University gender gap emerging at age 13, Oxford study finds

Research for Sutton Trust finds girls in Year 9 are more likely than boys to think getting a degree is important

June 3, 2016

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The roots of the growing gender gap in university admissions are already evident by the age of 13, according to a University of Oxford study.

found that girls in Year 9 were significantly more likely to perceive getting a university degree as being important than their male classmates.

In this age group, 64.9 per cent of girls felt that getting a degree was very important, compared with 57.6 per cent of boys.

Kathy Sylva, professor of educational psychology at Oxford and a co-author of the report, said that girls�� higher aspirations ��may be linked to their greater A-level success and gaining admission to university��.

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Drawing on a longitudinal study of about 2,700 schoolchildren in England, the report found that a significant gap in aspirations remained at Year 11, when 59 per cent of girls felt that getting a degree was very important, compared with only 53.1 per cent of boys.

The researchers found that more than half of all students who thought it was very important to get a degree went on to take three or more A levels �C likely to be a key requirement for access to university �C compared with only a third of those who thought it was fairly important and 11 per cent of those who felt it was not very important.

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The research comes amid growing concern about the under-representation of young men at undergraduate level. Across the UK, 18-year-old women are 35 per cent more likely to enter �й�AƬ than their male classmates and, if current trends continue, girls born this year will be 75 per cent more likely to enrol.

Lead author Pam Sammons, a professorial senior research fellow in Oxford��s department of education, said: ��Our research shows that students�� belief in themselves and their aspirations are shaped by their background. However, positive beliefs and high aspirations play an additional and significant role in predicting better A-level outcomes.

��These findings point to the practical importance for schools and teachers of promoting both self-belief and attainment as mutually reinforcing outcomes.��

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com