SUMMARY

This document is in two sections:

The first section explains and demonstrates via factual examples, why Australian high school education systems are biased against boys and offers solutions. This section shows that as a result of this bias against boys, boys are being pushed out of the professions.

The second section shows how to bias a high school education system to ensure that one gender does better than the other. The intent of this section is that marks can be awarded to a high school curriculum and the way that it is assessed, to see if it is biased towards boys or girls. Parents of boys and girls can use this section to decide on the type of school to send their children and which curriculum should be studied. Ministers responsible for education and Educators can use this section to assess their educational systems and assign gender bias ratings.

SECTION 1

INTRODUCTION

In Australia, the following statistics are applicable and note that the relevant website states that they were generated with the assistance of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. A link to the website is as follows:

http://svc071.wic016v.server-web.com/GraDSOnline/

The five areas in bold below, are the only ones out of 23, in which the percentage of male graduates under 25 years old is higher than females in 2008:

Percentage of male graduates compared to female at Bachelor level, less than 25 years old

Accounting 44.7%, Agricultural Science 43.4%, Architecture and Building 50%, Art and Design 30.4%, Biological sciences 35.7%, Computer Science 78.6%, Dentistry 44.6%, Earth Sciences 60.6%, Economics and Business 42.4%, Education 17.2%, Engineering 80.9%, Humanities 28.5%, Law 34.4%, Mathematics 61.0%, Medicine 39.1%, Optometry 30.3%, Other Social Sciences 28.4%, Paramedical Studies 17.9%, Pharmacy 34.2%, Physical Sciences 58.5%, Psychology, 18.2%, Social Work 11.5%, Veterinary Science 23.0%.

The underrepresentation of males in high profile professions such as Law, Medicine, and Pharmacy is due to the fact that they get insufficient grades at secondary education to compete for entrance. Ten years ago, this gender difference was not as pronounced.

In Australia, governments put much effort and money to attract women into Engineering and Information Technology and very little to attract men back into the other professions.

There is much direct evidence that suggests that secondary education systems in Australia, have been deliberately set up or adapted to allow on average, girls to get better overall assessment grades than boys. This can be seen in the following linked documents:

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/2127/

http://www.worldcongress.org/wcf3_spkrs/wcf3_francis.htm

STRUCTURE OF AUSTRALIAN SECONDARY EDUCATION

In Australia, secondary education is set up and administrated by each state and territory. Universities are administrated by the Federal Government. Each state and territory has different rules and contents of curriculums. A summary can be seen at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Australia

The performance of each education system varies from state to state and territory to territory. Comparison graphs and related statistics are available with the state of New South Wales generally being slightly ahead of the other states and territories. Similarly, the availability of schools in Australia for secondary education are basically state run and free, Catholic and Society which are partly private and partly government funded, Private which are fee paying and Selective where students sit an entrance exam. Selective schools can be private, semi private or state run and free. Schools in Australia are also a mixture of co-educational and single sex, in all sectors.

Secondary school academic grade performance by each gender is generally better in single sex schools, with the most marked difference being by single sex, boy’s schools.

MAJOR FACTORS AFFECTING THE EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF BOYS

The education system of the United Kingdom (less Scotland, which has a different system), provides a clear means to demonstrate the effects of the way curriculums being set up can negatively influence boys performance in academic achievement in a big way. Click image to enlarge:

Taken from page 5 of the below linked pdf:

http://www.dius.gov.uk/research_and_analysis/~/media/publications/D/DIUS_RR_08_14

Prior to 1985-6: the graph shows the results for GCE O levels only and the performance of boys and girls is approximately equal. O levels were assessed by final exam only at the end of a two year period of study. The final exam usually consisted of short essay type questions and multiple choice, depending on the particular subject. The two years were usually age 14 to 16.

In 1989, the first General Certificate of Education (GCSE) results are included in the above graph. GCSE’s replaced O levels (and CSE’s which were taken by less able students in place of O levels). The GCSE is assessed via coursework, modular tests and a final exam. In 1989, the gap in achievement between males and females widened considerably and continued to do so as time went on.

As is also very noticeable from the graph, academic achievement by students appeared to improve drastically as time passed. This phenomenon has largely been attributed to the “dumbing down” of the curriculum so that in 2009, over 30% of students got the highest combined marks achievable!

In recent years in the UK, coursework contributing to the final mark for a GCSE subject has been the subject of much criticism as widespread cheating occurs. At the GCSE level for most subjects, any coursework is now done in a classroom under supervision. In 2009, there was much concern and a public outcry when boys beat girls for the first time in 10 years at maths due to the fact that coursework taken, no longer contributed to the final mark. More information in regards to this situation can be found at the following link:

http://www.examiner.co.uk/education-huddersfield/2009/08/27/gcses-2009-boys-beat-girls-in-maths-for-first-time-in-decade-86081-24546445/

Coursework was abolished for virtually all GCSE subjects, except for that done under supervision by a teacher or representative. Abolishing unsupervised coursework was not done because it would benefit males, but was done due to the associated widespread cheating. The internet has several websites where you can download and upload assignments free of charge, or at minimal cost and where you can pay for an assignment to be written for you. A link to one of the popular applicable websites used in Australia, by mainly secondary school students is shown below:

http://www.boredofstudies.org/

Many private (fee paying) single sex boy's schools in the UK are switching to the International General Certificate of Education (IGCSE) for many/all subjects. The most popular is the Cambridge IGCSE which is more academically demanding than the GCSE and coursework is optional. This helps teachers to structure lessons for different learning styles. Assessment can be via final exam only, at the end of the two year course.

