Fact Sheet - Academic Underachievement

Things to Know

It is well known that boys underperform relative to girls on several key academic indicators. In particular, boys typically have lower GPAs, score significantly lower on standardized reading assessments, and are less likely to complete high school. This pattern emerges as early as kindergarten, in part, because many boys enter school behind girls in terms of their social-emotional and language development, including academic readiness. For boys as a group, these patterns persist and sometimes worsen through secondary and post-secondary education.

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Education is a critical factor in supporting happy and productive lives. Post-secondary education, in particular, offers strong protection against unemployment and greater lifetime earnings, and university-educated men report greater optimism than their non-university educated peers. By contrast, low-income men without a post-secondary education report the lowest level of social support and optimism. Reversing these decades-long trends, requires a careful examination of how schools support boys’ academic achievement and college readiness.

• Literacy achievement: On the US National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), boys in all tested grades achieve below girls in reading. The gap between boys and girls more than doubles between grades 4 and 12.

• Science and mathematics achievement: Boys outperform girls on NAEP math standardized assessments in elementary school, but that gap is effectively closed by 8th grade. There is little to no measurable gender gap in NAEP science scores.

• High school completion: Boys drop out of high school at much higher rates than girls and pursue post-secondary education at much lower rates than girls. The rate of male students immediately enrolling in college is dropping, and young men now account for less than 50% of students enrolled in post-secondary institutions, with percentages approaching 40% at many institutions.

• Disabilities: Boys are diagnosed with learning and developmental disabilities such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia at significantly higher rates than girls. Boys make up a significant majority of students diagnosed with disabilities in the US, as well as students enrolled in special education programs.

• Gender socialization: There are no significant differences in boys’ and girls’ cognitive abilities, although girls and boys often demonstrate variations in developmental trajectories. Instead, masculine gender socialization plays a more significant role in boys’ academic underachievement.

  • Boys are commonly socialized by parents, peers, and the media to value sports and devalue academics, especially reading and writing.

  • Masculinity pressures that promote sports over school achievement, and construct school as a feminine endeavor, are present in classrooms as early as kindergarten and peak in middle and high school, when students are beginning to forge academic and career pathways based on their experiences in school.

• Teacher bias: Masculine norms that emphasize traits like power, aggression, emotional restriction, and male supremacy can negatively influence many boys’ behavior at school and their approach to academics, making many boys a poor fit in the traditional classroom, where they may be expected to sit quietly and obey strict rules. Teachers often unintentionally respond to problematic behaviors in ways that make boys feel less welcome or valued.

• Inequity: Due to systemic oppression and lack of access to high quality education, boys from low socioeconomic backgrounds and boys of color experience even bigger gender gaps in academic outcomes and higher dropout rates than boys with greater social privilege and/or status.

  Things to Do

Data shows that K-12 education does not effectively support the needs of boys, many of whom feel discouraged in school settings. This impacts school achievement, belonging, and the desire to pursue higher education. Educators can positively influence boys’ academic achievement by reframing how they respond to and support boys.

• Disaggregate school and district-level data by gender to understand the relationship between gender, behavior, and academic performance in the local context, and to identify boys who require additional academic, emotional, and behavioral support.

• Form a collaborative learning team (CLT), host book studies, or invite experts to support professional learning around the unique needs of boys in school, learn about how gender socialization works, and explore strategies for engaging boys more effectively. Recommended resource: The Representation Project (https://therepproject.org/boyswillbeboys/).

• Prioritize building effective relationships with boys by redefining educators’ roles as “relationship managers” to counteract anti-school behaviors with productive and empathetic responses that engage boys and help them feel welcomed. Michael Reichert’s dictum of “reach before you teach” is a foundational concept for teaching many boys. Recommended reading: I Can Learn from You: Boys as Relational Learners by Reichert and Hawley (2014).

• Ensure that teachers maintain high academic and behavior expectations for boys, while providing high levels of support. Despite patterns of academic underachievement, boys can and do achieve at a high level when given appropriate support. Recommended reading: 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager (2024).

• Hire male teachers from diverse backgrounds and provide mentorship programs for boys who underperform academically to strengthen academic confidence. This solution addresses the disparity of male teachers in classrooms and the limited presence of male guardians in school settings, which suggests a needed investment in role models for boys (Note that while representation matters, mentors do not have to be male to have an impact).

• Help boys develop a greater sense of belonging and success within the school by providing them with increased opportunities to connect authentically with other boys and the wider community. Support them in establishing clubs around their interests and ensure that school-based activities and organizations are reaching out to all boys.

• Support boys in developing healthier approaches to masculinity by creating school spaces that are supportive and reflective of multiple forms of masculinity. Teachers should incorporate into their practice diverse models of masculinity that depart from dominant forms of masculinity, focusing on the importance of adaptive and flexible gender norms.

• Support mentorship and internship programs that support boys in exploring post-secondary opportunities and developing professional skills. Promote a wide range of post-secondary pathways, including trade programs, traditional college programs, and community college.

Further Learning

Morris, E. (2012). Learning the hard way: Masculinity, place, and the gender gap in education. An academic analysis of Morris’s ethnographic data on the gender gap between boys and girls in secondary schools and a discussion of how masculine gender socialization impacts boys’ academic achievement.

Reichert, M. & Hawley, R. (2014). I can learn from you: Boys as relational learners. A discussion of the impact of positive relationships on boys’ achievement and illustrates specific ways to develop more impactful relationships.

Seibel Newsom, J. (2015). The mask you live in. A documentary film revealing boys’ struggles to be authentic in the world’s often narrow definition of masculinity. It covers gender socialization, video game addiction, academic achievement, and sports.

Yeager, D. (2024). 10 to 25: The science of motivating young people. A discussion of the importance of a mentor mindset (high expectations with high support) that applies to boys struggling to engage academically in school.

Fact sheet developed by Cristy L. Weggelaar, Ed.D. with support from Task Force and Advisory Committee