Gender and the Achievement Gap

Dionna D'Ambrosio
Fundamentals in Curriculum


Research shows that males and females in the United States demonstrate a gap in achievement, which can be seen at all ages. The achievement gap widens as age increases for students through post-secondary education. On the other hand, research does not show that either gender is more intelligent than the other just that there are differences in performance in certain subjects. While I was researching this topic, I knew what the statistics were and what the research showed but I wanted to explore the reasons or theories for these differences. What I found was pretty interesting about the brains of females vs. the brains of males. The following are some of the characteristics of girls' brains:
***A girl's corpus callosum (the connecting bundle of tissues between hemispheres) is, on average, larger than a boy's—up to 25 percent larger by adolescence. This enables more “cross talk” between hemispheres in the female brain.
***Girls have, in general, stronger neural connectors in their temporal lobes than boys have. These connectors lead to more sensually detailed memory storage, better listening skills, and better discrimination among the various tones of voice. This leads, among other things, to greater use of detail in writing assignments.
***The hippocampus (another memory storage area in the brain) is larger in girls than in boys, increasing girls' learning advantage, especially in the language arts.
***Girls' prefrontal cortex is generally more active than boys' and develops at earlier ages. For this reason, girls tend to make fewer impulsive decisions than boys do. Further, girls have more serotonin in the bloodstream and the brain, which makes them biochemically less impulsive.
***Girls generally use more cortical areas of their brains for verbal and emotive functioning. Boys tend to use more cortical areas of the brain for spatial and mechanical functioning (Moir & Jessel, 1989; Rich, 2000).

The following are some of the characteristics of boys' brains:
***Because boys' brains have more cortical areas dedicated to spatial-mechanical functioning, males use, on average, half the brain space that females use for verbal-emotive functioning. (Blum, 1997; Moir & Jessel, 1989).
***Boys not only have less serotonin than girls have, but they also have less oxytocin, the primary human bonding chemical. This makes it more likely that they will be physically impulsive and less likely that they will neurally combat their natural impulsiveness to sit still and empathically chat with a friend (Moir & Jessel, 1989; Taylor, 2002).


 


***Boys lateralize brain activity. Their brains not only operate with less blood flow than girls' brains, but they are also structured to compartmentalize learning. Thus, girls tend to multitask better than boys do. (Havers, 1995).
***The male brain is set to renew, recharge, and reorient itself by entering what neurologists call a rest state. The boy in the back of the classroom whose eyes are drifting toward sleep has entered a neural rest state. It is predominantly boys who drift off without completing assignments, who stop taking notes and fall asleep during a lecture, or who tap pencils or otherwise fidget in hopes of keeping themselves awake and learning. Females tend to recharge and reorient neural focus without rest states. Thus, a girl can be bored with a lesson, but she will nonetheless keep her eyes open, take notes, and perform relatively well. (Gurian, 2001).

These differences in the way the brain functions for both male and female could offer some insight on gender and the achievement gap. Other possible reasons for these differences in achievement may include gender-roles, levels and types of encouragement and discouragement, expectations, different learning opportunities, and values placed on the subjects. Sources may include parents, peers, and the society and culture they live in.Research has shown that one in three boys will fail to receive a high school diploma in four years, and one in four girls will drop out of high school. A University of Michigan study found that 62 percent of female high school graduates plan on obtaining a degree from a four-year university, compared to only 51 percent of males. Males typically score higher on math and science based tests, not because they are smarter in those subjects, but because boys are more likely to explore objects and are better at spatial perspective. While females generally score higher on tests of verbal abilities. It has been proven that in most cases female infants speak sooner, have larger vocabularies and rarely demonstrate speech defects. Gender stereotypes start at birth and extend through adulthood, exerting a powerful influence on the interests and academic paths that people choose. As parents we need to help our children feel more confident about education, considering that confidence can affect motivation, which affects choice, behavior, and effort. When our children feel competent in school, they are more motivated, try harder, and are more engaged with the information presented, hopefully aiding in a productive society.

References
Gurian, M., Stevens, K. (November 2004). Closing Achievement Gaps: With Boys and Girls in Mind. Educational Leadership,  Volume 62 | Number 3, 21-26

Zaidi, Z. (2010). Gender Differences in the Human Brain: A Review. The Open Anatomy Journal, Vol. 2, 37-55

Gender and Achievement Research program
http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/garp/index.htm