The reason why private schools in the UK are switching to the Cambridge IGCSE, is that they feel that it is   more suitable for boys to study. Initial reports of performance at the Cambridge IGCSE taken in the UK, suggest that performance by both genders is similar.

The structure of the Cambridge IGCSE, can be seen at the following links:

 http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/academic/middlesec/igcse/overview

http://www.cie.org.uk/docs/profiles/media/About%20CIE%20Media%20Information%20Sheet.pdf

Some past papers from the Cambridge IGCSE can be seen in the following link, including examples of an extra exam taken in place of coursework in one country:

http://www.cambridgestudents.org.uk/subjectpages/geography/igcsegeography/pastpapers/

It should be noted that the organisation who set up the Cambridge IGCSE, also had a major input to setting up Singapore's whole education system, which is recognised as being one of the best in the world.

Command of the English language does not get high status in the IGCSE, as many people from countries that speak English as a second language take this qualification. This factor should be taken into account with secondary education systems in Australia, until Synthetic Phonics is fully implemented (see the section "Use of Synthetic Phonics to teach very young males" English  below) and the relevant children take their final secondary school exams.

A response to a related question from the board that decides on the curriculum and administers the Cambridge IGCSE was as follows:

From: International
To: Nathan Trent
Sent: Mon, 26 October, 2009 7:30:43 AM
Subject: Re: A Level/IGCSE [#509126]

Dear Nathan,

Thank you for your email dated 02/10/2009. I do apologise for the delayed response.

Some unpublished research tells us that there is no evidence of gender bias in assessments as a whole.

As has been found elsewhere, we notice boys tend to perform better on multiple choice questions and girls better on coursework, but this is not strongly marked.

Please contact us if you require further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Pink

Customer Services Advisor
University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: international@cie.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554

Note that the Cambridge IGCSE was designed to be taken by students at the age of 16, i.e. year 11. Cambridge International Exams also have the HIGCSE, which was was designed for countries with education systems that allow entrance to university after year 12 in secondary education, like Australia. The HIGCSE is stated as being recognised by Australian universities as a valid qualification for entrance to do a degree. Note that the HIGCSE is not as popular as the IGCSE and has been withdrawn in 2010, due to the fact that in most of the developed world, students enter university after year 13. More information on the HIGCSE can be seen on page 9 in particular, of the following linked document:

http://www.cie.org.uk/docs/recognition/Recognition%20and%20Equivalency%20help%20pack%202009.pdf

It should be noted that in England, girls and boys do the GCSE at age 16, i.e. year 11 as mentioned above. If girls and boys want to enter a university to do a degree in the English education system, universities require them to have minimum grades at A levels. Students usually select 3-4 subjects to do at A level, which are related to what degree they want to do. Thus to do a degree in Engineering, typically a student will do A levels in Physics, Maths and Chemistry. A levels usually take two years and students take their final exams at the age of 18, i.e year 13. A levels are assessed by a mixture of exam and internally marked coursework, and exam only.

It can be argued that as a result of students taking A levels in England, there is a more equal gender participation rate at degree level. Male and female participation rates in areas in tertiary education can be seen at the below linked document, in Table 5 at the bottom of the page. This table demonstrates interesting  gender participation rates, for example boy's participation in law is 48%, compared to Australia's 34.4%.

http://www.earlhamsociologypages.co.uk/genddata.htm

Boy's overall performance at A levels has dropped relative to girls over the last 10+ years, due to factors such as it being so easy for them to obtain top grades in GCSE's, they have a false perception of the work needed to obtain top grades in A levels. Also A levels have also been "dumbed down" over the past 10+ years and many universities set their own admission tests for higher profile degrees, in addition to top grades at A level.

GCSE's are also widely recognised as being insufficient preparation to do A levels and that is another reason why private boy's schools in England are moving away from GCSE's to the Cambridge IGCSE. Not using synthetic phonics to teach English to boys as below, has also had a detrimental effect on boy's educational achievement at A level.

A similiar pattern can be seen from the results of the Victorian Certificate of Education as shown in the section  below: "Additional Note on the International  Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)".

In the United States, entrance to tertiary education is judged via good grades at secondary education and the SAT, or alternatively ACT tests. Students enter university/college at the age of 17, i.e. year 12. The SAT/ACT tests are used as secondary education in the US varies with each state and it is therefore difficult for a university/college to rank a student's corresponding scores. The SAT/ACT test measures skills that are needed for academic success in university or college, including literacy and writing skills and how well the test takers analyse and solve problems. More information on the SAT and ACT tests can be seen in the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_(test)

The SAT test is currently undergoing trials in the UK with the view that it may be used in the same manner as the US.

Boys generally do better than girls at the SAT/ACT tests, the main reason being that more girls attempt the tests than boys. Students usually sit the SAT and ACT tests and use the best score for entrance to university/college. Links to gender performance information can be seen in the documents linked below:

SAT
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_142.asp

ACT
http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/two.pdf

The SAT has been revised to include a short essay question, the results of which were first seen in the 2005-2006 scores, as shown in the above linked document. The ACT test also has a short essay question, but this is optional for the student take and is treated as an additional test. In the essay sections, girls do better than boys as can be seen. However boys do better than girls in the critical reading section of the SAT.

