Gender imbalance in the classroom

[Elfingrot]

I work in a selective co-ed secondary which, for reasons beyond the school's control, has always had an unbalanced boy/girl ratio. Usually we have about 60% boys and 40% girls. Obviously this is far from ideal but the imbalance has recently worsened: our Year 7 has 70% boys and just 30% girls. I feel very strongly that the school needs to address the implications of this situation for teaching strategies, grouping, support for the outnumbered students (ie girls) and possibly issues such as sexual harassment. I have raised the issue with SLT but they really don't seem to feel it is an issue. ( i get the impression that there is a reluctance to tackle anything related to "gender" as it seems such a sensitive topic at the moment) Does anyone know of any research that has been done on this issue? I feel they would take it more seriously if I could present some solid evidence to support my concerns. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Some research suggests you're barking up the wrong tree. Girls do better in single sex. Boys might do better in co-ed.

www.enjoyeducation.co.uk/2017/04/05/co-ed-or-single-sex/

www.perse.co.uk/blog/co-ed-or-single-sex/

gabbitas.com/single-sex-versus-co-ed-schools-which-is-better

I am well aware that girls often do better in single sex. This is why I am so keen to look at how we can mitigate the potential damage of this very male dominated environment for the girls in my school. It seems to be quite an unusual situation, hence my need for research evidence.

So you want more girls to be in a co-Ed environment? Despite it probably not benefitting them, in order to improve the boys' education by having a more 'balanced' co-ed environment? Is that not sexist?

No. I think you've misunderstood my original post. Because of the selection process for the school, we have no control over the sex of the intake. We are quite close to a selective girls school which has a larger intake than the local selective boys. This means that we always have more boys than girls. The issue here is not about the intake. My concern is that the boys outnumber the girls so significantly: an average class will have approx 22 boys and 8 or 9 girls. I feel that this is potentially problematic - mainly for the girls - which is why want SLT to take it seriously.

Is this actually a problem, or just a possible problem? Some girls (perhaps surprisingly, given the research) thrive in a boy heavy environment and wilt in an all female one.

As I said in my most recent post "I feel this is potentially problematic" which is why I'd like to know more about it before I raise it again with management. If there is research to suggest that it's not an issue, that would be reassuring. However the reverse is also true. At the moment I am struggling to find much info on this apart from the occasional Guardian article and a rather old piece of research from Israel.

I am struggling with the logic here. Surely you would just look at your school and see if there are any actual problems first? The ratios aren’t as unusual as you imagine. There are other, similar schools, but of course every schools and every year group has it’s own peculiar culture.

Boy-heavy schools can mean that boys dominate - in lessons, and in the public spaces. Girls may have nowhere to hang out if the boys take up all the room with football, for example.

Maybe a student survey would be helpful to find out potential issues, given to both boys and girls but with a box to identify sex?

Is there someone on the governing body you could chat to. I'd agree you'd need some evidence that the girls were impacted by this imbalance.

I'm trying to present this in a rational, "scientific" manner because I don't want to be seen, by my SLT or posters on MN, as having a pre-set feminist agenda. My "unscientific", anecdotal observations make me feel that there is a problem because the boys tend to dominate the classroom and teachers' attention. I also feel that some of the less confident girls seem quite intimidated by the rather "laddish" culture, not to mention the sexist comments which occur both in and out of the classroom. I know that these happen in all schools but where there is such an imbalance I feel that (some) girls may need some support. Because the male SLT do not see this as a problem, I was hoping to provide them with some concrete evidence which might be more persuasive. There is a culture in my school of policy being guided by academic research - fair enough.
Maybe I am making a fuss about nothing - some of you seem to think so.

What can you do? When I was at primary our year was about 30 kids in total - 7 girls.

I think its a sensible concern. I just cant think of snything to help - it almost needs to be raised by the girls themselves

There isn’t going to be any relevant research unless someone has recently done research in your school. Why not just find out whether there are any problems in the first place and going from there?

Hmmm - i'm pondering. Perhaps have a look at it from a safeguarding angle - with the whole 'peer on peer abuse' and new sections on sexting etc in KCSiE. Start with checking whether children are comfotrable reporting, what the reporting procedures are and so on. Does a girl know what to do if harrassed? How does the school respond (Obviously a boy too)

Hi I went to a school like this...It started as 60/40 ish b/g but near by there were 2 boys only preps that went to 13 so in the 2nd or 3rd year we'd get even more boys and it would get even more unbalanced. To be honest, it didn't affect me too much, I did well and when I got to 6th form and we got loads more girls from a nearby girls school that only went to y11 I realised that we were a lot more well balanced with having boys around than they were!!! However, school did have lots of extra curricular stuff -like a girls' choir and obviously female only sports teams so that did provide balance. There were also lots of clubs that weren't technically girls only but were female dominated like ballet etc...

