ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we suggest that some characteristics of Hawai’i’s immigrant and native Hawaiian populations may have enhanced girls’ educational achievement and negatively affected boys’ achievement. First, we give a brief summary of the findings on gender differences in mathematics achievement across the United States and in Hawai’i and discuss gender differences in verbal skills among children nationwide and in Hawai’i. Second, we summarize research on the effects of immigration on males and females and present the thesis that, in Hawai’i, such effects may have manifested themselves in Hawai’i’s gender differences in educational achievement. Third, we summarize anthropological theory on school compliance and ethnographic data on peer culture among native Hawaiian youngsters, and we suggest how these are applicable to gender differences among native Hawaiians.