The essay section of the SAT tests a student's skill in writing, spelling, grammar and sentence composition and structure and does not concentrate on its factual content. Comments regarding the essay section of the SAT can be seen at the following link:

http://www.appelrouthtutoring.com/blog/2009/06/01/in-praise-of-folly-writing-the-sat-essay/


How to Improve Boys Academic Performance at Secondary Schooling

There are many texts written on this subject by notable people and organisations. The usual solutions are given below. However in terms of a Pareto analysis, i.e. what would solve 80% of the problem, deletion of coursework contributing to the final marks for a subject as above is applicable.

The following generally applies for girls and boys aged 15-17:

Girls do better than boys at:

Coursework – the reasons for this are mainly that at the age of 15-17, boys go through the biggest change in their life, i.e. from being a boy to almost a man. This period contains what is termed adolescence and academic studies sometimes take second place for short periods to other “Life changing” events! Also there have been several instances and complaints of female teachers rating a boy’s coursework below what it should fairly achieve, due to biases relating to gender. Assessment by final exam thus takes into account these temporary periods of lack of attention to academic studies and gender bias by teachers. Note that males can cope with coursework effectively, generally from and including the age of 18.

Exam questions that are require short essays based on opinion and emotions – boys tend to be less willing to express their emotions than girls. Writing short essays based on opinions and emotions is not a skill that is highly prized in the workplace, apart from if you write articles for some types of magazines, for example. Having a grasp of facts in a particular area which then leads to investigation and the resolution of a problem, is in demand in the workplace.

Subjects and exams that rely mainly on memory and do not have much complexity

Boys do better than girls at:

Exams containing multiple choice questions - multiple choice is a style favoured by the US SAT exams for entrance to University. Multiple choice tests raw talent depending on the questions asked, e.g. reading comprehension, problem solving and speed of thinking.

Exams containing factual style questions that require factual responses - in the workplace, factual responses to questions is in high demand, as opposed to ones based on opinion or emotion.

Exam questions where the understanding of complex issues is involved, e.g. complicated physics and maths problems, physical geography and history.

Other factors that have a positive impact on boy’s assessment results at the secondary education level are as follows:

Use of Synthetic Phonics to teach very young males English - it is well known that the damage to boys in terms of their attitude towards education occurs at an early age. It can be argued that one of the main contributors to this attitude, is a boy's initial difficulty in learning to read and write using current popular teaching methods, which are mainly based on the use of Analytic Phonics. Schools in Germany and Austria use a methodology known as Synthetic Phonics to teach children to read and write. This traditional method has been re-introduced into Scotland and has been shown to improve the performance of boys at reading and writing by a large amount and girls by a smaller one. This method is currently being re-introduced into some schools in Australia. Click image to enlarge:
                                        Click image to enlarge:                                 

For further information, see the following linked pdf:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20682/52383

Also see the following linked pdf:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20688/52460

The following is a link to an article on a school in NSW that uses Synthetic Phonics:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/synthetic-phonics-a-sound-start-to-reading/story-e6frg6o6-1111115585619

Note that there is evidence that using Synthetic Phonics to teach teenage boys to read and write has benefits. See the link below. Although the referenced website is primarily aimed at dyslexic people, note the paragraph: "The almost universal assumption that older teenagers and adults would find phonics-based literacy classes 'babyish' and boring was tested recently. A small project, using synthetic phonics with adults, was set up by the National Research and Development Council for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) because, as they acknowledge, the 'research base for knowing how to improve the teaching of adult literacy is markedly deficient' (Burton et al intro.) Despite the fact that the project was done with classes, rather than one-to-one, and the DCSF's programme for the Foundation Stage (4-7yr.olds), Letters and Sounds, was used, due to the complete lack of government-produced, synthetic phonics programmes for adults (see Resources 10 for commercial programmes suitable for adults), synthetic phonics proved to be a huge success with teachers and learners alike. 'The learners (mainly Entry 1-3) made significant progress in reading comprehension and spelling', and 'This progress was achieved in a very short time (on average..between five and six sessions)' (Burton et al p9)".

http://www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/teenage_dyslexics.htm

In addition there are several Synthetic Phonics based software games available, written to captivate older boys, as shown in the following link:

http://www.synthetic-phonics.com/phonics_software.html

Reversal of the "Dumbing Down" of Curriculums - over the past 10-12 years, curriculums in Australia have been simplified to allow people of lower ability in a particular subject to gain reasonable marks. A good example is Physics taken as a part of the NSW HSC. If past papers from the year 2000 to 2008 are reviewed, it can be seen that the requirement to understand actual physics and demonstrate this in an exam, has slowly diminished, with the number of calculations required going down. A sheet containing formulae relevant to the exam is provided (more evidence of “dumbing down”), but in the 2008 HSC Physics exam, the sheet was of hardly any use as there were so few calculations required. Instead there was a question  on  "The work of scientists is influenced by external factors, do you agree? Justify your answer with reference to the work of a scientist in the development of space exploration or large scale electricity distribution systems";  i.e. a short essay was required, based on opinion and emotion. Further comments on the HSC Physics 2008 exam from students can be seen at the below link:

http://community.boredofstudies.org/808/physics/190877/2008-physics-hsc-paper-thoughts.html

A link to the 2008 NSW HSC exam paper is as follows. Physics papers going back several years can also bee seen at this website:

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/hsc_exams/hsc2008exams/index4.html#p

An additional problem with the simplification of physics in the NSW HSC, is that it gives the student poor preparation to do a degree in disciplines such as Engineering, where a higher level of understanding of physics is required. Thus many students fail their first year of an Engineering degree due to not passing their physics exams.

