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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

Determined to Succeed? Maturation, Motivation and Gender Gaps in Educational Achievement

Alternative title: Med grunn til å lykkes? Modenhet, motivasjon og kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner

Awarded: NOK 12.4 mill.

Project Number:

283603

Application Type:

Project Period:

2019 - 2025

Partner countries:

The project aims to further our understanding of why boys may be lagging behind girls, or, in other words, why girls seem to be doing consistently better than boys in school. The project also studies the consequences of this gender gap for further education and labor market outcomes. The project combines insights from various disciplines: sociology, economics, political science and medical science. This summary focuses on central publications and ongoing research and dissemination activities carried out in 2023. The project consists of three main parts. In Part I, the maturation channel, we study to what extent the timing of maturation for girls and boys can help explain the gender achievement gap in education. We also analyze the interplay between the gender difference in maturity and educational tracking, as well as potential consequences of these gender differences for later education and labor market outcomes. In the CESifo working paper “Ready for School? Effects on School Starters of Establishing School Psychology Offices in Norway” (2023), Martin Flatø and colleagues consider the long-term impacts of establishing school psychology offices in Norway, which introduced “maturity testing” to advice parents and school boards on school starting age. They find that children born close to the normative age cut-off who reached school-starting age after the establishment were more likely to finish compulsory schooling late, and experienced higher earnings as adults, particularly among boys. In Part II, the motivation channel, we study education as investment. Among other things, we study to what extent the gender gap in educational achievement can be explained by systematic variation in the value of education in gender segregated labor markets. In 2023, Liza Reisel and Sara Seehuus published the infographic brief «Are Gender Gaps in Education Leaving Less Educated Men Behind in the Labor Market?» based on analyses of Norwegian population wide register data from 1980 to 2020. Comparing the median incomes of men and women with different levels of education, they find a general pattern where women’s income at a particular education level is similar to the income of men at the education level below. The brief also shows that for young men and women without upper secondary diplomas, employment decreased considerably in the period 1993-2019. In recent years, more young men than young women are without upper secondary diplomas. For all other education levels, including for young men and women with upper secondary diplomas, income has increased and employment levels have been stable. In the motivation channel subproject, we have also worked on analyses of a longitudinal survey among lower secondary school students in Oslo, linked to population based registries following the respondents until age 28. Preliminary findings presented at the International Sociological Association World Congress in 2023, show that the gender gap in GPA is interlinked with boys and girls’ gender-typical occupational aspirations. The gender gap in higher education completion is also associated with gendered occupational aspirations. The findings indicate that controlled for GPA in 10th grade, gendered occupational aspirations of students in lower secondary school explain more than a third of the gender gap in higher education completion by age 28. Finally, Part III investigates the political and historical context of the gender gaps in education. In one of the articles, Mari Teigen and Cathrine Holst compare the policy debate about gender gaps in education in Norway and Sweden. The article «The 'boy problem' in public policy» is accepted for publication in Politics & Policy. A central finding is that despite similarities across the two countries, there were significant national differences in justice conceptions in the policy documents. The paper discusses why this difference in problem conceptualization occurs, emphasizing variation in the mandates, organization and knowledge-seeking strategies of the commissions, but also the different intellectual and political paths of Swedish and Norwegian feminism and gender equality ideology. The project co-organized a research seminar with Dr. Richard V. Reeves, the author of the acclaimed book “Of Boys and Men”, 12. October 2023, where we invited a large group of researchers working on questions of men’s equity in education, work, health and fertility. Several of the studies from the project were presented. Liza Reisel, Fartein Ask Torvik, Camilla Stoltenberg and Martin Flatø, as well as several of the other project participants regularly participate in important arenas for research dissemination in dialogue with policy makers and stakeholders. Central contributions are the public commissions on Men's Equity, the Expert group on inequality, and two public commission reports on gender inequality in education and gender inequality among children and youth, and the related public debates.

In most industrialised countries, including Norway, women have surpassed men with respect to academic achievement and educational attainment. Female students outperform male students in terms of grades in lower secondary education, in terms of both grades and graduation in upper secondary education, and in terms of recruitment into, completion of, and performance in higher education. Boys are overrepresented among those who drop out of upper secondary school, while girls constitute about 60 per cent of the students at most Norwegian universities. Attention to the gender gaps in education has increased as a response to a concern about the labour market prospects of poorly performing boys, in a context where the demand for skilled labour is higher than ever before. The proposed project aims to further our understanding of the relative underperformance of boys and men in the education system, as well as the relative success of girls and women. The project will consist of three main parts: In Part I, the maturation channel, we aim to assess how important the different timing of maturation for girls and boys is for explaining the gender achievement gap in education. We use direct biological measures for maturity, based on survey data. We will furthermore analyse the interplay between the gender difference in maturity at the end of compulsory education, and the educational tracking taking place at this stage. In Part II, the motivation channel, we study education as investment. Using cross-national data on academic performance and labour market outcomes, we will study how the gender gap in educational achievement is related to the labour market prospects of young men and women. Finally, Part III investigates the national and international policy debates about the gender gap in education, as well as the historical development of the phenomenon over the course of the 20th century, in order to create a better understanding of what problem we are attempting to solve.

Publications from Cristin

No publications found

Funding scheme:

FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren