Here is a report card you will not find in any elementary or secondary school, yet these statistics document the loss that both girls and boys suffer because of sex bias in society and in education. While some gender barriers are crumbling, others seem impervious to change.
Females receive better grades from elementary school through college, but
not everyone sees this as good news. Some believe that this may be one
of the "rewards" girls receive for more quiet and conforming classroom
behavior.1
Female scores in several areas have improved dramatically in recent years.
Their performance on science and math achievement tests has improved, and
they now take more Advanced Placement tests than boys. Yet they lag behind
males on America’s "high stakes" tests, scoring lower on both the verbal
and mathematics sections of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), the Advanced
Placement (AP) exams, and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for masters and
doctoral programs. 2
Males (and students from low-income families) not only receive lower grades,
but they are more likely to be grade repeaters. Many believe that school
norms and culture conflict with many male behavior patterns.3
The National Assessment of Educational Progress as well as other exams
indicate that males perform significantly below females in writing and
reading achievement. 4
Females
Female enrollment in science and mathematics courses has increased dramatically
in recent years. Girls are more likely to take biology and chemistry as
well as trigonometry and algebra II. However, boys still dominate physics,
calculus, and more advanced courses, and are more likely to take all three
core science courses — biology, chemistry, and physics. 5
College programs are highly segregated, with women earning between 75 and
90% of the degrees in education, nursing, home economics, library science,
psychology and social work. Women lag behind men in Ph.D.s (40%) and professional
degrees (42%), and are the minority at 7 out of 8 Ivy League schools. 6
Computer science and technology reflect increasing gender disparities.
Boys not only enroll in more of these courses, but also enroll in the more
advanced courses. Girls are more likely to be found in word processing
and clerical support programs. Girls are also less likely to use
computers outside of school, and girls from all ethnic groups rate themselves
considerably lower than boys on technological ability. Current software
products are more likely to reinforce these gender stereotypes and bias
rather than reduce them.7
Males have a higher high school dropout rate than females (13% to 10%),
and lag behind females in extracurricular participation, including school
government, literary activities and the performing arts.8
Men are the minority (44%) of students enrolled in both undergraduate and
graduate institutions and, as a group lag behind women in degree attainment
at the associate (39%), bachelor (44%) and masters (44%) levels. Although
white males and females attend college in fairly equal proportions, African-American
and Hispanic males are particularly under-represented at all educational
levels.
9
Gender segregation continues to limit the academic and careers majors of
all students. Male college students comprise only 12 percent of elementary
teaching majors, 11 percent of special education majors, 12 percent of
those preparing in library science, and 14 percent of students majoring
in social work.10
Females
Females receive fewer academic contacts in class. They are less likely
to be called upon by name, are asked fewer complex and abstract questions,
receive less praise or constructive feedback, and are given less direction
on how to do things for themselves. In short, girls are more likely to
be invisible members of classrooms.11
In elementary school, girls are identified for gifted programs more often
than boys, however by high school fewer girls remain in gifted programs,
particularly fewer African American and Hispanic females. Gender segregation
is evident as girls are less likely to be found in gifted math and science
programs.12
Boys receive more teacher attention than females, including more negative
attention. They are disciplined more harshly, more publicly, and more frequently
than girls, even when they violate the same rules. Parents of male elementary
school students (24%) are contacted more frequently about their child's
behavior or schoolwork than parents of female students (12%), and boys
constitute 71% of school suspensions.13
Males account for two-thirds of all students served in special education.
The disproportionate representation of males in special education is greatest
in the categories of emotional disturbance (78% male), learning disability
(68% male), and mental retardation (58% male).14
Females
About one million U. S. teenagers get pregnant each year, a higher percentage
than other Western nations. Fifty percent of adolescent girls believe they
are overweight, and thirteen percent are diagnosed with anorexia, bulimia,
or binge-eating disorder.15
Girls who play sports enjoy a variety of health benefits, including lower
rates of pregnancy, drug use, and depression. But despite these benefits,
only 50% of girls are enrolled in high school physical education classes.
Women today coach only 45.6% of women's college teams, and only 1% of men's
teams, while men direct about four out of five women's programs.16
Males are more likely to succumb to serious disease and be victims of accidents
or violence than females. The average life expectancy of men is approximately
six years shorter than that of women.17
Boys are the majority (60%) of high school athletes. Male athletes in NCAA
Division I programs graduate at a lower rate than female athletes (52%
v 68%).18
Women dominate lower paying careers, (over 90% of secretaries, receptionists,
bookkeepers, registered nurses, and hairdressers/cosmetologists), and on
average, a female college graduate earns $4,000 less annually than a male
with a college diploma. Nearly two out of three working women today do
not have a pension plan.19
Over 45 percent of families headed by women live in poverty, particularly
woman of color. When both parents are present, women are still expected
to assume the majority of these responsibilities.20
Men comprise 99% of corporate officers in America's 500 largest companies,
but are only 16% of all elementary school teachers, and 7% of nurses (although
this is an increase, up from 1% of nurses in 1972).21
Women and men express different views of fatherhood. Men emphasize the
need for the father to earn a good income and to provide solutions to family
problems. Women, on the other hand, stress the need for fathers to assist
in caring for children and in responding to the emotional needs of the
family. These differing perceptions of fatherhood increase family strain
and anxiety.22
