Talking Points #7

Gender and Education

It is evident that some sources today believe that separation of the sexes in public school is crucial to the education of students. They believe that the education of the two very different genders should be approached differently catering to the learning styles of each sex. While this is a valid suggestion, I believe that the social interaction between boys and girls in school is vital. If the girls and boys are segregated from each other in school when they are young, and where learning from each other can take place, when they join "the real world" they will have a rude awakening. The stakes are higher outside of school. In the working world, men and women need to learn how to coexist. If people don't learn to do this at a young age it can create social awkwardness in adulthood.

I found a video online about the differences between girls and boys in school. It was a sociology project by some students. The background music is semi annoying but the video in itself is interesting, but I do suggest muting it.



The video talks about how girls might tend to feel more comfortable in a classroom setting because the field of education is mainly dominated by women. Many children have women teachers throughout their education and for female student having that automatic "ally" in class might already set the stage for success.

The video also mentions boys not doing as well in school because they are afraid of blowing their image as a tough guy. This kind of reminds me of the movie Grease, the part where Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta, is talking to Sandy, Olivia Newton John, and he is excited to see her. He talks to her in a way that would show that he likes her. However, when Danny's friends, the T-Birds, nudge him he snaps out of it and quickly backtracks in order to sound cool in front of his friends. He ends up insulting Sandy and she becomes upset. She says "What happened to the Danny Zuko I met at the beach?"

Yet the same can be said for girls...I'm not excusing girls from this stereotype. This was just the example that stuck out in my head. In the movie Mean Girls, Cady Heron, played by Lindsay Lohan, pretends to be bad at math so that the smart, cute guy in class will tutor her. Image, whether in the classroom or just in social interactions, can be a major influence on people young or old, female or male.

Also, I just have to say from my own experiences as a student, almost all of my classes were dominated by girls...sorry boys. When I took Honors and AP courses in high school there was an even more overwhelming majority of girls over boys in class. Even now in college, most of my classes, not even just educational directed courses, have more girls.

I have often wondered why this is so.