The Guardian view on gender gaps in education: girls and boys both need attention | Editorial
NEW research shows that Boys in English schools Exclusive girls in mathematical tests and science offer a correction of a narration that emphasizes the extent of boys in their learning. The analysis, from the UCL Education Institute, found that the gender gap in England was the largest in any of the 72 countries in which it was measured. Boys in the ninth year (13-14) canceled the leadership of girls in 2019, and excelled in the scientific tests of Trends in the study of mathematics and international sciences. One of the authors, Dr. Jenny Golding, pointed to the confidence of children in mathematics as a possible interpretation.
The modern challenges facing the idea that girls are going up to rely on a longer width and a wide range of information. Men, after all, still earn more than women. Earlier this month, the Women’s Index referred to the work The “slow change” pace On the gender wage gap, with the United Kingdom sliding behind other countries. Wages and progress are still in many sectors dominated by females, including the first years and social welfare, bad.
While the profits of younger women may be identical or even Override Those of male peers, “Motherhood punishment“He sees the woman’s income shrinking more than men when they become fathers, It gets worse. The analysis showed last year that mothers got average at a rate of 24 % less per hour than parents in 2023. prominent The defect, which makes it more likely to experience poverty in old age.
Sex is not the greatest specific for academic success. Regarding the results of the school test across the age group, the largest achievement gaps are not between the sexes, but between social and economic advantages and Displayed groups Especially those who have special educational needs and disabilities, and those from some ethnic groups. Some experts believe this Smaller differences Between boys and girls can work as distraction.
But it must be possible to find a balance between the exaggerated confirmation Fears About a decrease in academic performance and participation in boys, and their rejection of being screaming. Boys are likely to be excluded from school more than twice the girls. In 2022-23, three women in the United Kingdom joined at the university for all two men (with 1.28 million females and 880,000 male students). This is a great contrast in the results of education, and although it is true that, based on the current data, it is possible that any female feature in adulthood, but the future cannot be predicted.
The number of female students now exceeds the number of males in medicine and law as well as arts materials – while the opposite is true in physics, mathematics, engineering and computing. Continuous stereotypes It is one of the explanations, and it is a view supported by research in parental situations Girls’ lack of confidence In these areas. More research is needed, but given the importance of male digital technology sector in all of our lives, and increasing concerns about them Online damageIt makes sense to strongly defend the arrival of girls and the chances of relevant qualifications.
At one time, evidence of this Few boys are ready for school The age of four, as well as low levels of participation in higher education – which some experts believe is linked tuition fees And different stances of the debt – should be taken seriously. The contradictory and common difficulties of boys and girls deserve attention.
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