Overall, the generally accepted impression that students have of the NSW HSC is that it has an "Over reliance on rote learning and memory".

In terms of difficulty, the following formula is generally agreed on by the majority of people who have experience in this area:

A-levels (harder than ) HSC (harder than or equal to) IB (harder than) VCE (harder than ) SAT.

Where "IB" is the International Baccalaureate, taught by some private/independant schools in Australia. 

The reason why simplifying what were formerly reasonably complex subjects leads to poorer performance by boys as compared to girls, is related to the Bell Curve and I.Q’s. On average, male and female I.Q's are the same. However male I.Q's are spread out more than females, thus there are more very intelligent and more very less intelligent males than females. Thus if a subject is complex and requires the student to have a higher I.Q in order to get top marks, more males will get top marks than females. However if only an average I.Q is required to get top marks in a subject, more females than males will get top marks. Note that there is controversy surrounding I.Q's, the methods used for testing and the different types of intelligence.

Maths has been the subject of much attention around the world and the fact that generally, boys do better than girls at this subject. However if maths is simplified sufficiently, like the physics example above, girls can do better than boys. A link to gender performance at maths as taken as a part of the US SAT test which is used to gain entrance to university/college to do a degree is shown below:

http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/SAT-Math-Percentile-Ranks-2009.pdf

Single sex schooling at the secondary level - note that current research in Australia points to the fact that single sex schooling at the secondary level benefits females over males. In other countries however, this appears to be the other way around. Indeed the latest research generated by a study at the University of Otago in New Zealand shows this fact to be true. A link to this information follows. Single sex schooling will result in teaching methods, school structures and hopefully curriculums which are more male friendly:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/education/news/article.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=10592185&ref=rss

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/Resources/Research%20Centres/Family%20Action%20Centre/downloads/bis-bulletin/BiSB_2002_vol-5_no-2.pdf

More male teachers - if Australia opens more single sex schools, this will attract more male teachers to the profession. The advantage with male teachers is that they act as role models to boys and they tend to be better able to keep control of a class than female teachers.

ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAMME (IBDP)

The IBDP is taken by many students around the world in mainly private schools, including in Australia. Further details of the IBDP can be seen in the following linked website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IB_Diploma_Programme#Core_requirements_and_subject_groups

As of 2010, an Australian version of the IBDP has been announced to be added to the Australian National Curriculum currently being designed.

The IBDP is good for students who have an all-round ability in many subjects, but not for specialists, for example students who are very good at sciences and maths, but not good at languages including their own native language. We have all come across doctors of medicine who are very good in their profession, but have terrible handwriting and it is doubtful that had they taken the IBDP, they would have got a sufficient grade to study medicine, straight from high school.

The IBDP has been dumbed down as can be seen in a comment made by a student "They've stripped out all difficult quantitative content from IB Physics and they aren't even allowed to include derivatives so that Math Studies students can take it. Then there's the gems like these two questions I got in May 09: - Name 2 fossil fuels; - CO2 is a green house gas, name another one". This comment can be seen on the following linked website:
 http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1330689

Male performance compared to female at languages can be seen at the below linked website. The website shows grade distributions for males at females for the Australian Victorian Certificate of Education. Most subjects have two written exams and one set of coursework to be taken. The overall mark per subject is for the exams, plus coursework. Out of the 101 main subjects listed, 41 are languages, including English. Out of these 41 languages, boys only beat girls at three: Latin, German and French. Note though that the numbers of students taking Latin, German or French is low. In all English language subjects, girls beat boys.
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/statistics/2009/statssect3.html

It is required in the IBDP that students must take six subjects, one from each group of 1-5 and either one from group 6 or a permitted substitute from one of the other groups. Groups 1 and 2 are languages, including the student’s native language. Other subjects in which boys are generally better than girls for example advanced maths, complex physics etc are not mandatory. Further information can be seen in the following linked website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IB_Diploma_Programme#Core_requirements_and_subject_groups

The below table is taken from information on the assessment performance of boys and girls at the Victorian Certificate of Education in 2009, A+, A and B+ grades (link shown above):

"English" is a mandatory subject taken by all students. Note that the content of the subjects above except for English have been "Dumbed down" to allow students of lower ability to get higher grades.

As the overall mark mark is dependant on marks gained from each section, statistically, boys will thus on average do worse than girls. The obvious solution to this problem is to make the study of a language non-mandatory in the IBDP and its Australian version. Alternatively make it mandatory to study just a basic element of English, but not to count the assessment mark obtained as a part of the overall mark.

CONCLUSION

From the above, it can be seen that presently boys are being discriminated against in education and this is resulting in males being pushed out of te majority of the professions in Australia. Action needs to be carried out urgently to address this situation for many reasons. The reason why this issue has not come to the public attention, is that most males blame the fact that they did not do better at school on themselves, i.e. “I did not work at school, but I wish that I had”. What these males do not realise is that they have been manipulated into not doing very well at school by Australian education systems.

