Sex differences of school grades in childhood and adolescence: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

We studied trajectories of school achievement in England to determine sex differences in performance and changes in these differences throughout students' development. Using a sample of 5795 children from England born in 2000–2001, this secondary data analysis examined sex differences across a range of school subjects, including differences at the upper and lower tails of the distribution of performance grades. We expected trajectories to differ by subject and to find support for greater male variability in each subject. We found a small male advantage in mathematics at age 11 but no sex differences at ages 7 and 16. Girls achieved higher language grades at each age, but this advantage was notably wider at age 16. Unlike other educational data, there were no sex differences in science achievement at ages 7 and 11 and a small female advantage in science, biology, and chemistry at age 16. Boys' school grades were more variable than girls' in English, reading, and writing at each age. Boys' STEM grades were not consistently more variable than girls' STEM grades. Sex differences were larger at the lower tail in English and the upper tail in mathematics and more balanced in science after age 7. Trajectories of sex differences are age- and subject-specific. By age 16, fewer boys achieved the upper grades, and more boys achieved the lower grades in mathematics and language than at age 11, and we found a female advantage in most school subjects. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.