Understanding the gender gap in school performance among low-income children

Abstract

Internationally, girls outperform boys in overall school performance. The gender gap is particularly large among those in at-risk groups, such as children from families at economic disadvantage. This study modeled the academic trajectories of a low-income sample of boys and girls from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project across the full course of schooling. Results from a multiple-group latent growth curve analysis revealed that children from this low-income sample demonstrated a significant decreasing trajectory of academic performance over time, which intensified after the transition from elementary to secondary schooling. A gender gap in academic performance emerged after the children transitioned to secondary school, with girls outperforming boys. Boys continued to experience greater academic decline than did girls across the secondary school years, and individual and family characteristics assessed in early elementary school predicted these academic trajectories. At school entry, boys showed higher levels of attention problems than did girls, which in turn predicted boys' poorer school performance. However, boys with stronger reading skills and greater maternal school involvement during the early years of schooling were protected against declining academic performance across the secondary school years. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.

Systematic literature review of primary‒secondary transitions: International research

“… Harder academic work and inability to do it (Rice et al , ) Greater personal responsibility related to academic planning and organisation in secondary schools (Rice et al , ) Volume of homework (West et al , ) Concerns about tests and assessments (Mackenzie et al , ) Lack of curricular continuity and progression (Marshall & Hargreaves, ), including in music (Rainer & Cropley, ), mathematics (Mudaly & Sukhdeo, ) Increase in school absences (Benner & Graham, ) Decline in positive attitudes towards studying, especially mathematics (Deieso & Fraser, ) Decline in grades (Benner & Graham, ), with gender appearing for those from lower SES (socioeconomic status) (Kingdon, Serbin & Stack, ) …”

Not everything helps the same for everyone: relevance of extracurricular activities for academic achievement

“…Taking account of the context in which young people live is essential to understand the characteristics of their participation in EA. Research on differences in participation have been focus more in terms of socioeconomic factors (Luthar et al, 2006;Pedersen, 2005;Quinn, 1999;Vandell et al, 2015) than in differences related to parental education (Kingdon et al, 2017).…”

“…Participants in sports activities experience lower academic achievement than those who participate in artistic activities (Eccles et al, 2003). Reading books is a protective factor in preventing school failure, and it improves academic achievement in early (Kingdon et al, 2017) and late adolescence (e.g. Horbec, 2012; Whitten et al, 2019).…”

“…Regarding the relationship between participation in EA and academic achievement in terms of sex and age, younger girls show the highest academic achievement (Kingdon et al, 2017;OECD, 2015), depending on the type of activity. For instance, an association has been found between reading books and academic achievement in early adolescence (i.e., schoolchildren between 12 and 14 years old) (Kingdon et al, 2017).…”

El trabajo coeducativo y la igualdad de género desde la formación inicial en educación física

“…Además, el "boom" del uso de las redes sociales y de diversos canales de comunicación, cada vez desde edades más tempranas, ha provocado que sea más sencillo efectuar, fuera del horario escolar, el abuso y el acoso sobre alumnos/as emocionalmente más débiles (Khasnabis y Upton, 2013). Esto se relaciona directamente con la educación de género, siendo varios los estudios que indican cómo muchas alumnas presentan un rol de sumisión y aceptación del poder del varón, por ejemplo en la toma de decisiones del día a día (Kingdon, Serbin y Stack, 2017). También es relativamente habitual, a pesar del elevado número de casos de violencia de género que acontecen en nuestro país, que las adolescentes justifiquen acciones violentas de sus parejas por ataques de celos, mirar a otros chicos o vestir con un determinado tipo ropa.…”