It is recommended that secondary education curriculums in Australia follow the format and method of assessment used by the Cambridge IGCSE. The Cambridge IGCSE is a qualification taken and respected around the world and is known for being gender neutral in assessment results. The Cambridge IGCSE is known as an academically demanding qualification, however the tailoring of its content needs to occur in Australia, to allow it to be taken by boys and girls of age 17 instead of at 16, as it is presently designed. Note that Cambridge International Exams did offer the HIGCSE which is designed to be taken by students at the age of 17, i.e year 12 but this has now been withdrawn.

A simple solution to the problem of boys being pushed out of the professions in Australia  may simply be to allow boys to do the HIGCSE instead of each state's own qualifications. In this case, Cambrige International Exams could be approached to start this qualification up again and universities in Australia asked to review the qualification for acceptance to do undergraduate studies.

An alternative approach for boy's private/independant schools could be the taking of an O level in English in year 11 and then three GCE A levels in year 12, with training for these exams starting in year 9-10. An easier approach would be to use the accepted US qualifications, e.g. from the or from the University of NSW: "Applicants must have undertaken SATs (Math & Verbal) or ACTs, and provide proof of graduation from High School".

It is also recommended that young boys are initially taught to read and write using Synthetic Phonics and that older/teenage boys attend lessons using Synthetic Phonics over a number of weeks, in a course tailored towards their age group. The use of Synthetic Phonics has been proven to significantly reduce the gap in reading and writing performance between the genders.


SECTION 2

HOW TO BIAS A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM TO ENSURE THAT ONE GENDER DOES BETTER THAN THE OTHER

INTRODUCTION

The intent of this section is that once finalised, marks can be awarded to a high school curriculum and the way that it is assessed, to see if it is biased towards boys or girls. Parents of boys and girls can use this section to decide on the type of school to send their children and which curriculum should be studied. Ministers responsible for education and Educators can use this section to assess their educational systems and assign gender bias ratings.

Note that awarded marks are subject to some interpretation and thus a positive or negative rating will show if an education system is geared towards girls or boys, but the extent will be open to minor interpretation.

DISCUSSION

Pre - 1985, boys generally did better than girls in high school (secondary school) education systems in most OECD countries. In many OECD countries such as England and Australia, educational curriculums, methods of teaching, classroom structures etc were investigated with the aim to improve the performance of girls. This was done to get more females into the work force and to achieve higher pay parity with males. The result is that now in many OECD countries, girls generally do better than boys in high school education.

METHODS FOR GENDER BIASING EDUCATION SYSTEMS

Gender biasing high school education systems uses the following established general social trends. Note that these trends are based on an average random cross sample of boys and girls and there will always be exceptions:

1. Girls are better than boys at languages.
2. Girls reach a level of maturity 1-1.5 years before boys in their late teens.
3. Girls tend to study and read more than boys and put more work into assignments.
4. Girls are better than boys at explaining their emotions, talking and writing related essays.
5. Girls on average have better memories than boys for particular areas.
7. Girls on average have a higher emotional intelligence than boys.
6. Boys are better than girls at complex subjects such as physics and maths.
7. Boys are better than girls at visual interpretation, e.g. translating a 2D drawing into 3D,
reading maps etc.
8. Boys are better than girls at tasks that require manual dexterity.
9. Boys are better than girls at machine logic, design and repair.
10. Boys are generally stronger than girls, can run faster etc.
11. Boys are greater risk takers than girls.
12. Boys perform better under stress than girls in for example, exams.
13. There are more boys than girls with IQ's of above 125. The higher the IQ, the more boys outnumber girls. The same is true for lower IQ's, i.e. there are more with an IQ of below 90 than girls (See the Bell Curve above). Therefore the more complex the subject, the more likely that the number of boys will exceed the number of girls.

Bearing the above in mind, high school education systems thus use the following methods to bias the result towards girls or boys. The factors are listed and rated below from most important to least in terms of impact on the outcome.

BIAS A SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM TOWARDS GIRLS

1. For very young girls and boys, use Analytic Phonics to teach English or the countries’ native language. Have combined girl and boy classes. Set reading and writing work that is within the achievement of the girls, but not the boys. This will then have the effect on the boys that they will regard education as “For girls” and will often be de-motivated with it for life. (Analytic Phonics gives reduced English performance for girls and boys, but affects boys negatively by a much greater percentage than girls. Synthetic Phonics should be used). (RATING = 13).

2. Make coursework a large contributing factor to the final mark, for subjects that are used as entrance qualifications to tertiary education, such as universities. (RATING =12) .

3. Organise the school education system such that an overall performance grade is given across all subjects taken, make English mandatory and give English punctuation and spelling a high weighting. (RATING =11).

4. Make complex subjects such as Maths and Physics easy, i.e. keep the complexity low. (RATING =10).

5. Make exam questions essay discussion style, involving limited factual content, but requiring empathy, emotions and opinions. (RATING = 9).

6. Provide formulae tables for exams in Maths, Physics etc and make subjects such as History, “Open book”. (This further reduces the complexity of otherwise complex subjects). (RATING =8).

7. Make exams modular style and taken over two years rather than just at the end of two years.This reduces the stress and complexity of exams. (RATING =7).

8. Mark coursework and exams in an open manner, i.e. “There is no wrong answer”; if the essay looks good, award high marks. (RATING = 6).

9. Have single sex girl’s schools and co-educational girls and boys schools. (Girls and boys perform better academically in single sex schools). (RATING = 5).

