only factor influencing educational achievement; Girls achieve higher grades than boys in Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) and GCSE’s (Mitsos and Browne, 1998), in 2010 to 2011 54.3 per cent of black pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE compared to 58 per cent of white pupils and 61.8 per cent of Asian pupils (Attew, 2012). Therefore educational achievement is also affected by gender and ethnicity.

Why do these gender gaps exist? Researchers believe that cultural and social factors, as well as educational, and attitudinal factors contribute to this gap. Cultural beliefs that boys excel in math and science and that girls excel in the arts can be passed down through generations and adults who may not even realize it are acting on these beliefs (Sanders, 1997). “Subtle and unintended messages can create the idea among girls and boys that there are fields

In today’s society, there are more men engaged in the science fields than women. With that being said, this could cause the commonness of gender stereotypes. For instance, science is there for men and not women. Besides the social life of others, these stereotypes can also be shown in during the education process. Stereotypes are mainly visible by the use of language, the methods of teaching, gender and the attitude that is given. The main goal of this article was to tell whether the science education contained gender biased. This analysis thoroughly explains men are more into science profession and women are more likely to become teachers. In this article, men and women shows a stereotypical representation in online science education

Gender differences occur in many aspects of a person’s life whether it is culture, politics, occupation, family and relationships, or the economy (just to name a few). One major difference in gender occurs in learning and education in the elementary and secondary levels. Research has found that males and females learn differently in many aspects of education. First of all, female and male brains are constructed differently affecting the way they learn; this leads to basic differences in learning and also gives an introduction into why the way one learns differs according to gender and how males and females learn subjects and tasks differently. Second, males and females are treated differently, sometimes unconsciously, in educational

Gender equity issues in mathematics and science have been the focus of many educators and researchers for years. Women have often been denied an equal education in math and science for many reasons. Parents and teachers must realize this fact and change their habits wherever necessary. Girls must be given the same opportunity as boys from the beginning, particularly in math and science where girls tend to lag behind.

Boys or girls- Who are better or smarter? This is a well known worldwide phenomena and controversy when it comes to gender that is better in comparison since the beginning of the creation. Many debates and researches have under taken to answer this question but in end no one can conclude this. When it comes to competition the enthusiasm of

Gender equity in terms of education is about the socialization of men and women and the results of this process on the life outcomes of the two genders (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). In the United States, the education system is required to treat males and females equally. There has been much research done to compare the genders in all areas. In the past, research has found that women fall far behind men in many areas such as math, and science, but men lag behind women in certain areas as well. Over the years, many provisions have been made with the goal of equalizing the treatment of girls and boys in public education. These improvements are proven successful as women, as well as men, are advancing in areas where they tend to lag