Gender and Education Analysis
Introduction
Discrimination in academics has been on the rise in some countries than in others. Consequentially, this discrimination affects the educational experiences for both males and females. Outstandingly, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) 2012 report notes that men have higher chances of becoming literate on a global scale than females (OECD, 2015). However, females are more successful at higher levels of education than males in some selected countries. Precisely, 100 men are believed to be literate in every 88 women with the ratio exfoliating in some countries like Bangladesh with 100 men being literate in every 62 women (OECD, 2015). In most instances, women are believed to be the victims of gender biasness in educational sectors. In the traditional societies, this could be true since the radical perspectives argued that educating girls was a waste of money and resources. However, with the rise of feminism and other women empowerment organisations, women have found a profound place within communities through advocating for equal rights across all genders. As a result, these movements have seen girls even performing better academically than their male counterparts over the years, especially at the University levels. As such, this paper will discuss gender inequality in education by analysing available statistics, factors leading to gender inequality, its consequences, and possible measures to reduce it.
Gender Inequality in Education
According to OECD, (2015), the performance trend in schools indicates that girls are performing better than boys. In developed countries, girls are likely to obtain the top grades and university places than males. Outstandingly, the OECD reports that, the gap in the United Kingdom University is so intense that even the university admission authority has warned that being male could soon be as a new form of social disadvantage (OECD, 2015). Accordingly, gender discrimination has never been as wide as it is at the moment and this gap has continued to rise as far as half in a quarter of parliamentary constituencies. The global study conducted by the OECD reveals that in more than 60 countries, there is a general trend that girls are shining more than boys in academics.
The OECD article highlights that biasness from the teachers is one of the key reason as to why there exists gender gap in education in the United Kingdom. According to these reports, teachers tend to favour the girl child more than males even during circumstances when they manifest the same abilities and talents (OECD, 2015). Accordingly, the behaviour exhibited by the teachers to leniently markup girls is an unacknowledged reward for girls for seeming to be school-friendly than boys. The study also purports that females may have good behavioural ethics than boys and may as well have higher chances for completing school assignment than their male counterparts.
According to the OECD (2015), the coursework is critical in counting to the final grade that students achieve. Significantly, it contributes to a considerable level of grade and students must take it seriously. Accordingly, boys are found on both extremes of the results whereby you find them at the bottom worst and the top best of the exam table. OECD reveals that this is, however, an international pattern in which case, boys experiences high drop-out rates in schools in addition to leaving educational institutions either unskilled or competitively unqualified (OECD, 2015). However, as Lindberg et al. (2010) suggest, boys can do marvelously as well as occupy better positions in employment like ladies, especially in STEM subjects (See fig. 2). Nevertheless, recent GPA results show that girls are also doing well as compared to boys in STEM related subjects despite a lower enrollment rate.
Gender gap in Literacy
The greatest gender gap in education emanates from the levels of literacy between males and females whereby girls do exceedingly well than men in both exams and international reading tests (OECD, 2015). However, the OECD has realised that this difference in literacy level is shunned off at adulthood with the two genders almost being equal. Precisely, the report from the OECD suggests that during adulthood when both boys and girls realise what they are up to, they do not show much variation in their academic endeavours. However, girls do more in terms of homework than boys, and this explains why their results may be different. Ultimately, when students expose themselves to a lot of reading materials, they get a general knowledge of what is trending in the globe, and this gives them an upper hand especially during exams. On the contrary, boys spend a considerable amount of time playing with the computers and this denies them time to finish their homework in good time (see fig. 3 and 4). Consequently, the impact of this behaviour is directly reflected in the exam results whereby girls outdo them.
However, the basic thing that leads to differences in gender performance is not gender. There is nothing inherent about boys or girls doing particularly well or badly in some subjects (OECD, 2015). As such, if girls can do better on a particular subject than boys in particular countries and the opposite happens in another country, the implication is that the problem is not rooted in gender but in institutional systems. Therefore, there is nothing about gender that can result in educational differences between boys and girls. However, there could be varying factors that may result in the differences between gender performances (Schneider et al., 2017). Such variables may include as the individual’s level of confidence, expectations from the parents, the stereotype from the community or society and biasness of gender, as well as the support one gets from the school all of which may influence the performance levels of the learners (see fig 2).
