Underachievement, failing boys and moral panics

1
Underachievement, failing boys and moral panics

• Dr Emma Smith
• School of Education
• University of Birmingham
• e.smith_at_bham.ac.uk

2

• Girls trounce the boys in examination league
  table
• The Times, August 2000
• Sometimes it's hard to be a boy
• Times Educational Supplement, June 2001
• Is school biased against boys? Daily
  Mail, December 2000
• White boys fail too
• The Guardian, June 2005
• Schools hit by death of discipline among boys
• Daily Mail, August 2007
• Failing boys put university drive in doubt
  Sunday Telegraph, August 2006

3
Evidence for underachievement
4
Percentage of pupils achieving Level 3 or above
in Key Stage 1 teacher assessments, 2004-2006
5
Participation in A-level chemistry
6
Why are boys failing?

• Schools are sexist
• Too few male teachers
• Assessment is biased towards girls
• Crisis in masculinity
• Girl power
• They arent failing

7

• What is underachievement?

8

• Underachievement or low achievement?
• Reconsidering the evidence

9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
Achievement gaps A-level Chemistry (grade C)
13
Variation in gross annual earnings, male and
female full-time employees, 1999-2006
14
Percentage of students achieving level 5 or
above at Key Stage 3 in the core subjects.Group
1
Boys Girls
15
Percentage of students achieving level 5 or
above at Key Stage 3 in the core subjects.Group
2
White Black
16
Percentage of students achieving level 5 or
above at Key Stage 3 in the core subjects.Group 3
Non EAL EAL
17
Percentage of students achieving level 5 or
above at Key Stage 3 in the core subjects.Group 4
Non FSM FSM
18
Summary

• Contemporary crisis of underachievement and
  failure among boys
• Evidence points to achievement gaps, especially
  in literacy-based subjects
• Explanations assessment practice, constructions
  of gender, feminised schools, innate differences
  between the sexes
• Achievement gaps between boys and girls are not a
  new phenomenon, they are consistent over time and
  place, especially in literacy based subjects
• They are dwarfed by achievement gaps between
  wealthy/less wealthy and between some ethnic
  majority/minority groups
• Men still earn more money than women and hold the
  most powerful jobs

19
Some questions

• Should we expect boys and girls to achieve the
  same outcomes in school?
• With the focus on boys underachievement, what
  about the girls?
• If achievement gaps between the sexes are long
  established and may be related to innate
  differences, what could (should) schools do about
  it?
• Which boys and which girls should we be concerned
  about?
• Does gender deserve the focus it currently
  receives?