By Philip Jones
Last week, The Associated Press proudly reported that in the `largest` study of it’s kind, where Mathematics is concerned, girls are now as `tough` as boys. This last bastion of male dominance in education has been breached. Janet Hyde, of the University of Wisconsin Madison, who led the study said, ” Girls have now achieved gender parity on standardised Maths Tests”.
This relentless war on all fronts against the masculine has been raging for many decades now, not least in our schools and universities. I find myself asking “What is the `Femi` Brigade’s` Endgame” ?. Is it to grow a penis on a baby girl and thus perfect the androgynous being they seem intent on creating by all means at their disposal ?
Before I digress and go off on one of my `rants`, let’s examine this business with maths and education more closely. As some might know by now, I am British, so I will continue this article based on what is happening in my own sad country.
In August, when the GCSE results come out, it is highly likely that, once again, girls will have beaten the boys at the examination game.
For years now, girls have been taking the lion’s share of success in public examinations. This year’s A and AS-level results were further evidence of the trend. Girls out-performed boys in almost every subject.
They took nearly 47,000 more subjects than boys at A-level, and nearly 91,000 more at AS level. And in both exams, they achieved a higher proportion than boys of A grades in almost every subject.
Of course, it is good news that girls are doing so well. But it is worrying that boys seem to be slipping further and further behind. For this trend isn’t confined to the high-fliers passing exams. At the bottom of the system, the drop-out rate among boys is causing serious concern.
The reason is nothing other than the wholesale feminisation of the education system. In GCSEs, A-levels and – increasingly – degree courses too, coursework accounts for an ever greater proportion of the final marks. This in itself favours girls.
Boys tend to like ‘sudden death’ exams. They like taking risks, pitting their wits against the odds. Girls don’t. They prefer to work steadily and conscientiously without gambling against memory, the clock and questions from hell. Which is why at degree level boys have until now achieved more firsts and thirds than girls who tend to get safe, if dull, seconds. Continue reading →