Factors Influencing Gender inequality in education
Acording to Bécare and Priest (2015), there are persisting inequalities in the education sector regarding unit preferences as well as performance and in cultural aspects of the education and training experience. Some of the influencing factors that may lead to differences in academic achievement include social class, background, and the status of the minority groups (Bécares & Priest, 2015). As such, the policy makers in gender quality should not assume that men and females are homogenous entities in the society. Accordingly, there is awareness that children especially from affluent families in all ethnic backgrounds and the primitive groups are the most affected by academic results and tend to drop out of school early (Klasen & Lamanna, 2009). Therefore, a plan of action needs to be formulated that will address the deteriorating levels of literacy among the disadvantaged members of the society.
Besides, peer influence and the role of teachers and families are significant in the selection of subjects and courses that one studies (Bécare & Priest, 2015). However, personal choices are paramount since they overwhelm those of others as they emanate from personal interests of what one would wish to become in future. Remarkably, teachers and parents have a great responsibility in facilitating change especially among redundant learners who develops a negative attitude to particular subjects (see fig.1). As such, such teachers should be taken through extensive research on how to handle such students with bad attitudes to certain subjects. Besides, there should be mechanisms for evaluating the performance of teachers as well as the school’s performance and the development and implementation of appropriate policies to regulate poor performance (Klasen & Lamanna, 2009).
Gender Education and Employment
Gender and education has presented itself even in the form of employment opportunities whereby women do not have representatives at the top positions. The governments should ensure that both genders are represented effectively at all levels especially academic wise. Precisely, learning institutions should be required to establish equality policies with specific gender equality goals (Ashong & Commander, 2012). Moreover, these objectives require close monitoring by special independent regulatory bodies to evaluate whether the learning institutions are operational or not. The most sympathetic thing about gender inequality in education is that women fall victims in most instances. For instance, when men realise they have higher education qualifications, they tend to dominate women in almost every aspect of their lives. In such circumstances, men bombard women with unpaid tasks such as taking care of the children and performing home routines (Ashong & Commander, 2012). Ultimately, educational policy makers should strive to bring equilibrium point between boys and girls, men and women in the society regarding education to bridge the gap between the two genders. They should try to make gender equality real rather than being a rhetorical phenomenon in educational institutions. As such, teachers and other behaviour enforcers should be given the necessary resources to carry on with positive change amongst the learners.
Consequences of Gender Discrimination
The consequences of gender discrimination in education occur mainly as a result of the differences in gender undertaking of major courses in higher educational levels. Women suffer the most in some countries as they have to endure hard tasks they are mandated to perform at home. Besides, gender discrimination in the education sector has seen women becoming more passive in the society as male chauvinism dominates their powers and limitations (Ashong & Commander, 2012). However, their representation in the job market has significantly increased over the years following the contributions put in by the women empowerment groups. Further studies on the gender gap in the United States of America states that, the gap between males and females is increasing with women taking 57% of U.S academic institution (Ashong & Commander, 2012). Precisely, in the United States of America, the gender gap in educational institutions has seemingly been on the rise with 45% of bachelor’s degree being won by women. On the contrary, men with bachelor’s degree comprised of a portion of only 32% as of the year 2014 (OECD 2015).
Above all, the interactions amongst the learners in the classroom also dictate the gender gap in performance results. Remarkably, the interactions in the classroom have many invisible impacts all of which has a special bearing on the final GPA results (Thien & Ong, 2015). Most importantly, our daily interactions help to streamline our understanding of the main ideas through avenues such as debates and group discussions (Ashong & Commander, 2012). Evidently, teachers may also influence gender performance in many ways even in class lessons. For example, when a teacher sides with one gender in a lesson by way of asking questions, this may have a critical impact on the overall performance by the students. Consequently, this makes those who are biased in class to feel inferior academically.
Moreover, the form of communication that is being communicated to the students may also take effect on their behavioural patterns thereby impacting on their education (Bécare & Priest, 2015). For example, a physical education teacher who restricts boys and girls to particular physical exercises may establish a gender gap between the two sexes. Additionally, when a teacher comments on a boy to be doing something like a girl, that boy may apply his masculine strength to differentiate himself from girls. On the other hand, when girls are said to be masculine, they make attempts to get back to their normal feminism life as they feel less motivated (Bécare & Priest, 2015).