10. 90% of the teachers should be female. (Some female teachers give preferential treatment to girls over boys in a co-education environment. Feminist Teachers are well known and present in high school education). (RATING = 4).

11. Final exams which are used to assess a girl’s entrance to university should be taken at a comparatively young age, e.g. 17 (The younger the age, the less developed is the boy’s brain and mental abilities, as the saying “Girls mature faster than boys” has been proven as being true. On average, boys IQ’s continue to increase after a girl’s IQ has reached its peak. Boy’s IQ’s on average, reach their peak, post teenage). (RATING =3).

12. Use female friendly teaching methods, e.g. pick books on romance for discussion in a co-educational environment which will interest girls and bore boys. (RATING =2).

13. Teachers should encourage the girls to do well and discourage the boys. (There are documented cases of this activity occurring). (RATING =1).

BIAS A SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM TOWARDS BOYS

1. For very young girls and boys, use Synthetic Phonics and not Analytic Phonics to teach English or the country’s native language. Have combined girl and boy classes. (RATING = -13).

2. Make coursework a non-contributing factor to the final mark, for subjects that are used as entrance qualifications to tertiary education, such as universities. (RATING = -12).

3. Organise the high school education system so that a small number of individual subjects contribute to the required marks/rating to enter university, e.g. English Advanced levels, where a boy can for example study physics, maths, chemistry and biology and enter medicine Thus a boy’s poorer performance in English compared to girls due to the use of Analytic Phonics, is not counted. (RATING = -11)

4. Make subjects such as Maths, Physics and Chemistry complex. (RATING =-10).

5. Make exam questions factual style and require a demonstration of the understanding of these facts and how they can be applied in a given situation. Multiple choice with a penalty for getting the wrong answer to be used. Keep essays short and factual. (RATING = -9).

6. All exams to be closed book with no formulae tables provided. (RATING = -8).

7. Exams to be taken at the end of the two + year’s period and not done at the end of each year. (RATING = -7).

8. Mark exams in a closed manner, requiring facts to be stated and their understanding and application demonstrated. (RATING = - 6).

9. Have single boy’s schools and co-educational girls and boys schools. (Girls and boys perform better academically in single sex schools. Girls also distract boys when teenagers, and some boys assume more “macho” attitudes including looking down on education). (RATING = -5)

10. > 90% of the teachers should be male to act as role models, who use a more disciplinary approach (Boys benefit from being told what to do by a Teacher whom they respect). These teachers should also encourage the boys to compete with each other to get the best marks. (RATING = - 4).

11. Final exams which are used to assess a boy’s entrance to university should be taken at a higher age, e.g. 18-19. (The younger the age, the less developed is the boy’s brain and mental abilities, as the saying “Girls mature faster than boys” has been proven as being true. On average, boy’s IQ’s continue to increase after a girl’s IQ has reached its peak. Boy’s IQ’s on average, reach their peak, post teenage. (RATING =-3).

12. Use boy friendly teaching methods, e.g. pick books on adventure and travel, stress visual rather than auditory methods. (RATING = -2).

13. Allow boys to burn up their energy and thus concentrate better by incorporating sports activities, mid morning, lunch and mid afternoon breaks. Provide ample room for the boys to play outside. (RATING = -1).

HOW TO ASSIGN RATINGS

From the above, the ratings assigned can thus be used to measure the degree to which a high school education system is geared towards one gender or the other. For a bias towards girls, assign a positive number as shown. For a bias towards boys, assign a negative number as shown. Where a rating is only partially applicable, award half positive or negative marks. Where it is unknown what method is applied, award a mark of zero.

Add the two ratings together as shown in the examples below. An education system unbiased towards either sex should therefore have a rating of 0.

EXAMPLE 1: THE AUSTRALIAN NEW SOUTH WALES HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE AND VICTORIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

The NSW HSC and VCE are taken at age 17-18. The HSC/VCE is made up of a number of subjects, each of which get a precribed weighting, which changes on a yearly basis. This individual weighting is mainly used to stop students from selecting all easy subjects, where they would get the highest mark and thus the highest overall mark. The overall mark is used by universities as a selection criteria along with particular subjects, for particular degrees. The study of English in the HSC/VCE is mandatory and it is well documented that girls do better than boys on average at HSC/VCE English. In an effort to address this gender imbalance, advanced maths used to be given a high weighting in the HSC, knowing that boys are on average, better than girls at HSC advanced maths. This practice was discontinued seveal years ago. The higher weighting for advanced maths was never giver in the VCE.

BIAS TOWARDS GIRLS

Analytic Phonics to teach English. (RATING = 13).
Coursework. (RATING = 12).
English punctuation and spelling a high weighting. (RATING =11).
Make complex subjects such as maths and physics easy. (RATING = 10).
Make exam questions essay discussion style. (RATING = 4.5).
Provide formulae tables for exams in Maths, Physics etc. (RATING = 8).
Make exams modular style. (RATING = 0).
Mark coursework and exams in an open manner. (RATING = 6).
Have single sex girl’s schools. (RATING = 2.5).
Greater than 90% of the teachers should be female. (RATING = 4).
Final exams which are used to assess a girl’s entrance. (RATING = 3).
Use female friendly teaching methods. (RATING = 1).
Teachers should encourage the girls to do well and discourage the boys. (RATING = 0.5).
Overall score = 75.5 (i.e a bias towards girls)

BIAS TOWARDS BOYS

Use Synthetic Phonics. (RATING = 13).
Make coursework a non-contributing factor. (RATING = 12).
Small number of subjects contribute to the final required marks. (RATING = 11).
Make subjects such as maths, physics and chemistry complex. (RATING = -5).
Make exam questions factual style. (RATING = -4.5).
All exams to be closed book. (RATING = 8).
Exams to be taken at the end of the two + year’s period. (RATING = -7).
Mark exams in a closed manner. (RATING = 0).
Have single sex boy’s schools and co-educational girls and boys schools. (RATING = -2.5).
90% of the teachers should be male. (RATING = 4).
Final exams taken at a higher age, e.g. 18-19. (RATING =3).
Use boy friendly teaching methods. (RATING = -1).
Allow boys to burn up their energy. (RATING = -1).
Overall score = 30 (i.e. a bias towards girls).

