ABSTRACT
The question of gender and educational achievement in the compulsory school years in industrialized countries has been the subject of much debate and analysis (Epstein et al.1998; Francis 2000; Gorard et al.2001; Francis and Skelton 2005; Archer and Francis 2007; Hattie 2009). From a reading of the literature a number of conclusions are suggested. First, those differences between boys’ and girls’ achievement which do exist are often statistically negligible or questionable (Hattie 2009; Gorard et al.2001); second, gender differences are less prominent than, and are intersected by, inequalities, particularly those based on ethnicity and social class (Epstein et al.1998; Francis and Skelton 2005; Archer and Francis 2007); third, gender differences in achievement are not consistently distributed across level and subject of study (Gorard et al.2001; Francis and Skelton 2005); fourth, the examination achievements of both boys and girls have been improving, although at different rates (Francis 2000; Francis and Skelton 2005); and fifth, notwithstanding the improvement in girls’ achievement rates, boys’ career and salary prospects after leaving school are better than those of girls (Francis 2000; Francis and Skelton 2005).
