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This was true when I was in grade school as well (late 80's-90's). Prior to puberty, nearly all the top performing students were girls. After puberty, boys wer
by balls187 6y ago
This was true when I was in grade school as well (late 80's-90's).
Prior to puberty, nearly all the top performing students were girls. After puberty, boys were more represented.
The theory I heard was societal pressure in the US was higher on girls to be "liked" and accepted, and that girls felt that doing well in school was counter to that. Girls would stop focusing on performance and ultimately move towards the center of the curve.
Pressure to be liked, and antithetical attitudes towards academic performance also applied to boys as well, but to a lesser degree.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hammock 6y agoHyko's comment suggests the opposite. Would be interesting to see at least one of you cite some data.
- balls187 6y agoI suspect it will be difficult to find information about academic performance from that time period. This article from 18 years ago suggests that girls received extra encouragement to overcome the lowered expectations due to their gender. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gender-gap-boys-lagging/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gender-gap-boys-lagging/