Sex differences in education are a type of sex discrimination in the education system affecting both men and women during and after their educational experiences. Men are more likely to be literate on a global average, although women are more prevalent at reading in some countries.
Men and women find themselves having gender differences when attaining
their educational goals. Although men and women can have the same level
of education, it is more difficult for women to have higher management
jobs, and future employment and financial worries can intensify.
Men tended to receive more education than women in the past, but the
gender gap in education has reversed in recent decades in most Western
countries and many non-Western countries.
Inequalities in Education around the World
Gender
based inequalities in education around the world, according to UNESCO,
are mainly determined by "poverty, geographical isolation, minority
status, disability, early marriage and pregnancy and gender-based
violence".
Only in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean are girls as or
more likely to attend school than boys. In the rest of the world, more
girls remain out of school than boys and "women make up two thirds of
the 750 million adults without basic literacy skills". The differences between girls' and boys' enrolment rates are largest in the Middle East and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Region | Male(%) | Female(%) |
---|---|---|
Arab States | 85.86 | 82.81 |
East Asia & Pacific | 95.61 | 95.53 |
Europe & Central Asia | 96.00 | 95.86 |
Latin America & Caribbean | 91. 73 | 91.76 |
Middle East & North Africa | 95.23 | 91.80 |
North America | 93.38 | 93.87 |
South Asia | 89.72 | 88.55 |
Sub-Saharan Africa | 80.02 | 75.83 |
Differences in adults' educational achievement are larger than differences in children's school enrollment rates.
This reflects past inequalities in access to education, particularly
access to higher education. Gender differences in educational attainment
are largest in South Asia, where 60.6% of men have at least some
secondary education, compared to 39.8% of women.
Regions | Male (%) | Female(%) |
---|---|---|
Arab States | 54.6 | 45.1 |
East Asia & Pacific | 75.5 | 67.8 |
Europe & Central Asia | 85.9 | 78.4 |
Latin America & Caribbean | 59.1 | 59.5 |
South Asia | 60.6 | 39.8 |
Sub-Saharan Africa | 39.2 | 28.8 |
Least Developed Countries | 34.3 | 25.0 |
The countries with the largest difference between men's and women's average years of schooling are Afghanistan and India. In Afghanistan, the average male has 6 years of schooling, compared to 1.9 years for the average female.
Country | Male | Female | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
Afghanistan | 6 | 1.9 | 4.1 |
India | 8.2 | 4.8 | 3.4 |
Equatorial Guinea | 7.3 | 6.7 | 3.3 |
Togo | 6.5 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
Congo (Democratic Republic of the) | 8.4 | 5.3 | 3.1 |
Cameroon | 7.6 | 4.7 | 2.9 |
Nepal | 6.4 | 3.6 | 2.8 |
Pakistan | 6.5 | 3.8 | 2.7 |
Liberia | 6.1 | 3.5 | 2.6 |
Central African Republic | 5.6 | 3 | 2.6 |
Developed Countries
In developed countries, women are still underrepresented in science, technologies, engineering and mathematics.
According to OECD 71% of men graduates with a science degree work as
professionals in physics, mathematics and engineering, where as only 43%
women work as professionals. "Fewer then 1 in 3 engineering graduates,
and fewer than 1 in 5 computer science graduates are female". This gap is likely caused by stereotypes and a difference in encouragement in primary and secondary education.
Second Sexism In Education
Sex
discrimination against males also happens in education. We might call
discrimination against males as the "second sexism". This kind of sexism
is not taken seriously even by people who oppose sex discrimination.
Second sexism in education, together with obvious sexrole stereotypes,
make male students face more punishment in school than female students.
Grading bias in schools against boys
What
perception teachers made to students can influence the grade students
can get. And the discrimination against male students will often happen
here. Brophy and Good (1974) reviewed studies show that male students
will be considered more negative than female students by teachers,
especially female teachers, in elementary school. Many teachers feel
more connection to girls and feel rejecting toward boys which lead to a
negative relationship with boys. For this reason, male students will
more likely receive lower grade than female students because of
teachers' grading bias.
There is also a studied from Yarrow, Waxier, and Scott (1971) show that
male students will receive more criticism because of their gender.
Gender differences in Education based on Teacher's Gender
Gender
discrimination in education exists as well from differential treatment
students receive by either male or female teachers. In Newfoundland, Jim
Duffy et al. found teachers may have higher expectations for boys in
math and science, and for girls; higher expectations in language.
