A new analysis of this year's Leaving Cert results indicates that girls are outperforming boys in the majority of subjects. Girls received more A, B or C grades in higher level subjects than boys in 26 out of 32 subjects.
Although the worrying trend of fewer girls studying subjects such as science and engineering continues, those who did complete the subject outshined their male counterparts in the exams. Here's a breakdown on the Leaving Cert results and their gender disparity:
- Maths was one of the subjects that boys received higher grades. 74% got an A, B or C, compared to 68 % of girls.
- 1,000 more boys opted for the Maths higher-level paper than girls.
- Boys outperformed girls by 1.5% in construction studies, although only a tenth of girls studied the subject.
- Boys secured the highest honours in subjects such as religious education, Latin and the combined subjects of physics and chemistry. Only a small proportion of students sat these subjects.
- Girls took up only 12% of design and communication graphics candidates but outperformed the boys by 7%.
It appears that gender stereotypes are still rampant throughout the Irish school system and when it comes to everyday life as only 200 girls participated in Engineering at higher-level compared to 4,300 boys. Only 600 girls sat the construction studies paper compared to 6,400 boys.
When it comes to languages and art, boys are not being encouraged to participate. Twice as many girls sat Art at higher-level, around 5,500, whereas boys were just under 2,300.Girls were also more likely to study languages such as Irish, French and Spanish. In all cases, just over 60 per of candidates in these exams were girls. 62% of Biology candidates were girls.
More students are opting for stem subjects and there has been a boost in a number of girls sitting higher-level subjects such as physics, chemistry, applied maths, business, and economics.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Bob Savage, a managing director of EMC, an IT company which employs over 3,000 people in Ireland, said stem subjects are beneficial to students and improving within the Irish school system:
The increase and the results achieved are encouraging and hugely beneficial as Ireland’s information technology sector – a high-growth sector – continues to grow and attract inward investment...However, we need to be mindful of the increase in failure rates in ordinary maths and work to ensure this trend does not continue.
The statistics do not mention the reasoning behind the gender difference or stereotypical issues. Are boys more likely to not study because of 'lad culture' or encouraged to take 'risks' when it comes to their education? Are girls expected to study harder because women's success has been primarily linked to their ability to master their education? If only Leaving Cert results could represent real life then we'd be flying.
