Christina SommersVerified account

I’m 25 yrs into my career teaching HS math, including AP courses. My strongest students are generally females, esp in AP Stats. But there is one interesting difference between the boys and the girls. 1/2

Boys are more confident they can do the math, even when they shouldn’t be, so they don’t always work as hard as they should to learn. Girls tend to work incredibly hard compared to the boys, but tend to doubt themselves more often. It’s frustrating.

This is very interesting, Patti! Are similar doubts seen in boys with English? Are the girls' doubts mirrored in other subjects? Many of these disparities cause finger-pointing, but such consistent results only evoke more questions. What's the source of the doubt?

My husband teaches AP US history and sees a similar trend. And our school organizations are seeing a deficit of male leadership. We don’t know why. He is working actively w/ football to build the idea of being active positive leaders

The atmosphere between boys & girls can usually be a bit competitive, though I personally think this is healthy for long-term growth. Does it appear to be more hostile than playful?

I would say neither. Not hostile because there isn’t resentment. The girls seem more likely to fear that even at their best they won’t make the cut, and the boys think they will work it all out no matter what they do. Neither is helpful once they leave here.

I agree, neither is a helpful attitude. Though I would say that both are incorrect. The unemployment rate for men ages 16-19 is 16%, while only 9.6% for women. It may certainly help the women if they knew the world isn't against them, and for men that they need to find a focus.

Husband & I were at HS graduation couple of nights ago & he was noting how every single valedictorian was female. Boys seriously need to get real & step up to the plate. They seem to think that just by showing up, they’re going to be OK. That may have been true in the past, but..

"When students reach high school and have more choice in the classes they take, the gender gaps in achievement grow even larger". So, more choice - more gender gap This article reads like boys and girls could actually be different. But that's clearly a nonsense! [sarcasm]

“In the average district, girls perform about three-quarters of a grade level ahead of boys.”(in English) “boys score almost half a grade level ahead of girls in math.” Seems like the bigger issue is boys underachieving in English, not girls underachieving in math. Smh.

Or maybe, just maybe...wait for it...girls and boys are different.

Hate speech!

Can’t tell. Me no read good.

i wonder if reading gap is possibly partly due to teachers, who are overwhelmingly female, unconsciously selecting reading material most appealing to girls, whereas math is maybe less prone to that subjectivity?

Interesting. I teach middle school reading and am female. I am often concerned about the choices and interests in my classroom library and consistently check library YA lists and reviews to be sure I am including not only different interests but reading levels as well. It’s hard.

i can imagine its hard, esp. bc if female children are naturally predisposed to interest in reading (reasonable speculation?), one would naturally try to support and nurture that w material of interest to them, so maybe a feedback loop gets started which leads to large gap later

I don’t know that girls are more interested in reading or that they are able to comfortably sit still longer which allows for more reading. Interestingly, I find boys will be willing to choose longer books while many girls are more adventurous in genre. Just observations!