Teachers were found to also have a tendency to praise students matching
gender expected norms. Students were praised more often by female
mathematics teachers than female literature teachers, but praise was
more often given by male literature teachers occurred than by male
mathematics teachers. Criticism has also been found to be directed
toward male students significantly more often than female students in
both literature, and mathematics classes, regardless of teacher's
gender.
Altermatt suggested however that a greater number of teacher-student
interactions may be directed at boys as a result of boy students
initiating more interaction.
In a study done by Paulette B. Taylor, video tapes depicting the
same inappropriate behavior (pencil tapping, disturbing others, and mild
rebukes to the teacher) of 4 different students; An African American
male and female, and a white male and female. 87 inservice teachers, and
99 preservice teachers viewed the tapes, which where also broken down
into African American male and female groups, as well as white male and
female teacher-participant groups. Participants were then asked to
complete a 32 item behavior rating scale focusing on individual teacher
perceptions of students in video tape. Analysis revealed statistical
significance in differences related to the gender of the teacher to
perception of the African American female student being viewed as most
troublesome. However no statistical significance was found in students
ratings in relation to ethnic backgrounds of the teachers, or
interaction of ethnicity and gender. Male teachers rated students higher
on impulsivity than female teachers in general, however the only
statistically significant find was in the rating of African American
female students of all participant groups.
Forms of sex discrimination in education
Sex discrimination in education is applied to women in several ways. First, many sociologists of education view the educational system as an institution of social and cultural reproduction. The existing patterns of inequality, especially for gender inequality, are reproduced within schools through formal and informal processes.
In Western societies, these processes can be traced all the way back to preschool and elementary school
learning stages. Research such as May Ling Halim et al.'s 2013 study
has shown that children are aware of gender role stereotypes from a
young age, with those who are exposed to higher levels of media, as well
as gender stereotyped behavior from adults holding the strongest
perception of gender stereotypical roles, regardless of ethnicity. Indeed, Sandra Bem's gender schema theory
identifies that children absorb gender stereotypes by observing the
behavior of humans around them and then imitate the actions of those
they deem to be of their own gender.
Thus, if children attain gender cues from environmental stimuli, it
stands to reason that the early years of a child's education are some of
the most formative for developing ideas about gender identity and can
potentially be responsible for reinforcing harmful notions of disparity
in the roles of males and females. Jenny Rodgers identifies that gender
stereotypes exist in a number of forms in the primary classroom,
including the generalization of attainment levels based upon sex and
teacher attitudes towards gender appropriate play.
Hidden curriculum
In
her 1978 quantitative study, Katherine Clarricoates conducted field
observations and interviews with British primary school teachers from a
range of schools located in both rural and urban and wealthy and less
wealthy areas. Her study confirms that Rodgers' assertions about gender stereotypes
and discrimination were widely seen in the classrooms. In an extract
from one of the interviews, a teacher claimed that it is "subjects like
geography…where the lads do come out…they have got the facts whereas the
girls tend to be a bit more woollier in most of the things".
Meanwhile, other teachers claimed that "they (girls) haven't got the
imagination that most of the lads have got" and that "I find you can
spark the boys a bit easier than you can the girls…Girls have got their
own set ideas – it's always '…and we went home for tea'… Whereas you can
get the boys to write something really interesting…".
In another interview, a teacher perceived gender behavioral
differences, remarking "…the girls seem to be typically feminine whilst
the boys seem to be typically male…you know, more aggressive... the
ideal of what males ought to be", while another categorized boys as more "aggressive, more adventurous than girls". When considering Bem's gender schema theory in relation to these
statements, it is not difficult to see how male and female pupils may
pick up various behavioral cues from their teachers' gender
differentiation and generalizations which then manifest themselves in
gendered educational interests and levels of attainment. Clarricoates
terms this bias the "hidden curriculum" as it is deviant from the
official curriculum which does not discriminate based on gender. She notes that it arises from a teacher's own underlying beliefs about
gendered behavior and causes them to act in favor of the boys but to the
detriment of the girl pupils. This ultimately leads to the unfolding of
a self-fulfilling prophecy in the academic and behavioral performances
of the students. Citing Patricia Pivnick's 1974 dissertation on American primary schools, Clarricoates posits that
- It is possible that by using a harsher tone for controlling the behavior of boys than for girls, the teachers actually foster the independent and defiant spirit which is considered 'masculine' in our culture…At the same time, the 'femininity' which the teachers reinforced in girls may foster the narcissism and passivity which results in lack of motivation and achievement in girls.
