Boys, Girls and Grades: Is There Gender Inequality in BC's Schools?
Contact:
Peter Cowley, Education Policy Researcher
The Fraser Institute, (604) 688-0221 Ext. 556, Email: peterc@fraserinstitute.caPatrick Basham, Director of the Social Affairs Centre
The Fraser Institute, 714-4549, Email: patrick@fraserinstitute.caRelease Date: For Immediate Release
VANCOUVER, BC-Why are girls systematically receiving higher marks from our schools than boys? This question is posed in a new study, "Boys, Girls, and Grades: Academic Gender Balance in British Columbia's Secondary Schools," released today by The Fraser Institute.
"In British Columbia, gender-based differences in school performance do exist. They are systematic, extensive, and persistent," says the study's author, Peter Cowley.
The study, which uses the same Ministry of Education data upon which the Institute's 1999 Report Card on British Columbia's Schools was based, analyzes student performance across the province in the eight most popular Grade 12 academic courses. One of the indicators used in that Report Card reflects the difference between the average provincial examination mark obtained by the students in a particular school and their corresponding school mark.
Although boys may do as well or better on provincial Grade12 exams, the results show that girls and boys do not, on average, fair equally well in our secondary schools. This raises a provocative question: Are girls actually learning more or are school-based assessments systematically biased against boys?
For example, in 76 percent of our schools, the difference between the girls' school mark in English 12 and their provincial exam mark was greater than the same difference for boys.
Girls substantially out-scored boys on the English 12 examination; girls were only marginally better on the French and Physics examinations; they were marginally out-performed by the boys in Mathematics and Biology; and they were more significantly out-performed in Chemistry, Geography, and History. Yet the girls received higher school marks than the boys in every one of these subjects.
There appears to be no evidence that a concerted effort exists in our secondary schools to ensure that the special educational needs of both male and female students are being met. In addition, where an assessment is made at the school level-as opposed to the provincial exam mark- girls, on average, do better than boys. This difference is so pervasive as to suggest that there is a structural bias in favour of girls in the design and practice of school-based assessment.
"It is not enough simply to throw the ball. Sound educational practice also ensures that the intended recipient is also able to catch it," states Cowley.
The quality of a school's academic program is defined to a considerable extent by its ability to help all its students reach their potential, regardless of their personal characteristics, background, aptitudes, and interests. The study finds there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that boys and girls are destined to achieve at different levels in any aspect of an academic program.
The study's findings suggest that the province's schools have great potential for improvement in the extent to which they enable learners of both genders to perform at their potential. There is scant evidence that this challenge has even been recognized, let alone accepted, by those operating the great majority of our province's schools.
The results of the study suggest that secondary school administrators in the province should consider the following questions in addressing the issue of gender balance:
- What programs do we have in place to ensure that the unique educational needs of both boys and girls are being met?
- How successful are these programs?
- What additional steps can we take to enable students of both genders to reach their potential?
- Are the school-based assessments an accurate measure of each student's understanding of the curriculum?
Established in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an independent public policy organization based in Vancouver.
For the full text of this study visit the web site at www.fraserinstitute.ca. For further information, or for a copy of "Boys, Girls, and Grades: Academic Gender Balance in British Columbia's Secondary Schools, contact:
Suzanne Walters,Director of Communications The Fraser Institute, (604) 714-4582, Email: suzannew@fraserinstitute.ca
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