Introduction

At first glance, girls seem to have benefited most from developments in education over recent years. They appear to be outperforming boys in school-leaving examinations in a range of international contexts, and are now more likely than boys to enter higher education in many countries. Educators, politicians and journalists have all focused their attention on boys, who are commonly assumed to be underachieving. But concern about boys’ ‘underachievement’ hides some real problems facing many girls and young women. The rhetoric about boys’ ‘failure’ and girls’ ‘success’ masks a reality where there are vast differences in educational experiences and opportunities among girls, as there are among boys.