A new study using global data has found that girls are performing better than their male counterparts throughout their education – from preparatory levels right through to graduate school.
What’s more, the study found that this is a global trend, with the pattern firmly in place since 1914.
The research was undertaken by Daniel Voyer and Susan Voyer from the University of New Brunswick in Canada, and utilized over 300 global studies to identify the educational performance of male and female students. The meta-analysis ultimately combined results from over one million students to obtain their results.
“This contrast in findings makes it clear that the generalized nature of the female advantage in school marks contradicts the popular stereotypes that females excel in language whereas males excel in math and science,” the researchers wrote.
However, despite some further investigation, the researchers were unable to ascertain the reason for this trend: “The fact that females generally perform better than their male counterparts throughout what is essentially mandatory schooling in most countries seems to be a well-kept secret, considering how little attention it has received as a global phenomenon,” Susan Voyer concluded.
Read their full report here for more details.
You can also see how one Australian school is encouraging more female students to continue their STEM studies by reading our story “Here come the Robogals“