Monitor the progress and performance of the girls vs the boys. Who is doing the best in your school? I suspect SLT do gender reports to the Governing Body but ask to see them.

Look at sports team success, music participation, clubs available and other areas where the girls might get less of a look in. Are they getting the same opportunity? What picture do you form of their participation and what they get out of the school? What do you specifically offer for girls? Or are they tagged onto what’s offered to boys?

When I looked at co-Ed senior school for DD2, in the private sector, I saw wet hockey fields but pristine rugby pitches. Sacred cricket pitches but no dance studios. We couldn’t find dance taken seriously anywhere. Are subjects with higher female participation, such as photography and other arts subjects, fully funded and supported or is it more likely engineering is supported? Money clearly wasn’t spent on some subjects in some schools. If this devalues your girls, look at what you could do to improve the subject facilities they prefer. (I know there will be some who think girls and boys are the same, but they do choose different subjects)!

How much do the girls participate in Young Enterprise, sports teams, music ensembles, drama, science clubs, trips abroad, etc. Are they marginalised? Do they get identical opportunities?

Do lesson observation. Are the boys answering all the questions? Do the girls sit passively? Are they asking questions?

Lastly, ask them. Do they feel supported and valued? Do they think they get the same education and attention as the boys? How are their concerns addressed? Gather some evidence. It could be interesting.

I agree it can be a problem. My cohort this year in primary is very boy heavy, with 22 boys and 8 girls. It's made a massive difference in the classroom and in shared areas such as the cloakroom.

I am currently collecting data for a staff meeting to address it. I've found low level disruption has increased, the class has a shorter attention span, and the boys try to "pack" and dominate the discussion. Some of the quieter girls are less willing to speak out in class, and a few have ramped up their own behaviour to compete.

I am spending the weekend researching the best way to address the imbalance by questioning methods etc. I already distribute questions evenly but I do feel some of the girls demurr too much. In clubs and sports the girls are still evenly represented as the year groups are mixed.

I am already sick of spending my lunchtime dealing with the boys behaviour. It's never usually this bad: the gender imbalance has definitely made a difference.

I think you're right to be concerned. This is the sort of issue that worries parents (rightly or wrongly) and those of girls will become less likely to want to send their children to your school making the gender imbalance even more extreme.

I have no idea how to go about addressing though.

Rather than spreading the girls out could they be more grouped together, making those classes 50:50 or even slightly girl high and then have a few all boy classes.

My school has a similar mix and we find this works well in some subjects. When streaming we take this into account so don’t have a set with less than 4 girls in unless it absolutely can not be avoided.

The institute of physics has some interesting work on gender in the classroom.

I think you're right to be concerned. There are studies about how boys dominate teacher attention and talk time in the classroom but I'm afraid I don't have details. The NEU recently published a study on sexism in schools which is definitely worth a read. Includes lots of stuff about sexual harassment (government data shows this is on the rise in schools). You can get a copy free from the NEU - maybe pass a copy to the Head with some thoughts on what the school could do to mitigate against the issues in the report?

I went to a school like this (it was previously a boys' school and then gradually became mixed plus the whole prep school issue). It was awful and while in the first two years they did have a boys class and mixed classes further up the school they just left us to sink or swim.
I thought there was reams and reams of research on boys dominating the classroom?

DD has just left primary school with a ratio of around 18 girls to 9 boys.

She is now at secondary school which is approx 2/3 boys to 1/3 girls.

There is imbalances in both but what would you suggest is done to actually change it?

Yes I will make use of this research on boys The problem is that I am having to tread quite carefully to avoid simply seeming negative about boys' behaviour. Some of my male colleagues have seemed a bit defensive about any perceived criticism of boys, whilst others have had more of a "boys will be boys" approach. I want to support the girls without stereotyping all boys as attention-seeking trouble-makers! I think i am going to have to do some "in-house" research to assess the impact of this imbalance in this specific case. The next step will be to look at how to counteract any negative effects - that's going to be the tricky bit!

I was wondering where you got to with the gender imbalance argument. I am looking at a school in London which has a very similar profile to the one you described (it also had an extreme example of going from 60/40 to 70/30 about the time you wrote. May I ask how your investigation went and whether you were able to see some discussion about this topic? I know the mums in the feed at the beginning of the feed didn't see an issue, but I 100 agree with your concerns and would love to hear more.