UK: "Clever girls, stupid boys?"

Article here. Excerpt:

'The gap is so great that the UK's university admissions authority has warned that being male could soon be seen as a new form of social disadvantage.

In the UK, the gender gap between men and women entering university has never been wider. In a remarkable statistic from the Ucas admissions service, the gap is more than 50% in a quarter of parliamentary constituencies. And no doubt this disparity will play out over future generations.

But hold that bandwagon there.

Because a global study from the OECD, based on more than 60 countries, has thrown up some very interesting challenges to generalisations about girls always doing better than boys.
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First of all, it suggests that school systems give greater rewards to girls rather than boys, even when pupils are of similar ability.

Teachers are more likely to "mark up" girls' work, says the study. It suggests that this leniency in marking is an unacknowledged reward for girls being more school-friendly.

Girls are more likely to be better behaved, more likely to get homework finished, less negative about going to school. And even when boys' work is just as good, the higher grade is more likely to go to a girl.
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The study also shows that in science and maths, boys are likely to be at either extreme on the ability spectrum.

Among the lowest achievers, boys predominate. It's an international pattern, with boys much more likely to be among those who get the worst results, drop out and leave education unskilled and poorly qualified.

But boys are also right at the top of the scale too, occupying more of the places among the very highest achievers.'