The ABC of Gender Equality
in Education:
Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence
OECD EMPLOYER
BRAND
Playbook
Andreas Schleicher
Washington,
4 March 2014
1
2
2
Educational attainment
Measured in the most common metric - years of
schooling - the industrialised world essentially
closed the educational gender gap in the 1960s
And about half of the economic growth in OECD countries over
the past 50 years has been due to increased educational attainment,
mainly among women
Years of schooling over the 20th century
OECD average
12
11
Average years of schooling
10
Men
Women
9
8
About half of the economic
growth in OECD countries over the
past 50 years has been due to
increased educational attainment,
and mainly among women
7
6
5
Source: Barro and Lee, 2013.
1976-80
1971-75
1966-70
1961-65
1956-60
1951-55
1946-50
1941-45
1936-40
1931-35
1926-30
1921-25
1916-20
1911-15
1906-10
1901-05
1896-1900
4
Gender difference in performance
(15-year-olds)
Score point difference (boys-girls)
40
30
Reading
Mathematics
Science
Boys perform better
20
10
0
-10
-20
Girls perform better
-30
-40
-50
OECD average
United States
Even though boys and girls show similar average performance in
science, boys are more likely to be top and bottom performers
Average
Score -point
difference
(B-G)
30
Lowest performers
Highest performers
Boys perform better than girls
20
10
0
-10
-20
Girls perform better than boys
-30
Science
Source: Figure 1.6
Identifying scientific Explaining phenomena
issues
scientifically
Using scientific
evidence
16
16
Aptitude, behaviour confidence
Despite major progress in closing gender gaps, we
need to find new ways to address the social and
emotional aspects of opening childrens' minds to
their abilities and future careers
Boys are more confident in their abilities in science
than girls (OECD average)
Boys
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Learning
I can usually give
advanced school good answers to
science topics test questions on
would be easy for school science
me
topics
Source: Figure 3.8
I learn school
science topics
quickly
Girls
School science When I am being
I can easily
topics are easy for taught school
understand new
me
science, I can
ideas in school
understand the
science
concepts very well
30
-40
Liechtenstein
Argentina
Norway
Iceland
Sweden
Qatar
Jordan
Slovenia
Switzerland
Lithuania
United States
France
Finland
New Zealand
Korea
Netherlands
Australia
Canada
Denmark
Belgium
Azerbaijan
Turkey
Latvia
Tunisia
Thailand
Bulgaria
United Kingdom
OECD average
Czech Republic
Greece
Austria
Chinese Taipei
Serbia
Ireland
Estonia
Macao-China
Hong Kong-China
Japan
Germany
Italy
Spain
Kyrgyzstan
Romania
Montenegro
Croatia
Slovak Republic
Poland
Luxembourg
Uruguay
Mexico
Russian Federation
Hungary
Portugal
Israel
Brazil
Colombia
Chile
Indonesia
If the highest-achieving boys and girls were equally confident
about their ability in science, the gender gap in performance
would narrow -- or even invert
Score-point
difference
(B-G)
Source: Figure 3.11
Gender difference
Gender difference after accounting for gender differences in science self-beliefs
Boys perform better in science than girls
20
10
0
-10
-20
-30
Girls perform better in science than boys
Girls are more anxious towards mathematics than boys
(OECD average)
Boys
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Girls
I often worry that it I get very tense when I get very nervous I feel helpless when I worry that I will get
will be difficult for me
I have to do
doing mathematics doing a mathematics
poor marks in
in mathematics
mathematics
problems
problem
mathematics
classes
homework
Source: Figure 3.10
29
29
Aptitude and confidence
Career choices seem to reflect attitude and
confidence more than performance
This is significant not only because women are severely underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) fields of study and occupations, but also because graduates of
these fields are in high demand in the labour market and because jobs
in these fields are among the most highly paid.
