As the new school
year ramps up,
teachers and
parents need to be
reminded of a well-
kept secret: Across
all grade levels and
academic subjects,
girls earn higher
grades than boys.
Not just in the
United States, but
across the globe, in
countries as far
afield as Norway
and Hong Kong.
This finding is
reflected in a
recent study by
psychology
professors Daniel
and Susan Voyer at
the University of
New Brunswick.
The Voyers based
their results on a
meta-analysis of
369 studies
involving the
academic grades of
over one million
boys and girls from
30 different
nations. The
findings are
unquestionably
robust: Girls earn
higher grades in
every subject,
including the
science-related
fields where boys
are thought to
surpass them.
Less of a secret is
the gender
disparity in college
enrollment rates.
The latest data
from the Pew
Research Center
uses U.S. Census
Bureau data to
show that in 2012,
71 percent of
female high school
graduates went on
to college,
compared to 61
percent of their
male counterparts.
In 1994 the figures
were 63 and 61
percent,
respectively. In
other words,
college enrollment
rates for young
women are
climbing while
those of young
men remain flat.
This begs a
sensitive question:
Are schools set up
to favor the way
girls learn and trip
up boys?
Let’s start with
kindergarten. Claire
Cameron from the
Center for the
Advanced Study of
Teaching and
Learning at the
University of
Virginia has
dedicated her
career to studying
kindergarten
readiness in kids.
She’s found that
little ones who are
destined to do well
in a typical 21st
century
kindergarten class
are those who
manifest good
self-regulation.
This is a term that
is bandied about a
great deal these
days by teachers
and psychologists.
It mostly refers to
disciplined
behaviors like
raising one’s hand
in class, waiting
one’s turn, paying
attention, listening
to and following
teachers’
instructions, and
restraining oneself
from blurting out
answers. These
skills are
prerequisites for
most academically
oriented
kindergarten
classes in America
—as well as basic
prerequisites for
success in life.
As it turns out,
kindergarten-age
girls have far
better self-
regulation than
boys. A few years
ago, Cameron and
her colleagues
confirmed this by
putting several
hundred 5 and 6-
year-old boys and
girls through a type
of Simon-Says
game called the
Head-Toes-Knees-
Shoulders Task.
Trained research
assistants rated
the kids’ ability to
follow the correct
instruction and not
be thrown off by a
confounding one—
in some cases, for
instance, they
were instructed to
touch their toes
every time they
were asked to
touch their heads.
Curiously enough,
remembering such
rules as “touch
your head really
means touch your
toes” and inhibiting
the urge to touch
one’s head instead
amounts to a nifty
example of good
overall self-
regulation.

It can also be noted that Girls are doing well in International Competition and educational programmes while Guys remains Local Champion.
ADD YOUR VIEW

Both are brilliant. opportunity, personal development and background hv a great influence on any child.