Above all, other variations resulting from gender and education affect the future positions that students would strive for through academic route. As such, some girls do not have an interest in subjects like mathematics and sciences and even some engineering courses (Lindberg et al., 2010). Failure to study these subjects arises due of lack of exposure as to what career they may lead. Many societies have viewed women as being weak even in academics. As such, these societies push such ladies to study simple courses such as arts units and other feminine classes. However, enrollment in universities especially in Canada has reported an increase in the number of females who focus on STEM subjects (Mullis et al., 2011). However, as much as there are differences in enrolment to higher education by both males and females, it is equally important to try to understand the reasons behind the alarming differences between males and females in these education sectors.
Critics of Education Gender Gap
Equally important, it is crucial to look at the differences in gender regarding literacy levels with a new perspective. Those who oppose the view that there is no gender gap in education look at gender discrimination with the roles that each of the sexes performs. According to these critics, they try to pay special attention to the factors that may be leading to the poor performance of boys as compared to girls (Mullis et al., 2011). These critics only emphasise on the splendid performance of males in science subjects but fail to look at the other edge where they fail to analyse the reasons behind the different performances in education between males and females. Outstandingly, girls display an exceedingly high ability in the reading performance than boys at almost every stage.
According to reports released by the Global International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement, gender has been hailed as the main indicator of academic performance (Mullis et al., 2011). According to this regulatory body, the difference in academic performance is attributable to various factors. First, variation in innate perception is one of the determinants of academic excellence between men and women (Mullis et al., 2011). The most remarkable thing about the innate feature in females is that they have special attributes of reading and writing as well as an expression that is anchored in their left hemisphere. The right hemisphere allows for empathetic feelings and a better understanding as well as reflecting on the on their feelings and those of others. However, boys use their left hemisphere for recalling facts and rules and grouping while the right hemisphere is applied for visualising things, which enable them to do exceeding well in subjects like geography and mathematics as well as science (Mullis et al., 2011). Besides, the society has shaped men in a way that they rarely share their feelings. Men have a tendency to reveal to their teachers of their difficulties when they are stuck and even when they seem not to understand anything at all. As such, boys or men are less likely to perform better than their female counterparts. Ultimately, they end up quitting from going on with further studies.
Outstandingly, girls do well in reading and writing than boys. As such, there is a high likelihood that boys will attend special education programs. Out of being outnumbered by females from the same schooling environment, men end up dropping out of school and end up not going for university education (Mullis et al., 2011). Accordingly, they argue that boys face a series of hardships about literacy which is influenced by various factors such as gender identity, denominational values, the level of know-how, style of teaching and the school cultures as well. Remarkably, boys are slow-learners and take a considerable amount of time to learn new concepts than girls. However, despite the slow-learning by boys, they excel more than girls when it comes to data retrieval and other task-related activities.
The 20th century is characterized by gender transformation which has taken a deep mantle in the society. As such, male chauvinism has continued to grow making the space for women in the society to be very narrow. Gender inequality in the modern society is evident in workplaces such as in universities and business companies (Lorber, 2012). In these professions, despite the fact that women may be having the same qualifications and skills as their male counterparts, they occupy the lower positions such as the Secretariat and clerks while men take the big positions like CEO and managers. Remarkably, even at home, women face discrimination of roles. As such, they often do not contribute much to the decision-making process as male opinions dominate. Precisely, the role of women in most families, especially in third-world countries, is restricted to that of taking care of the children and cooking (Gerson, 2010). The implication is that the role of women was privatized in the family sphere while the place of men was in the public domain. Male dominance over women started back in the 18th century whereby they had the legal powers in the family and most institutions in the society. However, by entering the 21st century, various reforms had taken place in the society to ensure that men and women are treated as equals in the society. Nevertheless, though there are still some forms of inequalities in gender relations, they exist in a completely different structure such as the cultural norms, political and social rights as well as traditional rules.
Notwithstanding the current situation of women in this era, women in the early 1920’s did not have the political right to vote in the United States of America. Based on various grounds, women were not autonomous and rational like men, and therefore, they had their political votes controlled by men (Lorber, 2012). As such, women continued to subject until the third decade of the 20th century. It is quite shocking to find that, in the United States, women were also tormented on social and economic grounds. Similarly, married women could not use their passports to travel abroad. They instead used their husband’s passports which were the then recognized legal right. It was until 1964, in the passage of the Civil Rights Movement that legal rights were passed that saw women as equals with their men counterparts. They then gained economic powers in jobs and were able to bargain for their payment increase and compete with men in job promotions (Gerson, 2010).
