2 ms·

> the former were more likely to skip classes, study things that were not in the syllabus (which helps sometimes), not maintain notes as well, etc. whereas the

> the former were more likely to skip classes, study things that were not in the syllabus (which helps sometimes), not maintain notes as well, etc. whereas the latter would typically follow the syllabus, teachers' instructions etc. more closely and maintain very thorough notes. Mmm, that's interesting, I have the same observation. I'm not in the US, if that holds any value.

adrian_b 6y ago
I also completely agree with throwaway53086 & with aviraldg about why the girls always perform better academically, especially in the primary school, because what they said matches perfectly my experience. I grew in Europe and, until I was about 10 years old, I firmly believed that the girls must be much smarter than the boys, precisely because they always received much better grades at school. Alas, eventually I was disappointed and I lost this belief, when I understood that the good grades received by the girls were determined only partially by their knowledge of the subjects on which they were graded and that a large part of the grades was caused exactly as throwaway53086 said, because the girls were "much more likely to obey rules and instructions". Looking back to the previous years, it became obvious for me that every time when a girl and a boy proved to have identical knowledge about mathematics or biology or whatever else was tested, the disciplined girl received a high grade, while the naughty boy received a low grade. The girls always did whatever the teacher asked, while the boys failed to do homework, did not pay attention to what the teacher taught and so on. At that time I was reading a huge amount of books, so even when I was nine-year old there were some fields, e.g. biology, about which I knew far more than my teacher. Obviously, pointing to errors in what the teacher taught was also a recipe for low grades, in comparison to those who did not question her wisdom. In primary school, everybody that I knew had the same experience, with the grades that were influenced by the discipline and obedience demonstrated, which favored a lot the girls. In high school and university, I have no longer seen such cases, the grades received by everybody were mostly correct, but the girls continued to be on average much more disciplined and obedient, which resulted in good grades across the curriculum. On the other hand, many boys liked only some subjects at which they obtained good grades, while neglecting the others, at which they obtained low grades, resulting in a low average. In high school and university there was also the same problem that I had first encountered in the primary school, that with the exception of the best teachers, the teachers who were not so good themselves gave good grades only to the mediocre students, while both the bad students and the very good students (who knew more than the teacher about what was taught) received low grades. The girls were usually not affected by this, because even when they knew that the teacher was wrong, they would not confront him or her about the errors.
- kaitai 6y ago
  This has a lot to it, and I believe this is one of the thing that holds women back later on in their careers -- if you are rewarded as a girl for going along/allowing people to save face, you have practiced skills that don't serve you as well in business and academia. I have had to practice telling people they're wrong in an effective way. Other factors are at play, of course, but this is an important component. Lots of socialization going on.

adrian_b 6y ago

I also completely agree with throwaway53086 & with aviraldg about why the girls always perform better academically, especially in the primary school, because what they said matches perfectly my experience. I grew in Europe and, until I was about 10 years old, I firmly believed that the girls must be much smarter than the boys, precisely because they always received much better grades at school. Alas, eventually I was disappointed and I lost this belief, when I understood that the good grades received by the girls were determined only partially by their knowledge of the subjects on which they were graded and that a large part of the grades was caused exactly as throwaway53086 said, because the girls were "much more likely to obey rules and instructions". Looking back to the previous years, it became obvious for me that every time when a girl and a boy proved to have identical knowledge about mathematics or biology or whatever else was tested, the disciplined girl received a high grade, while the naughty boy received a low grade. The girls always did whatever the teacher asked, while the boys failed to do homework, did not pay attention to what the teacher taught and so on. At that time I was reading a huge amount of books, so even when I was nine-year old there were some fields, e.g. biology, about which I knew far more than my teacher. Obviously, pointing to errors in what the teacher taught was also a recipe for low grades, in comparison to those who did not question her wisdom. In primary school, everybody that I knew had the same experience, with the grades that were influenced by the discipline and obedience demonstrated, which favored a lot the girls. In high school and university, I have no longer seen such cases, the grades received by everybody were mostly correct, but the girls continued to be on average much more disciplined and obedient, which resulted in good grades across the curriculum. On the other hand, many boys liked only some subjects at which they obtained good grades, while neglecting the others, at which they obtained low grades, resulting in a low average. In high school and university there was also the same problem that I had first encountered in the primary school, that with the exception of the best teachers, the teachers who were not so good themselves gave good grades only to the mediocre students, while both the bad students and the very good students (who knew more than the teacher about what was taught) received low grades. The girls were usually not affected by this, because even when they knew that the teacher was wrong, they would not confront him or her about the errors.

kaitai 6y ago
This has a lot to it, and I believe this is one of the thing that holds women back later on in their careers -- if you are rewarded as a girl for going along/allowing people to save face, you have practiced skills that don't serve you as well in business and academia. I have had to practice telling people they're wrong in an effective way. Other factors are at play, of course, but this is an important component. Lots of socialization going on.