Lack of job prospects `may cause boys to fail'

Girls' academic success over the last decade does not mean that boys are now the educationally disadvantaged sex, according to a report from the Equal Opportunities Commission.

The researchers are sceptical about the concept of boys' "underachievement" which has attracted widespread publicity. Boys' failure to match girls' performance in English in national tests and at GCSE has been a particular worry.

But the report points out that this "underachievement" tends to disappear after the age of 16, with boys still ahead in the top grades of most A- level subjects and scoring a higher percentage of firsts at university.

If some boys and young men do appear to be at a disadvantage, that may be explained not by the type of schooling they receive, but by the disappearance of the kind of jobs their fathers had and by a male working-class culture which devalues education. The report says: "It is often left to schools to pick up the pieces and it has been clear that schools are attempting to address what might be regarded as a moral panic about the education of boys in important and constructive ways."

For example, at one boys' school where 70 per cent of pupils gained A to C grades at GCSE, only 30 per cent gained top grades in English Literature. The head decided that the exam syllabus did not reward male creativity. When he put his pupils in for a syllabus with less coursework, they scored as highly in English as they did in other subjects.

Girls' success also has cultural as well as educational roots with most girls now having higher aspirations about qualifications and jobs.

The report says: "Cultural, demographic and labour market changes have influenced the way students and teachers think about the schooling of girls and boys, such that most now consider girls' education to be equally important.

"High-scoring female students are proving attractive to schools in the competitive climate of the 1990s and it is poorly-behaved, low-achieving boys up to 16 who appear to be the subjects of greatest concern."

Yet, despite their examination success, girls still lack confidence, especially about moving into jobs which have traditionally been done by men, the study suggests.

And both schools and local authorities are dominated by male managers. Discrimination against women in recruitment and job interviews continues to flourish, the researchers say.

One woman who applied for a deputy head's job was told by the interviewing panel that she looked "gorgeous". The job, she said, went to a "fairly unremarkable" male colleague because he was "a disciplinarian", while she was "too pastoral".

Madeleine Arnot, one of the study's authors, said we need to discover whether the strategies used to improve girls' performance could also be used to help boys, or whether new strategies were needed.

Were employment prospects, the encouragement of pupils to aim higher, the curriculum, or its assessment the key to a general improvement in schools?

She believes we also need to find ways of supporting schools at a time when many local authorities no longer have the resources available to help them improve equal opportunities.

School for thought: How the sexes compare

PERFORMANCE

GCSE

Girls are further ahead in English, modern languages, technology, history, geography, art.

A-level

Boys are ahead in English, modern languages, maths, chemistry, history, technology, computer studies, economics.

Girls are ahead in geography, social studies, art and (just) in chemistry and biology.

ENTRY

GCSE

Girls have increased their entry in sciences, computer studies and maths.

Boys have increased their entry in English literature, modern languages, art, home economics.

A-level

Girls have increased their entry only in social studies. Boys have increased their entry in physics, technology, biology, geography, economics, English, modern languages, history, art.