Therefore for the NSW HSC and VCE, the bias = 75.5 + 30 = 105.5 (i.e. a bias towards girls).

 EXAMPLE 2: English GCSE’s

The English GCSE’s are usually taken at the age of 16 are not used for entrance to university. GCSE’s replaced O levels (see next section). GCSE’s are presently being revised to remove the need for coursework contributing to the final mark, due to wide spread internet based cheating, i.e. you can pay a somebody to do your coursework for you or copy from a range of other people’s answers. GCSE’s are known for being very easy and many students gain a very high mark without the need for any study. It has been stated by more intelligent students that “The only way that you could make GCSE exams easier, would be to provide writen answers on the back of the question paper”.

BIAS TOWARDS GIRLS

Analytic Phonics to teach English. (RATING = 13).
Coursework. (RATING = 6).
English punctuation and spelling a high weighting. (RATING = 0).
Subjects such as Maths and Physics easy. (RATING = 10).
Make exam questions essay discussion style. (RATING = 9).
Provide formulae tables for exams in Maths, Physics etc. (RATING = 8).
Make exams modular style. (RATING = -7).
Mark coursework and exams in an open manner. (RATING = 3).
Have single sex girl’s schools. (RATING = 0).
90% of the teachers should be female. (RATING = 4).
Final exams which are used to assess a girl’s entrance. (RATING = 0).
Use female friendly teaching methods. (RATING = 2).
Teachers should encourage the girls to do well and discourage the boys. (RATING = 0).
Biased towards girls rating for English GCSE’s = 48 (i.e. a bias towards girls)

BIAS TOWARDS BOYS

Use Synthetic Phonics. (RATING = 13).
Make coursework a non-contributing factor. (RATING = -6).
Small number of subjects contributes to the final required marks. (RATING = - 11).
Make subjects such as maths, physics and chemistry complex. (RATING = 10).
Make exam questions factual style. (RATING = 9).
All exams to be closed book. (RATING = 8).
Exams to be taken at the end of the two + year’s period. (RATING = -7).
Mark exams in a closed manner. (RATING = 6).
Have single sex boy’s schools and co-educational girls and boys schools. (RATING = 0).
> 90% of the teachers should be male. (RATING = 4).
Final exams taken at a higher age, e.g. 18-19. (RATING = 3).
Use boy friendly teaching methods. (RATING = 2).
Allow boys to burn up their energy. (RATING = 1).
Biased towards boys rating for GCSE’s = 32 (i.e. a bias towards girls)

Therefore for English GCSE’s, the bias = 48+ 32 = 80 (i.e. a bias towards girls).

EXAMPLE 3: Pre-1985 Ordinary Levels (O Levels)

Ordinary Levels (usually referred to as “O levels”), were taken by mainly 16 year old students in England prior to 1985. Usually 8-9 O levels were taken in subjects such as Physics, Maths, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, History, Geography, Biology, Economics etc. If a student did well, they often went on to study A levels that were taken at the age of 18 and then went to college/university. O levels are no longer taken in England, but are still taken in other parts of the world. O levels were also usually taken by the top 20% of students in terms of academic performance. More boys took O levels than girls. Pre-1985, Synthetic Phonics was much more widely used than Analytic Phonics pre-1985, but varied with the indivual teacher.

BIAS TOWARDS GIRLS

Analytic Phonics to teach English. (RATING = 0).
Make coursework a contributing factor. (RATING = -12).
English punctuation and spelling a high weighting. (RATING = -5.5).
Subjects such as Maths and Physics easy. (RATING = -10).
Make exam questions essay discussion style. (RATING = -9).
Provide formulae tables for exams in Maths, Physics etc. (RATING = -8).
Make exams modular style. (RATING = -7).
Mark coursework and exams in an open manner. (RATING = -6).
Have single sex girl’s schools. (RATING = 0).
90% of the teachers should be female. (RATING = 0).
Final exams which are used to assess a girl’s entrance. (RATING = 0).
Use female friendly teaching methods. (RATING = 0).
Teachers should encourage the girls to do well and discourage the boys. (RATING = 0).
Biased towards girls rating for O levels= - 57.5

BIAS TOWARDS BOYS

Use Synthetic Phonics. (RATING = 0).
Make coursework a non-contributing factor. (RATING = -12).
Small number of subjects contribute to the final required marks. (RATING = 0).
Make subjects such as maths, physics and chemistry complex. (RATING = -10).
Make exam questions factual style. (RATING = -9).
All exams to be closed book. (RATING = -8).
Exams to be taken at the end of the two + year's period. (RATING = -7).
Mark exams in a closed manner. (RATING = -6).
Have single sex boy’s schools and co-educational girls and boys schools. (RATING = 0).
90% of the teachers should be male. (RATING = 0).
Final exams taken at a higher age, e.g. 18-19. (RATING =0).
Use boy friendly teaching methods. (RATING = 0).
Allow boys to burn up their energy. (RATING = 1).
Biased towards boys rating for O levels = -51

Therefore for English O levels, the bias = -57.5 -51 = - 108.5 (i.e. a bias towards boys).

