Gender Differences in the Classroom

The strong evidence in favor of both nature and nurture as sources of gender differences has led most experts to conclude that they are the result of the interaction between genetics and the environment (Jones & Dindia, 2004; Lippa, 2002). Regardless of their origin, teachers should understand what is known about gender differences that may have an impact in the classroom.

Emotions and Behavior. In general, girls are more sociable and trusting but have lower
assertiveness and self-esteem than boys of their same background and age (Halpern &
LaMay, 2000). Girls also report more intense emotions than boys; yet females are better
able to self-regulate their emotions and behavior than males (Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Smith,
2004). Females engage in more prosocial behaviors than males, such as demonstrating
kindness, empathy, and consideration for others (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006). In
the classroom, males are more likely to participate in learning activities, ask questions, and
be verbally aggressive than females (Altermatt, Jovanovic, & Perry, 1998; Brophy, 2004).
Across cultures and from a very early age, boys are also more likely to be physically aggressive
than girls (Ostrov, Keating, & Ostrov, 2004). This difference can be partially accounted
for by males’ hormonal makeup and partly by social expectations; it is reflected in boys’
higher tendency to engage in bullying, rough play, competitive games, and risk-taking physical
activities (Lippa, 2002; Maccoby, 2002; Pellegrini, Kato, Blatchford, & Baines, 2002).
Males are also less likely to read for pleasure, do homework, take college preparatory
classes, and complete high school than females and more likely to skip class, hold parttime
jobs out of school, and drop out of school than females (NCES, 2001; Riordan, 1996).

Physical Performance. From a very young age, boys are more active than girls.
Therefore, in the classroom, boys have a greater tendency to not pay attention, move
around the room, and pose discipline problems (Ruble, Martin, & Berenbaum, 2006).
Although before puberty boys and girls have similar potential for physical and motor
growth, girls show a slight advantage on fine motor skills. Puberty results in increased muscle mass for boys and increased body fat for girls, leading to an advantage for males
in activities that require strength. In the middle school years, males outperform females
in athletic activities such as running, throwing, and jumping (Smoll & Schutz, 1990).

Technology Use. According to a national survey of kindergarten through sixth-grade
students, males and females reported having equal access to computers at home and
school (Bae, Choy, Geddes, Sable, & Snyder, 2000). Gender differences, however, exist
for the ways in which computers are used. Whereas females are more likely to use computers
for word processing, graphics design, and educational applications, males favor
the use of computers for playing games (Libsch & Breslow, 2000). A computer technology
gap seems to appear during the teenage years, with females reporting less favorable
perceptions of computer-based instruction than males (Martin, Heller, &
Mahmoud, 1992; Proost, Elen, & Lowyck, 1997).

Cognitive Abilities. Although a large number of studies have found no gender differences
in intelligence, certain differences are found when examining different abilities
within intelligence tests (Flynn, 1998; Halpern, 2000; Mackintosh, 1996). On
average, females score higher than males on tests of verbal ability, such as those assessing
reading, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and comprehension (Hyde & Mckinley,
1997; Smedler & Torestad, 1996). In contrast, on average, males score higher than
females on tests of visuospatial abilities, such as tasks where they are required to mentally
rotate objects, judge the velocity of moving objects, track movement through
three-dimensional space, and aim at a moving or stationary target (Gurian & Stevens,
2005; Halpern, 2004; Nordvik & Amponsah, 1998; Ruble et al., 2006).

Achievement. Females have higher reading and writing achievement than males in grades
4, 8, and 12 (Coley, 2001; National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2002, 2005). This
difference is also consistently found in international studies of reading literacy such as
PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment (Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, &
Kennedy, 2003: NCES, 2002). In math achievement, the picture is not so clear. Males tend
to outperform females on standardized achievement tests, but girls tend to get higher math
grades at school than boys (Halpern, 2000). However, no gender differences on math
achievement are found among Asian-American students (Yee, 1992). An additional finding
of interest is that the math scores of boys are more variable than those of girls, with
boys having very high and very low scores on tests (Willingham & Cole, 1997). Unlike reading
literacy, international studies on math achievement do not show consistent results. Only
7 out of the 33 countries that participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS) showed significant achievement differences in favor of
eighth-grade boys (Halpern, 2004). In science, a recent national study showed that
males outperform females in grades 4, 8, and 12 (National Assessment of
Educational Progress, 2005). A similar finding was found in another study of
eighth- and tenth-graders (Burkham, Lee, & Smerdon, 1997) and in 22 out of the 33
countries that participated in the TIMSS (Halpern, 2004). In terms of students’
self-efficacy (sense of competency), girls and boys report similar self-efficacy in
math and science up to middle school, yet, by the twelfth grade, females feel significantly
less confident about their math skills than boys (see Figure 2.7) (Bae et al.,
2000; Jovanovic & King, 1998). Despite the noted findings, experts have pointed out that gender differences in achievement seem to be getting smaller (Halpern, 2000; Hyde, 2005; Spelke, 2005). Therefore, teachers
should not have different expectations for girls and boys for different subject areas.