This analysis highlights the lifelong hindrances that the "hidden curriculum" of teachers can inflict on both genders.
Linguistic sexism
Another
element of the "hidden curriculum" Clarricoates identifies is
linguistic sexism. She defines this term as the consistent and
unconscious use of words and grammatical forms by teachers that
denigrate women and emphasize the assumed superiority of men, not only
in lesson content but also in situations of disciplinary procedure. One example of this she cites is the gendering of animal and inanimate
characters. She states that teachers, together with TV presenters and
characters as well as curricular materials all refer to dinosaurs,
pandas, squirrels and mathematical characters as "he", conveying to
young children that these animals all only come in the male gender.
Meanwhile, only motherly figures such as ladybirds, cows and hens are
referred to as "she". As a result, school books, media and curriculum
content all give students the impression that females do not create
history which contributes to the damaging assumption that females cannot
transform the world, whereas men can.
In addition, Clarricoates discusses the linguistic sexism
inherent to the adjective choice of teachers when admonishing or
rewarding their pupils. She notes that "if boys get out of hand they are
regarded as 'boisterous', 'rough', 'assertive', 'rowdy' and
'adventurous'", whereas girls were referred to as "'fussy', 'bitchy',
giggly', 'catty' and 'silly'". According to Clarricoates' previously
stated observations, the terms applied to boys imply positive masculine
behavior, meanwhile the categories used for girls are more derogatory.
This difference in teachers' reactions to similar behaviors can again
be seen as contributing to the development of gender stereotyped
behaviors in young pupils. Another element of linguistic sexism that
Clarricoates identifies is the difference in the treatment of male and
female pupils' use of "improper language" by their teachers; girls
tended to be censured more harshly compared to boys, due to unconscious
biases about gender appropriate behavior. While girls were deemed as
"unladylike" for using "rough" speech, the same speech uttered by their
male counterparts was regarded as a part of normal masculine behavior,
and they were thus admonished less harshly. This creates a linguistic
double standard which can again be seen to contribute to long-term
gender disparities in behavior.
Clarricoates concludes her study by observing that there is a
"catch 22" situation for young female pupils. If a girl conforms to
institutional ideals by learning her lessons well, speaking
appropriately and not bothering the teacher then her success is
downplayed in comparison to the equivalent behavior in a male pupil.
Indeed, she is regarded as "passive", or a "goody-goody" and as "lesser"
than her male pupils. As a result, this reinforcement will foster
submissiveness and self-depreciation; qualities which society does not
hold in great esteem. However, if she does not conform then she will be
admonished more harshly than her equivalent male pupils and also be
viewed in a more negative light. She will be regarded as problematic and
disruptive to the class, which may ultimately impact her academic
performance and career prospects in the future. Furthermore, if she is
able to survive the school institution as an assertive and confident
individual then she will still face many challenges in the workplace,
where these characteristics in women are often perceived as "bossy" or
"overbearing".
Dominance of heteronormativity
Rodgers
identifies that another challenge to gender equality in the elementary
school classroom is the dominance of heteronormativity and heterosexual
stereotypes. Citing the research of Guasp, she maintains that
heteronormative discourse still remains the norm, both in schools and in
wider western society.
She notes that gender and heterosexual stereotypes are intrinsically
linked, due to expectations of females being sexually attracted to males
and vice versa, as part of their gender performance. Thus, one of the
major challenges to gender equality is the concealment of sexual
diversity under the dominance of heteronormativity. Rodgers identifies that although the 1988 Education Reform Act
in the United Kingdom helped to increase opportunities for gender
diversity by ensuring that both sexes study the same core subjects, on
the other hand, heterosexual stereotyping was exacerbated by the passing
of Section 28 of the 1988 Local Government Act, which decreed
homosexuality "as a pretended family relationship." This caused a
significant hindrance in the widespread acceptance of homosexuality and
thus, the progression of gender equality in schools. Despite the 2003 repeal of this act, the pupils most at risk of discrimination as a result of gender biases
in the "hidden curriculum", are still those who do not conform to gender
and heterosexual stereotypes. Indeed, Rodgers cites these teaching
approaches as conforming to hegemonic masculinity, and attributes this method to the marginalization of students who do not conform to their stereotypical gender roles.
