Gender Gap: Are Boys Being Shortchanged in K-12 Schooling?

Hoover Institution. Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6010. Tel: 800-935-2882; Fax: 650-723-8626; e-mail: educationnext@hoover.stanford.edu; Web site: http://educationnext.org/journal/

Y

10

Single Sex Schools; Elementary Secondary Education; Females; Gender Discrimination; Gender Differences; Gender Bias; Males; Graduation Rate; Literacy Education; Dropout Rate; Instructional Effectiveness; Comparative Analysis; Foreign Countries

Australia; United Kingdom (England); United States

1539-9664

Debates about gender and schooling have taken a surprising turn in the past decade. After years of concern that girls were being shortchanged in male-dominated schools, especially in math and science, there has grown a rising chorus of voices worrying about whether boys are the ones in peril. With young women making up close to 60 percent of college students, critics worry that today's schools--with their emphasis on order, sitting still, and passive learning--are much better suited to girls than to boys. Other authorities reject such concerns and instead contend that ingrained sexism and gender roles continue to hamper K-12 schooling for both boys and girls. What does the evidence say? And what does all of this mean for policy proposals like single-sex schooling or teacher hiring? In this forum, the authors sort through these questions. (Contains 3 figures.)

ERIC

2011

EJ910553