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International Review of Education

, Volume 59, Issue 1, pp 67–86 | Cite as

Gender differences in primary and secondary education: Are girls really outperforming boys?

  • Geert Driessen
  • Annemarie van Langen
Article
First Online:

Abstract

A moral panic has broken out in several countries after recent studies showed that girls were outperforming boys in education. Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, the present study examines the position of boys and girls in Dutch primary education and in the first phase of secondary education over the past ten to fifteen years. On the basis of several national and international large-scale databases, the authors examined whether one can indeed speak of a gender gap, at the expense of boys. Three domains were investigated, namely cognitive competencies, non-cognitive competencies, and school career features. The results as expressed in effect sizes show that there are hardly any differences with regard to language and mathematics proficiency. However, the position of boys in terms of educational level and attitudes and behaviour is much more unfavourable than that of girls. Girls, on the other hand, score more unfavourably with regard to sector and subject choice. While the present situation in general does not differ very much from that of a decade ago, it is difficult to predict in what way the balances might shift in the years to come.

Keywords

Gender gap Boys problem Primary and secondary education Large-scale databases Empirical analyses The Netherlands 

Résumé

Disparités entre les sexes dans l’enseignement primaire et secondaire : les filles devancent-elles vraiment les garçons ? – Des études récentes signalant que les filles distanceraient les garçons à l’école engendre une panique morale dans plusieurs pays. La présente recherche, réalisée à la demande du ministère néerlandais de l’éducation, examine la position des garçons et des filles dans l’enseignement primaire et le premier cycle secondaire de ce pays, au cours des dix à quinze dernières années. S’appuyant sur plusieurs bases de données nationales et internationales à grande échelle, les auteurs explorent si l’on peut véritablement parler d’un clivage au détriment des garçons. Cette analyse a porté sur trois domaines, à savoir les compétences cognitives, les compétences non cognitives et les caractéristiques du parcours scolaire. Les résultats obtenus exprimés en tailles d’effets révèlent qu’il n’existe guère de différences quant aux compétences linguistiques et mathématiques. Néanmoins, la position des garçons en termes de niveau éducatif, d’attitudes et de comportements est beaucoup plus défavorable que celle des filles. En revanche, ces dernières s’orientent encore vers les filières et matières dites typiquement féminines. La situation actuelle n’est globalement pas très éloignée de celle observée il y a dix ans, et il est difficile de prévoir de quelle manière les écarts évolueront dans les années à venir.

Zusammenfassung

Geschlechtsunterschiede in der Primar- und Sekundarbildung: Sind Mädchen wirklich besser als Jungen? – Nachdem einige Studien zu dem Ergebnis gekommen sind, dass Mädchen bessere Schulleistungen erbringen als Jungen, ist in mehreren Ländern großes Wehgeschrei ausgebrochen. In der vorliegenden Studie, die vom niederländischen Bildungsministerium in Auftrag gegeben wurde, hat man die Leistungen von Jungen und Mädchen in der niederländischen Primarstufe und Sekundarstufe I im Verlauf der letzten zehn bis fünfzehn Jahre miteinander verglichen. Anhand mehrerer großer nationaler und internationaler Datenbanken untersuchten die Autoren, ob man wirklich von einem geschlechtsspezifischen Gefälle sprechen kann, bei dem die Jungen den Kürzeren ziehen. Es wurden drei Kompetenzbereiche untersucht, und zwar kognitive Kompetenzen, nichtkognitive Fähigkeiten und Besonderheiten des schulischen Werdegangs. Die Ergebnisse, ausgedrückt in Effektgrößen, zeigen, dass es bei der Sprachbeherrschung und den mathematischen Kompetenzen kaum Unterschiede gibt. In puncto Bildungsstand und Einstellungen und Verhaltensweisen jedoch fallen die Jungen weit hinter die Mädchen zurück. Die Mädchen andererseits erzielen schlechtere Ergebnisse bei der Wahl der Fachrichtungen und der Fächer. Die Situation hat sich in den letzten zehn Jahren im Allgemeinen wenig verändert, doch eine Prognose, wie sich das Gleichgewicht in den kommenden Jahren verschieben wird, gestaltet sich schwierig.

Resumen

Diferencias de género en la educación primaria y secundaria: ¿las niñas realmente están superando a los niños? – Después de que unos estudios recientes indicaban que las niñas estaban superando a los varones en el ámbito escolar, en diversos países se ha desatado una especie de pánico moral. Encargado por el Ministerio de Educación de los Países Bajos, el presente estudio examina la situación de niños y niñas en la educación primaria y en la primera fase de la educación secundaria de los Países Bajos a lo largo de los últimos diez a quince años. Apoyándose en diversas bases de datos de gran escala, nacionales e internacionales, los autores verificaron si efectivamente se puede hablar de una brecha de género, de una divergencia en desmedro de los varones. Se investigaron tres ámbitos, a saber: competencias cognitivas, competencias no cognitivas y características de la carrera escolar. Los resultados, expresados en tamaños del efecto, mostraron que apenas hay diferencias en cuanto a capacidades en lenguas y matemáticas. Sin embargo, la situación de los niños en cuanto a nivel educativo, actitudes y conducta es mucho más desfavorable que la de las niñas. Por otra parte, las niñas presentaron puntajes más desfavorables en cuanto a su elección de áreas y asignaturas. Si bien la situación presente, en general, no difiere demasiado de la de una década atrás, es difícil predecir cómo y en qué forma las balanzas podrían inclinarse en los años venideros. Open image in new window

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© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.ITSRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands

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