Another scenario worth consideration is trade school, which is known by many different names around the world. Trade school is attended predominantly by males with a few subjects being the exception, e.g. hair dressing. Trade school emphasises practical skills to be used in a trade and has minimal requirements for English essays etc. If an education authority wanted to bias a high school education system in favour of boys to a high degree, an obvious way would be to make the study of car maintenance, building and welding for example mandatory and assess these subjects by written and practical exam. Then give the former subjects a high weighting in the final high school certificate!

In order to make a gender neutral high school education system, factors from the above can be selected. For example, a subject can be assessed by a choice of final exam and coursework, or final exam and an additional exam in the place of coursework.


CONCLUSION

There are many reasons why high school education systems should not be set up to favour one sex over the other, apart from it being discrimination and against human rights. There are a number of ways to structure an education system to make it gender neutral, but what might be the best solution is to make a number of different subjects available to boys and girls, geared towards one sex as above. The taking of any of these subjects should not be compulsory. Girls could of course do subjects geared towards boys and vice versa. Thus:

Physics geared toward girls:
Would be taught by a female teacher in a single sex school using female friendly teaching methods.
Assessed mainly by coursework, but with also the exams structured as below.
Modular exams.
Exam questions consisting mainly of discussive essays and questions, with formulae sheets provided and semi open book.
The overall complexity would be lower than “Physics geared towards boys”.

Physics geared towards boys:
Would be taught by a male teacher in a single sex school school using male friendly teaching methods.
Assessed by exam only, as structured as below.
.Final exam at the end of the course.
The exam would consist of multiple choice and short factual questions requiring short to medium length factual answers, no formulae sheets provided.
The overall complexity would be higher than “Physics geared towards girls”.

Geography geared toward girls:
Would be taught by a female teacher in a single sex school, using female friendly teaching methods.
Assessed mainly by coursework but also with the exams structured as below.
Modular exams.
Exams partly open book, exam questions consisting mainly of discussive essays and questions.
The overall complexity would be kept lower than for “Geography geared towards boys”.

Geography geared towards boys:
Would be taught by a male teacher in a single sex school, using male friendly teaching methods.
Assessed by exam only, as structured as below.
Final exam at the end of the course.
Exam closed book, consisting of multiple choice questions and questions requiring short factual essays.
The overall complexity would be higher than “Geography geared towards girls”.


REFERENCES 

In writing this document, several sources of information have been use, some of which links are provided to below. It was found that there is much material that discusses the problem, sometimes as a result of a multitude of commissions, committees and government directives/policies, but not much that proposes tangible solutions.

Interviews and feedback from teachers and people who mark exam papers. The author's own experience, having completed an exam only, externally assessed secondary education at a boy's school, a BSc (Hons) and a Graduate Diploma, as well as having some experience in teaching. Feedback from a person who runs some websites that provide the writing of coursework services for schoolchildren/students. Feedback from a family member who marks secondary school exam papers. Interviews and feedback from male and female school children and professionals from various disciplines, of varying ages and from various countries.

Online Documents:

The first link is to an interesting article from a respected person. However, only a minor suggestion is given as a solution and note that this article was written in 2001.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200101/ai_n8936347/?tag=content;col1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madsen_Pirie

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/pdf/literacy/rjohnston_phonics.pdf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/yourview/1520897/Have-exams-been-dumbed-down.html

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/sep2000/educ-s02.shtml

http://www.earlhamsociologypages.co.uk/genddata.html

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=394335

www.ofsted.gov.uk/.../Boys'%20achievement%20in%20secondary%20schools%20

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/pdf/052ENindicateurs/052ENXX010E28x0102f.pdf

http://www.cerge.cuni.cz/pdf/wp/Wp371.pdf

http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/bos_stats/

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/4666/1/Gender_and_Student_Achievement_in_English_Schools.pdf

http://www.oecd.org/document/24/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_43586328_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://www.cie.org.uk/docs/profiles/media/About%20CIE%20Media%20Information%20Sheet.pdf

http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications/syllabus_materials

http://distancelearn.about.com/lw/Education/Home-schooling-Nontraditiona/SAT-College-Admissions-Exam.htm

http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/courses/preclin/statistics

www.cie.org.uk/docs/dynamic/30903.pdf

www.hepi.ac.uk/files/41Maleandfemaleparticipation.pdf

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/16/1087244966197.html

http://www.theibsc.org/page.cfm?p=900

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/4324497/A-levels-destroyed-by-Government-interference.html

MESSAGE TO INDIAN STUDENTS CONSIDERING STUDYING A DEGREE OR ABOVE IN AUSTRALIA

Many requests for advice regarding the safety and suitability for male Indian students to do degrees in Australia have been received. Australia is generally a relatively safe country and no comments can be made with any accuracy, in regards to the level of violence towards Indian students. However degrees in Australia are often geared towards female preferred methods of learning and assessment, which is not the case for countries such as Singapore.

Last updated 4 October 2010