0
24
20
15
17
17
16
15
14
13
15
13
18
13
12
14
13
13
13
12
11
12
12
12
14
10
11
11
11
11
10
11
10
9
9
11
11
10
9
9
9
10
9
11
8
8
7
12
8
8
9
6
6
5
5
5
5
Percentage
of all
students
who expect
a career in
engineering
or
computing
Jordan
Poland
Slovenia
Mexico
Colombia
Chile
Portugal
Spain
Slovak Republic
Latvia
Chinese Taipei
Thailand
Italy
Russian Federation
Turkey
Czech Republic
Norway
Greece
Hungary
Canada
Lithuania
Belgium
Argentina
Estonia
France
OECD average
Ireland
Serbia
Brazil
Croatia
Romania
Luxembourg
United States
Australia
Uruguay
Israel
Sweden
Japan
Austria
Switzerland
Tunisia
Germany
Iceland
Hong Kong-China
Denmark
United Kingdom
Bulgaria
Korea
New Zealand
Indonesia
Finland
Macao-China
Kyrgyzstan
Azerbaijan
Netherlands
Montenegro
Far more boys than girls expect to have a
career in engineering or computing
Boys
Source: Figure 4.11
Girls
%
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
24
23
22
20
20
19
20
17
19
17
16
16
16
18
16
19
15
14
14
13
13
14
15
12
11
12
11
11
10
10
12
11
8
10
9
11
10
9
8
8
10
8
9
8
8
10
9
6
8
9
7
6
5
5
6
7
Percentage
of all
students who
expect a
career in
health
services
Kyrgyzstan
Colombia
Brazil
United States
Chile
Canada
Tunisia
Portugal
Israel
Uruguay
France
Azerbaijan
Indonesia
Bulgaria*
Thailand
Jordan*
Iceland
Argentina
New Zealand
Spain
Slovenia
Ireland
Mexico
Japan
Poland
Serbia
Denmark
OECD average
Romania
Norway
Italy
Australia
Switzerland
Croatia
Netherlands
Turkey
United Kingdom
Finland
Russian Federation
Sweden
Montenegro
Lithuania
Belgium
Austria
Germany
Hong Kong-China*
Greece
Estonia
Luxembourg
Macao-China
Hungary
Slovak Republic
Czech Republic
Latvia
Korea
Chinese Taipei*
Far more girls than boys expect to have a
career in health services
%
Boys
Source: Figure 4.12
Girls
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
33
33
Closing the gaps
What's needed is neither extensive
nor expensive reform but a concerted effort
by parents, teachers and employers
What parents can do
Parents are more likely to expect their sons, rather
than their daughters, to enter a STEM career – even
when boys and girls perform equally well in school
Percentage of students whose parents expect that they will work in STEM occupations
33
30
33
Girls
30
Gender gap
25
24
40
22
30
14
20
7
11
Macao-China (10)
50
Boys
Korea (7)
%
60
10
Source: Figure 5.1
Mexico (21)
Hong Kong-China (13)
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Germany (19)
Croatia (18)
Italy (24)
Chile (28)
Portugal (27)
Hungary (28)
0
Gender gap
among
boys and girls
with similar
results in
mathematics,
reading and
science
performance
0
Source: Figure 2.12
-0.9
-1.4
-1.1
Boys
-0.5
-1.1
Hours
-1.6
-0.6
-1.0
-0.6
-1.9
-2.2
-1.7
-1.7
-1.4
-1.8
-1.4
-2.0
-0.9
-1.0
-1.0
-1.3
-1.3
-1.7
-0.3
-1.1
-1.1
-1.2
-1.2
-1.7
-1.0
-1.2
-1.1
-1.1
-0.9
-0.6
-1.8
-1.8
-1.1
-0.3
-0.6
-0.4
-1.2
-0.5
-1.2
-1.8
-1.0
-1.6
-2.8
-2.6
-1.8
-1.9
-1.8
-2.1
-1.2
-2.3
-1.2
-2.6
-3.1
-1.2
-1.8
-2.2
Size of the
gender gap
(when
statistically
significant)
Shanghai-China
Russian Federation
Kazakhstan
Singapore
Italy
Ireland
Romania
Estonia
Viet Nam
Spain
Australia
Hungary
Lithuania
Poland
Hong Kong-China
United Arab Emirates
United States
Latvia
Albania
Netherlands
Colombia
Peru
Mexico
Macao-China
Croatia
Bulgaria
Belgium
Chinese Taipei
Canada
Greece
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Norway
OECD average
United Kingdom
France
Qatar
Uruguay
Luxembourg
Israel
Austria
Germany
New Zealand
Denmark
Turkey
Jordan
Iceland
Japan
Serbia
Montenegro
Switzerland
Tunisia
Argentina
Costa Rica
Portugal
Chile
Slovenia
Liechtenstein
Brazil
Sweden
Korea
Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Finland
Girls spend more than an hour more per week than
boys doing homework, on average
Girls
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
Time spent doing homework has an impact on
performance (OECD countries)
Gender gap
Score-point
difference
(B-G)
Gender gap after accounting for time spent doing homework
20
Boys perform better than girls
10
0
-10
-20
Girls perform
better than boys
-30
-40
Source: Figure 2.13
Mathematics
Reading
Science
Boys tend to have more negative attitudes towards
school (OECD countries)
Percentage of student who agree that school has been a waste of time
Boys
%
Girls
20
15
10
5
0
OECD average
Source: Figure 2.14
United States
Boys spend more time on the Internet than girls
OECD average-29
… outside school
during the weekend
… outside school
during the week
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
… at school
Girls
Boys
0
Source: Figure 2.3
50
100
150
200
Minutes
One-player games
Boys spend far more time than girls playing video
games on a computer after school (OECD countries)
Boys
Girls
2.6 %
13.4 %
25.4 %
41.3 %
56.1 %
61.2 %
Never or hardly ever play
Play, but not every day
Collaborative online
games
Play every day
Source: Figure 2.4
2.2 %
19.6%
29.4%
27.0 %
70.8 %
51.0%
Playing one-player video games can help develop
some skills (OECD countries)
Score-point
difference
25
Playing one-player games
