Does Gender Affect Students' Academic Performance in the Classroom?

Valjeaner Brewington Ford, Ed.D.
valjeaner.ford@uncp.edu
University of North Carolina @ Pembroke

Objective
        The objective of this study is to determine if a student‘s gender has an impact on his or her academic performance in the classroom.    This ethnographic study poses several questions in its attempt to determine if gender is a factor in students’ academic performance? It is two fold based on (1) classroom observation of teachers’ pedagogy, students’ participation in class including how students perform in the classroom with a teacher of the same gender or if there is a significant difference if the teacher is of a different gender? (2) The use of Likert Scale surveys to determine if teachers are aware of how they teach male and female students?

This study looks to examine whether male teachers treat male students differently than female students.  Do female students perform better in a classroom with a teacher of the same gender?  This study will also look to determine if single sex education has more of a positive or negative impact on students’ academic performance in the classroom.

Theoretical Framework
        A number of studies starting in the 1990s are showing statistical data that children from single-sex schools and/or classrooms are outperforming students from coeducational schools (Journal of Educational Psychology, 2002).
The advantages of single-sex education for girls fall into three categories:   (a) expanded educational opportunities (b) custom-tailored learning and instruction (c) greater autonomy, especially in heterosexual relationships.

The advantages of single-sex education for boys fall into two basic categories:
(a) Teachers can custom-tailor their teaching style to the boys; and (b) the all boys classroom promotes a more diverse and well-rounded educational experience.  Boys’ schools have a natural advantage, because they can tailor their curriculum to   topics that interest boys, and teach those topics in ways that keep the boys engaged.

        Many supporters of single-sex education hold that gender does make a difference in the classroom primarily single-sex education can help students learn more effectively.  Gender roles can be subverted in a single-sex environment; boys will be more likely to pursue the arts, and girls more likely to pursue math and science (Kadidy& Ditty, 2001,Elliott, 1971, Cone-Wesson &Ramirez, 1998).  There are neurological and chemical differences that include: the female uses the left hemisphere of the brain more often; this area of the brain According to studies (Sax, 2002) females hear better than males which would call for males to sit closer to the front of the classroom to hear instruction better; as males usually are seated in the rear of the classroom, this would be a change from the traditional seating arrangement.  Also females have higher levels of estrogen in the brain, which reduce aggressive behavior and create a calmer classroom atmosphere.  Without the presence of the opposite sex, students will be less distracted from their academics.  As well, teachers will have the ability to devote more time to instruction and less to discipline.  Scores on the main assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reveal that females in grades 4, 8, and 12 have consistently outperformed males in reading.  The main assessment data from NAEP show females continued to have higher reading scores than males at all three grades, but there were no measurable increases in females scores when data were compared to 2005 data at grades four and eight and there was a decrease in twelfth-grade reading scores for females from 297 to 295 in 2007.  Females in grades 4,8, and 12 outperformed their males’ peers in writing in 2002 and 2005.  In 2002, males made up a higher proportion of students taking AP exams in science and calculus.  Males also obtained higher average scores on these examinations compared to females.

Methods

        This combination study consisted of a qualitative ethnographic study based on classroom observations as well as a quantitative study using a Likert scale survey consisting of twenty-five open-ended questions to determine teachers’ methodology and their expectations of students’ ability levels based on gender.  Teachers were asked to reflect on their pedagogical skills to determine if students’ gender impacted their academic performance.  Teachers were also asked if they treated students differently depending on the gender of their students.
        A pilot study was developed to determine if gender affected students’ academic performance in the classroom when students were separated according to gender.  As a result of students being placed in a single-sex classroom it was determined that both girls and boys performed better when separated by gender as opposed to co-educational class where both girls and boys are routinely placed in the same classroom setting.

Data Source

        Results of observation data indicated that girls are achieving at a higher rate in five of seven End of Course (EOC) standardized test:

Algebra I                       Algebra II                      Geometry               
Female-38%                      Female-39%                      Female-25%
Male-45%                        Male-33%                        Males-N/A

U.S. History                    Biology                 Civics
Females-32%             Female-57%                      Female-62%
Males-40%                       Male-54%                        Male-58%

English I
Female-67%       Male-61%

Similarly, the mean achievement scores for boys the single-sex classes were significantly better (p= 0.005, ES=0.30) than of those in the coeducational classroom. The results of this pilot study reveal that females out scored the males in five of seven Standardized End of Course (EOC) test scores equally as with other nation wide test scores such as national NAEP scores that are conducted nation wide.

Results and Conclusions

        Gender does have a direct bearing on students’ academic performance consequently; schools have been given the green light to further indicate that gender does affect students’ academic performance.  Words of caution- research indicate that single-gender classes have pros and cons and if not properly instituted they could backfire.  Consequently, it has been proven that gender does have an impact on students’ academic performance in that males and females perform better when students are in single-sex classrooms without the distractions of the opposite sex.
        Overall, females’ high school academic programs in mathematics and science are at least as challenging as those taken by males.  Results of this study also reveal that males by contrast were more likely than females to have taken physics.  Results of classroom observation and standardized test results revealed that more males took higher mathematics courses and the percentage of males who took calculus increased from 6 to 12 percent and the percentage of females who took calculus increased 4 to 11 percent.
        Results, contrary to widely held belief, girls are not under-performing in middle school and high school math; girls’ and boys’ achievement in math classes is virtually the same.  But girls seem to have less interest in the subject; this may be a contributing factor to the dearth of the gender of who most often teaches mathematics courses.  Overall results indicate that gender does affect students’ academic performance based on a variety of factors: gender of the teacher as well as their expectation of male and female students, the students confidence level in the subject being taught and the students’ relationship with his or her teacher also determines students’ academic performance in class.