Traditional views on gender roles harm school performance

(CS) Teenage boys are more likely to underperform at school when they express attitudes in support of traditional male/female gender roles, researchers at the University of Luxembourg have found.

For their study the group talked to 872 students, mainly aged 13 to 14, at a school in Switzerland. They raised data through questionnaires, group discussions and video observation, comparing their behaviour at school with their exam and class work results.

It emerged that boys who are performing less well at school felt alienated and distant, unsure of why school is useful. However, as many girls as boys expressed similar attitudes, without them showing the same kind of negative effect on their results.

Both girls and boys with traditional views on male/female gender roles were found to perform less well at school. However, traditional views were far less prevalent among the female students. Boys who believed that men should be in charge were more disruptive in class, leading to poorer performance.

Other factors hindering school performance were found to be peer-group attitudes and the socio-economic background of students.

Whatever the reasons for boys performing less well at school, the team of researchers from the University of Luxembourg found that underachieving boys responded best to authoritative teaching styles, with a “structured and caring but controlling approach.”

Teachers with a more authoritative styles were perceived to be more interest in their students, giving them guidance and being available to help with problems. A more hands-off approach on the other hand ran the risk of making students feel even more estranged from school.

“This research demonstrates that teachers need to be flexible in the way they deal with different personalities,” commented Professor Andreas Hadjar.

The findings of the study were recently published in the journal Masculinities and Social Change.