Playing collaborative online games
Higher performance
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
Lower performance
Mathematics
(paper-based)
Source: Figure 2.6
Reading
(paper-based)
Science
Problem solving Mathematics
(paper-based)
(digital)
(digital)
Reading
(digital)
47
47
Closing the gaps
What's needed is neither extensive
nor expensive reform but a concerted effort
by parents, teachers and employers
What teachers can do
Boys and girls read different materials when they
read for enjoyment (OECD average)
%
Boys
Girls
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Source: Figure 2.10
Magazines
Comic books
Fiction
(novels,
narratives,
stories)
Non-fiction
books
Newspapers
Significant
differences
in
mathematics
associated
with the
index of
teachers' use
of cognitiveactivation
strategies
Source: Figure 5.4
5
6
-4
5
8
6
10
-6
9
4
4
8
5
4
4
10
7
9
10
11
9
5
9
26
17
6
9
11
-6
Germany
Slovak Republic
Poland
Croatia
Korea
Austria
Liechtenstein
Latvia
Norway
Estonia
Viet Nam
Ireland
Hong Kong-China
Italy
United Kingdom
Shanghai-China
Finland
Russian Federation
Tunisia
Bulgaria
Japan
United Arab Emirates
Romania
Kazakhstan
Singapore
Lithuania
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
OECD average
Israel
Chile
Brazil
Australia
Canada
Mexico
Jordan
Turkey
Peru
Belgium
Netherlands
Uruguay
Slovenia
Greece
Hungary
Montenegro
Argentina
Spain
Malaysia
Sweden
Qatar
New Zealand
Thailand
Denmark
United States
Indonesia
Luxembourg
Iceland
Colombia
France
Macao-China
Chinese Taipei
Switzerland
Serbia
Portugal
Score-point difference
Students – particularly girls – do better in
mathematics when teachers ask them to solve more
problems independently
12
Additional score points in mathematics for girls
when teachers use cognitive-activation strategies
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
Teachers tend to give girls better marks – despite
students’ performance in PISA
Dif. in
marks
(B-G)
Gender difference after accounting for PISA scores
0
-6
-2
-8
-4
Source: Figure 2.16
Girls
awarded higher
marks than boys
-6
Bulgaria
Indonesia
OECD average
Spain
United States
-8
Albania
Macedonia (FYR)
Bulgaria
Peru
Indonesia
France
Chile
United States
OECD average
Israel
Spain
Greece
Iceland
Albania
-12
Denmark
Girls
awarded higher
marks than boys
-10
France
-4
Denmark
2
Peru
-2
Boys
awarded higher
marks than girls
Macedonia (FYR)
4
Gender difference after accounting for PISA scores
Chile
0
Gender difference
Greece
Gender difference
Iceland
Dif. in
marks
(B-G)
Marks given by teacher in
mathematics
Israel
Marks given by teacher in
reading
53
53
Closing the gaps
What's needed is neither extensive
nor expensive reform but a concerted effort
by parents, teachers and employers
What employers can do
Large proportions of both boys and girls have not
learned how to prepare themselves for a job
interview (OECD average)
Do boys and girls know how to prepare themselves for a job interview?
%
Boys
60
Girls
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes, at school
Source: Figure 4.4
Yes, outside of school
No
Boys are more likely than girls to get “hands-on”
experience in the working world (OECD countries)
%
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Boys
Worked as an
intern
Did job
shadowing
Visited a
job fair
Girls
Spoke to
Spoke to
Completed a Researched the
Went to an
Researched the
a career advisor a career advisor questionnaire to Internet for organised tour in Internet for
at school
outside the
find out about
information
an institution
information
school
their interests
about careers providing further
about
and abilities
education 1
programmes
providing further
education 1
1. Institutions providing further education are ISCED 3-5 in the PISA 2012 questionnaire.
Source: Figure 4.2
250
Source: Figure 4.15, PIAAC database.
Italy
Spain
Russian Federation
United Kingdom
Ireland
United States
France
Slovak Republic
Men
Denmark
Norway
Poland
Canada
Austria
OECD average
Germany
Mean
score
Czech Republic
Australia
Estonia
Sweden
Flanders
Korea
Netherlands
Finland
Japan
The gender gap in literacy narrows considerably by
the time people are young adults (16-29 year-olds)
Women
310
300
290
280
270
260
Men are more likely than women to read and
write at work
Mean index
difference
(Men-Women)
Reading at work (index)
Writing at work (index)
0.50
Men are more likely
to write and read at work
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
-0.10
Source: Figure 4.19, PIAAC database.
Poland
Russian Federation
Slovak Republic
Estonia
Italy
Australia
Finland
Spain
Ireland
United Kingdom
OECD average
United States
Denmark
Sweden
Canada
Germany
Czech Republic
France
Flanders
Netherlands
Norway
Austria
Korea
-0.30
Women are more likely
to write and read at work
Japan
-0.20
Find out more about PISA at www.pisa.oecd.org
• All national and international publications
• The complete micro-level database
Email: Andreas.Schleicher@OECD.org
Twitter: SchleicherEDU
Thank you !
and remember:
Without data, you are just another person with an opinion