ABSTRACT
Gender and achievement is a controversial issue. Whereas second-wave feminists attended to the underachievement of girls, in recent years an international concern has developed in relation to the apparent underachievement of boys, to the extent that many commentators have identifi ed the fervor in media and policy surrounding this issue as a moral panic. The debate around “boys’ underachievement” is well established in the United Kingdom and in Australia, and is rapidly developing in many other OECD nations (Francis & Skelton, 2005; Hayes & Lingard, 2003; Jha & Kelleher, 2006). Educational policy concerns with this issue have precipitated an unprecedented amount of energy, resources, targets, and recommendations to schools to “narrow the gender gap,” with feminists often voicing concern that such policies (a) are misguided and (b) marginalize the continuing needs of girls. In this chapter, then, we seek to analyze the fi gures on gender and achievement, and to unpick some of the assumptions and explanations underpinning commentary on “boys’ underachievement,” in order to provide a more balanced account of the fi eld.