Another way the educational system discriminates towards females
is through course-taking, especially in high school. This is important
because course-taking represents a large gender gap in what courses
males and females take, which leads to different educational and
occupational paths between males and females. For example, females tend
to take fewer advanced mathematical and scientific courses, thus
leading them to be ill-equipped to pursue these careers in higher
education. This can further be seen in technology and computer courses.
Cultural norms may also be a factor causing sex discrimination
in education. For example, society suggests that women should be
mothers and responsible for the bulk of child rearing. Therefore, women
feel compelled to pursue educational pathways that lead to occupations
that allow for long leaves of absence, so they can be stay-at-home
mothers. Child marriages can be another determining factor in ending the formal education and literacy rates of women in various parts of the world. According to research conducted by UNICEF in 2013, one out of three girls across the developing world is married before the age of 18.
As an accepted practice in many cultures, the investment in a girl's
education is given little importance, whereas emphasis is placed on men
and boys to be the 'breadwinners.'
A hidden curriculum
may further add to discrimination in the educational system. Hidden
curriculum is the idea that race, class, and gender have an influence on
the lessons that are taught in schools.
Moreover, it is the idea that certain values and norms are instilled
through curriculum. For example, U.S. history often emphasizes the
significant roles that white males played in the development of the
country. Some curriculum have even been rewritten to highlight the roles
played by white males. An example of this would be the way wars are
talked about. Curriculum's on the Civil War, for instance, tend to
emphasize the key players as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and
Abraham Lincoln. Whereas woman or men of color such as Harriet Tubman as
a spy for the Union, Harriet Beecher Stowe or Frederick Douglass, are
downplayed from their part in the war.
Another part is that the topics being taught are masculine or feminine.
Shop classes and advanced sciences are seen as more masculine, whereas
home economics, art, or humanities are seen as more feminine. The
problem comes when students receive different treatment and education
because of his or her gender or race. Students may also be socialized for their expected adult roles through the correspondence principle laid out by sociologists including Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis.
Girls may be encouraged to learn skills valued in female-dominated
fields, while boys might learn leadership skills for male-dominated
occupations. For example, as they move into the secondary and
post-secondary phases of their education, boys tend to gravitate more
toward STEM courses than their female classmates.
Differential treatment in Parental Involvement
Child
development in educational areas can also be influenced by the
treatment a child receives from his/her parents. In a study by Rebecca
Carter, of which private and public school 8th graders were looked at
using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), a study which
provides many details regarding parental involvement in their child's
educational attainment.
The data found that females engaged in school discussion with their
parents more frequently than male counterparts, however when controlling
for test scores, grades, and educational aspirations there was a
reduction in magnitude of the gender effect of school discussions, but
still maintaining its significance. Its also been found that parents are
more involved with school on behalf of their sons, but involvement was
not known to be purely academic, or for behavioral/non academic reasons.
There was also no difference found in time limits placed on watching
television between males/females after school. However, it was noted
that females were more likely than males to have less time spent
socializing with friends based on parental involvement, reflecting the
concept that parents put forth greater efforts to protect their
daughters. Data has also shown that parental attendance at school events
is greater for daughters than for sons, and when controlling for
academic factors it has been found that over half of the gender
differences that had been found were explained by academic factors,
meaning that parental involvement in these events were influenced by
daughter's academic performance.
Gender discrimination in education also exist from household
discrimination. Parents may spend differently based on gender of their
children which is an unequal treatment. Shaleen Khanal studied the
expenditure people spent on girls and boys in Nepal. Based on his
research, he found that parents spend in education expenditure, compared
to boys, is 20% less on girls which is very unequal.
The expenditure difference including spending unequally on students'
fee, textbooks, school supplies like school bags, uniforms and other
education expenditure.
And this kind of discrimination is rising in Nepal. Also, parents in
Nepal are more willing to spend more money in order to let boys to go to
private school for the better education. This phenomenon is more
pronounced in Nepal' s rural area, but it happened in urban areas as
well.
Consequences of sex discrimination in education
Discrimination results for the most part, being in low status,
sex-stereotyped occupations, which in part is due to gender differences
in majors.
They also have to endure the main responsibilities of domestic tasks,
even though their labor force participation has increased. Sex
discrimination in high school and college course-taking also results in
women not being prepared or qualified to pursue more prestigious, high
paying occupations. Sex discrimination in education also results in
women being more passive, quiet, and less assertive, due to the effects
of the hidden curriculum.
However, in 2005, USA Today reported that the "college gender
gap" was widening, stating that 57% of U.S. college students are female.
