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.