Normalised heteropatriachy and performance disparity among male and female students in Senior High Schools

Abstract

In the field of educational science, scholars have often alluded to the issues of gender disparity in enrolment, transition and completion as well as general academic performance. Yet, the extent to which deeply entrenched heteropatriarchal practices and ideologies intersect to prompt varied academic outcomes for male and female students in mathematics is often overlooked. Investigating this phenomenon amongst a least studied population of senior high school students and within a highly heteropatriarchal society like the Upper West region provided new insights that not just contributes to existing literature but also informs policy formulation. A qualitative approach was employed where 70 participants were recruited for the study using a maximum variation and expert purposive sampling techniques. Primary data were gathered through interviews and focus group discussions and these were complemented by secondary data from school reports as well as reports from the West African Examination Council. The analysis of the collected data revealed that normalised heteropatriarchal ideologies, reinforced through gender role differentiation, male dominance, sexual harassment, religious teachings on marriage, social stereotypes, and parental preferences for male children, contribute to gender disparities in mathematics performance. The study contributes new knowledge to literature by connecting normalised gender discriminatory practices to performance parity between male and female students in mathematics arguing that male students are poised to outperform their female counterparts for as long as culturally entrenched gender discriminatory practices and ideologies continue to favour them.