This gap has been gradually widening, and as of 2014, almost 45% of
women had a bachelor's degree, compared to 32% of men with a bachelor's
degree.
Classroom interactions can also have unseen consequences. Because
gender is something we learn, day-to-day interactions shape our
understandings of how to do gender.
Teachers and staff in an elementary may reinforce certain gender roles
without thinking. Their communicative interactions may also single out
other students. For example, a teacher may call on one or two students
more than the others. This causes those who are called on less to be
less confidant. A gendered example would be a teacher expecting a girl
to be good at coloring or a boy to be good at building. These types of
interactions restrict a student to the particular role assigned to them.
Other consequences come in the form of what is communicated as
appropriate behaviors for boys and girls in classes like physical
education. While a teacher may not purposely try to communicate these
differences, they may tend to make comments based on gender physical
ability.
For example, a male may be told that he throws like a girl which
perpetuates him to become more masculine and use brute force. A female,
on the other hand, might be told she is too masculine looking to where
she becomes more reserved and less motivated.
Some gender discrimination, whether intentional or not, also
effects the positions students may strive for in the future. Females may
not find interest in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM),
because they have not been exposed to those types of classes. This is
because interactions within the school and society are pushing them
towards easier, more feminine classes, such as home economics or art.
They also might not see many other women going into the STEM field. This
then lowers the number of women in STEM, further producing and
continuing this cycle.
This also has a similar effect on males. Because of interactions from
teachers, such as saying boys do not usually cook, males may then be
less likely to follow careers such as a chef, an artist, or a writer.
Since the 1990s, enrollment on university campuses across Canada
has risen significantly. Most notable is the soaring rates of female
participants, which has surpassed the enrollment and participation rates
of their male counterparts.
Even in the United States, there is a significant difference in the
male to female ratio in campuses across the country, where the 2005
averages saw male to female university participants at 43 to 57.
Although it is important to note that the rates of both sexes
participating in post-secondary studies is increasing, it is equally
important to question why female rates are increasing more rapidly than
male participation rates. Christofides, Hoy, and Yang study the 15%
male to female gap in Canadian universities with the idea of the
University Premium.
Drolet further explains this phenomenon in his 2007 article, "Minding
the Gender Gap": "A university degree has a greater payback for women
relative to what they could have earned if they only had a high-school
diploma because men traditionally have had more options for jobs that
pay well even without post-secondary education."
Gender gap in literacy
The
latest national test scores, collected by the NAEP assessment, show
that girls have met or exceeded the reading performance of boys at all
age levels. The literacy gap in fourth grade is equivalent to males
being developmentally two years behind the average girl in reading and
writing. At the middle school level, statistics from the Educational
Testing Service show that the gap between eight-grade males and females
is more than six times greater than the differences in mathematical
reasoning, mathematical reasoning favoring males. These findings have
spanned across the globe as the International Association for Evaluation
of Educational Achievement (IEA) found gender to be the most powerful
predictor of performance in a study of 14 countries.
Booth, Johns, and Bruce state that at both national and
international levels "male students do not do as well as girls in
reading and writing and appear more often in special education classes,
dropout rates and are less likely to go to university".
Boys face a multitude of difficulties when it comes to literacy and
the article lists some of the possible areas of literacy education where
these difficulties could stem from. These include, but are not limited
to, their own gender identity, social and cultural issues, religion,
technology, school cultures, teaching styles, curriculum, and the
failures of pre-service and in-service teaching courses.
It is also important to consider two aspects of boys and literacy
education as raised in the Booth article, which draws from the 2002
work of Smith and Wilhelm. The first is achievement; boys typically take
longer to learn than girls do, although they excel over females when it
comes to "information retrieval and work-related literacy tasks".
It is important, therefore, for the teacher to provide the appropriate
activities to highlight boys' strengths in literacy and properly
support their weaknesses. Also, boys tend to read less than girls in
their free time. This could play a role in the fact that girls
typically "comprehend narrative and expository texts better than boys
do". In his 2009 book Grown Up Digital,
Tapscott writes that there are other methods to consider in order to
reach boys when it comes to literacy: "Boys tend to be able to read
visual images better... study from California State University (Hayword)
saw test scores increase by 11 to 16% when teaching methods were
changed to incorporate more images". Smith and Wilhelm say that boys typically have a "lower estimation of their reading abilities" than girls do.
