A recent study conducted by Canadian researchers indicates that, for the past 100 years, girls have steadily performed better than boys in terms of school grades. Female students not only excel in language studies but they are also just as good or even better than boys in the so-called “male” subjects such as math and science.
Interestingly, the Canadian study reveals that there is almost no gender gap in school results in Scandinavian countries. Dr. Daniel Voyer, a psychologist from the University of New Brunswick, suspects that these countries’ school systems, in allowing students an equal opportunity to succeed regardless of their abilities, foster better gender equity.
It seems also that the expectations set on girls to be polite and well-behaved in school leads to better grades. For their part, boys gets usually less encouragements at home and from their teachers to perform. A young male student labeled as a “typical boy” doesn’t consider studies in the same manners as do a young female student.
Picture: The Country School, by Winslow Homer (Wikimedia Commons, w/Effects)