Back in the 1950’s, the economic powers of women were nullified, and their participation in the labor force became very narrow. Precisely, women having children under the age of 6 comprised of only 10% of the total number of married women in the labor force in the United States of America (Lorber, 2012). On the other side, the other 90% entailed those women who stayed at home as mothers and who economically depended on men. Outstandingly, this was the cultural idea that dominated for the whites. As for the Africans, things were even worse. Proportionally, in the 1950’s, 64% of women with infants under the age of 6 years were not in the full employment labor force. However, Lindberg et al. (2010) argue that, by the onset of the 21st century, everything that relates to gender has dramatically changed for better. Currently, women with children under six years and those with children in school comprise of 60% and 80% respectively in the labor force (Gerson, 2010).
Further, the occupational structure and earnings by women had drastically changed since 1950. The economic empowerment of women has enabled them to fill most of the positions that were previously being held by men. For instance, women in the police force are reported to have increased by mere 3-7% in 1960 over the years, and the figures are still increasing as years pass by (Gerson, 2010). As such, the critical view for sociologists is the rate at which the proportionate change for women in the job occupations will be the same as that of men to achieve equilibrium (Lorber, 2012). Further, women have made significant progress in earnings with a relative increment from 63% to 82% of male median hourly earnings since 1973 to 2005 respectively (Gerson, 2010). Ultimately, this comes as a result of increased women participation in the labor market. Further, this subsequent increase in job participation results to increased job payment factor.
There also exist some differences in power distribution between men and females in different occupations. One such indicator for this claim is the lack of women representatives in the top management in most companies such as in the board of directors. However, the trend is now changing after the initiation of women empowerment organizations (Lorber, 2012). In 2008, the increase in women representation in the board of directors in Fortune 500 firms was marked by 15.2% increase in women in the top positions in large corporations (Lorber, 2012). Ultimately, though the statistics represent only a small representation, they provide some significant instincts of the overall improvement in women representation in the labor force. Further, the United States women representative signified a significant improvement of women from mere 3% in 1979 to 10% in 2009. As such, gender equality represents a substantial improvement with the passage of years and still will continue to grow as long as occupations and earning structures are concerned (Gerson, 2010).
Recommendations
Various recommendations are necessary to combat gender differences in education. For instance, the educational institutions could reestablish the learning institution to compose of only one gender. Outstandingly, institutions of learning that comprise of only one gender are typically effective in nullifying gender differences in education performance. The most outstanding characteristic of one gender-based school is that there are no distractions and one can be able to concentrate well in class. Moreover, for classes that comprise of boys only, the teacher can decide to provide them with learning materials that seem to be more relevant in increasing literacy levels to them. Also, the teacher can engage such boys in an interactive and problem-solving program that have the potential of boosting their performance in school. Additionally, the school tutors should strive to ensure that the schooling environment is conducive to learning by the boys as well creating a competitive environment for them. Other recommendations that could work out for boys could be the introduction of computers and computer games in the class lesson which has the potential of increasing creativity and washes the brain leading to improved performance. Further, provision of materials and books that have the capability of accelerating the performance of boys is necessary. Above all, the performance of boys can improve significantly if tutors provide a competitive environment for them by way of involving them in spelling bees and debates.
Conclusion
In spite of the many reasons that people attach to be the main factors affecting the performance of gender in school as a result of both biological and social constructs in the society, research done on the impacts of the gender gap in academics seems incomplete. Accordingly, the main reason for the gender gap in education relates to the attitude of each gender to coursework and how they respond in accordance. Remarkably, both sexes tend to have different interactions with the internet, and this may adversely affect their academic performance. Mostly, during online classes, boys like playing computer games while girls focus on the subject matter of the class. In this case, the main thing is that during computer lessons, boys tend to be exploration oriented while females look more social and communication oriented. Thus, this is one of the big reasons why females tend to outdo boys in class work and exam results. Additionally, boys make significant contributions when it comes to debates, but the contributions for girls are seemingly more interactive and leading to more discussions.
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