Girls' and Boys' Achievements Differences in the School Context: An Overview of Possible Explanations
Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Since the 1990s until today there has been an increasing number of empirical evidence about girls' higher achievements within the educational system in the majority of developed countries.This trend is still present, even in school areas and subjects in which boys have traditionally been considered to be more successful.This article presents a critical analysis of the existing research as well as a summary of the existing findings with their possible explanations.A few groups of explanations can be separated, i.e. differences in specific abilities, personality traits, learning styles, ability to satisfy desired learning methods and differences in the interaction with teachers.Finally, this article presents findings from a wide band of research studies which presume the negative effect of teacher gender on pupils' academic achievement.The explanations of gender differences provide only a part of the possible reasons.Reviews of the existing research clearly show the lack of comprehensive, satisfactory and nonambiguous explanation of the reasons for girls' higher academic achievement.
Authors: Josip Burušić, Maja Šerić
Institutions: Institut Društvenih Znanosti Ivo Pilar, University of Zagreb
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2278615151