Today’s GCSE results revealed that boys still lag behind girls dramatically in many subjects – with girls having an 8% lead on boys in getting A*-C grades.
This is nothing new – girls have been steamrolling the boys years at GCSE, A-Level and in university admission.
Even in “male” subjects that few girls take, like computing, they have 2 per cent lead.
What's your take?
We need to get more girls into STEM/engineering!
We need to get more boys into caring professions! pic.twitter.com/5yOmpiHXJL— Martin Daubney (@MartinDaubney) August 25, 2016
It’s clear – British girls are achieving while British boys, mostly are not – and nothing is being done to help them catch up.
The Government tried minimising coursework, which they felt gave girls an edge, but the gap increased further.
Rich boys, as ever, are safer from this trend – with the result that we are leaving the male working class behind, even as we put rocket boosters under girls.
When it comes to getting a place at university, girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are 58% more likely to apply to university than boys in the same social and economic situation.
This figure has only increased. A good education is open to those from disadvantaged backgrounds – but only girls.
Reactions to figures out today have focused on “not enough” girls doing hallowed STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, maths).
The flipside is that boys are eschewing “caring” subjects like performing arts and home economics, which are easier to pass, feeding in to the cycle of low attainment.
If nothing is done to change this, our job market will continue to be saturated by middle-class and advantaged children, with the addition of socially mobile girls – but few disadvantaged boys.
The lack of attention poor white boys get is unjustifiable.
We help minority students and girls succeed, but a huge chunk of the population is left over.
Evidently recent educational reform has helped to create fairness for the few, not the many.