Possible solutions and implementation
One
attempted change made to literacy instruction has been the offering of
choice in classroom gender populations. In Hamilton, Ontario, Cecil B.
Stirling Elementary/Junior School offered students in grades 7 and 8,
and their parents, a choice between enrolling in a boys-only, girls-only
or co-ed literacy course. Single-gender classes were most popular, and
although no specific studies have shown a statistical advantage to
single-gender literacy classes, the overall reaction by boys was
positive: "I like that there's no girls and you can't be distracted. [. .
.] You get better marks and you can concentrate more."
However a 2014 meta-analysis based on 84 studies representing the
testing of 1.6 million students in Grades K-12 from 21 nations published
in the journal of Psychological Bulletin, found no evidence that the view single sex schooling is beneficial over co-gendered schools.
With boys-only classrooms not always being possible, it then
becomes the responsibility of the literacy instructor to broaden the
definition of literacy from fiction-rich literacy programs to expose
students to a variety of texts including factual and nonfiction texts
(magazines, informational texts, etc.) that boys are already often
reading; provide interest and choice in literacy instruction; expand
literacy teaching styles to more hands-on, interactive and
problem-solving learning, appealing to a boy's strengths; and to provide
a supportive classroom environment, sensitive to the individual
learning pace of each boy and providing of a sense of competence.
Other everyday practices that attempt to "close the gender gap" of literacy in the classroom can include:
- Tapping into visual-spatial strengths of boys. (Filmstrips/Comics)
- Using hands-on materials. (Websites, handouts)
- Incorporating technology. (Computer Learning Games, Cyberhunts)
- Allowing time for movement. (Reader's Theaters and plays, "Active" Mnemonics)
- Allowing opportunities for competition. (Spelling Bees, Jeopardy, Hangman)
- Choosing books that appeal to boys. ("Boy's Rack" in Classroom Library)
- Providing male role models. (High-school Boys Tutoring Younger Boys in Reading, Reading/Speaking Guests)
- Boys-only reading programs. (Boys-only Book Club)
The gender gap and homeschooled children
Schools
are not philosophical, social or cultural vacuums. The social structure
of many schools do not produce adequate results for many boys. Many
parents who home school their children observe that there is a smaller
gender divide in academic test results. One study by the HSLDA
revealed homeschooled boys (87th percentile) and girls (88th
percentile) scored equally well. Racial disparity and disparity based on
socioeconomic background is also less pronounced. A major factor in
student achievement is whether a parent had attained a tertiary
education.
Sex differences in academics
A 2014 meta-analysis of sex differences in scholastic achievement published in the journal of Psychological Bulletin
found females outperformed males in teacher-assigned school marks
throughout elementary, junior/middle, high school and at both
undergraduate and graduate university level. The meta-analysis done by researchers Daniel Voyer and Susan D. Voyerwas from the University of New Brunswick
drew from 97 years of 502 effect sizes and 369 samples stemming from
the year 1914 to 2011, and found that the magnitude of higher female
performance was not affected by year of publication, thereby
contradicted recent claims of "boy crisis" in school achievement. Another 2015 study by researchers Gijsbert Stoet and David C. Geary from the journal of Intelligence found that girl's overall education achievement is better in 70 percent of all the 47-75 countries that participated in PISA.
The study consisting of 1.5 million 15-year-olds found higher overall
female achievement across reading, mathematics, and science literacy and
better performance across 70% of participating countries, including
many with considerable gaps in economic and political equality, and they
fell behind in only 4% of countries. In summary, Stoet and Geary said that sex differences in educational achievement are not reliably linked to gender equality.
Improvement of sex discrimination in education
Although
there are still many sex discrimination happening in education,
improvements were made in many countries. Especially in some developing
countries, the improvement of economic make government pay more
attention on education which is helpful for increasing gender equality
in education. Also, relevant law also play an important role on
decreasing gender discrimination in education.
China
China used
to have big gender inequality issues in education, but the huge economic
and societal development since the 1980s actually became a major factor
in improving gender equality. The Government has more money to invest
into the education system, and more schools were built during these
years. People including girls have more opportunities to go to school. However, there is still a notable difference in gender equality in education between urban and rural areas.
United States
In the last century, the passing of the Title IX made a significant progress in gender equality in education.
The law intervenes not only decrease the sex discrimination on campus
but also make female have equal opportunity as male to go to school.
Before 1970s, the discrimination in admission blocked many females from
school. Title IX required school admission must treat women and men
equally and also decrease the society pressure put on women in
education.