Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys • Hacker News Board

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#21

Post by penprog » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:03 PM UTC

minimaxir wrote: post #7

I recently did an analysis of Harvard and MIT's MOOCs to determine which gender gets the better grades in classes. (full post: http://minimaxir.com/2014/07/online-class-charts/ ) Turns out, there's no statistically significant difference between male and female grades. http://minimaxir.com/img/online-class-charts/gender-grade.pn...

It's a different sample though. People that do Harvard and MIT moocs are usually people that want to learn the subject and are self motivating whereas school is forced upon everyone. Willing or unwilling.

Basically your post confirms the theory of the person above. That grades aren't measuring mastery of knowledge but the skill to obey arbitrary rules.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#22

Post by gph » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:06 PM UTC

onewaystreet wrote: post #12

DigitalSea wrote: post #8

I find this incredibly sexist. To say that girls worker harder than boys offends me greatly. These studies are never accurate and somewhat biased, and I think work ethic is something that can't be averaged out like this. I don't doubt a lot of girls out there do work harder than boys, but making statements like: " Girls succeed over boys in school because they are more apt to plan ahead, set academic goals, and put e…

Now you know how many women feel every day of their lives.

You mean falsely victimizing themselves?

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#23

Post by calibraxis » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:07 PM UTC

DigitalSea wrote: post #8

I find this incredibly sexist. To say that girls worker harder than boys offends me greatly. These studies are never accurate and somewhat biased, and I think work ethic is something that can't be averaged out like this. I don't doubt a lot of girls out there do work harder than boys, but making statements like: " Girls succeed over boys in school because they are more apt to plan ahead, set academic goals, and put e…

Sexism is about power relations. Like racism and capitalism. Men dominate society. Doesn't matter how meritorious women are. Women can be tacitly competent and men buffoonish, yet incompetents routinely triumph.

After all, they're gatekeepers and enforcers.

Since society ridiculously built a massive infrastructure based on gender, women and men are trained differently. To the intellectual destruction of men.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#24

Post by scott_karana » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:10 PM UTC

maratd wrote: post #20

scott_karana wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree. "Self-restraint" in particular was emphasized in the article, and it's one I (a male) feel that I lack compared to female peers. So in my anecdata, sample size 1, it seemingly adds up. My question would be: " why do females have a head-start in self-restraint, and why do males fail to catch up quickly?" I suspect much of the answer could be cultural.

> I suspect much of the answer could be cultural. I suspect much of the answer could be genetic. Males in primate species tend to be more aggressive and have less "self-restraint".

Fair point. Food for thought. :)

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#25

Post by TulliusCicero » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:14 PM UTC

ps4fanboy wrote: post #11

I wonder if this has anything to with the massive decline in male teacher population.

Probably. I'd imagine that male teachers have policies that jive better with male students, especially the more energetic/unruly ones.

For example, my homeroom 6th grade drill sergeant-esque teacher would order us to do push-ups when we acted up, rather than docking our grades. That kind of pseudo-military style punishment fits boys better, I think. Gets the point across without feeling emasculating or overly punitive.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#26

Post by gph » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:14 PM UTC

This article brings up an important point about our education system. How much is it about teaching a subject versus teaching you how to work.

I always did well on tests and in any class I didn't totally hate I felt like I gained the knowledge I needed to. However, I never did all the homework. Hated it. Most of it felt like busy work, or just plain unimportant.

Not that I think self-discipline is worthless. It is a very important life skill. But they don't really teach you how to be self-disciplined so much as attempt to force it on to you by making your grade dependent on a ton of extra work. I like the idea of splitting grades into knowledge and self-discipline like the Minnesota school did.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#27

Post by cwbrandsma » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:14 PM UTC

ps4fanboy wrote: post #11

I wonder if this has anything to with the massive decline in male teacher population.

Was that population that big to begin with? Most of my male teachers in highschool were actually just wanabe-sport coaches. My male history teacher/basketball coach just played movies every day.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#28

Post by azakai » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:15 PM UTC

fsk141 wrote: post #2

Is anyone bothered that this has no references, seems like a nice helping of hearsay to me.

The article gives one major reference near the top, to http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/04/girls-grades....

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#29

Post by vezzy-fnord » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:18 PM UTC

calibraxis wrote: post #23

DigitalSea wrote: post #8

I find this incredibly sexist. To say that girls worker harder than boys offends me greatly. These studies are never accurate and somewhat biased, and I think work ethic is something that can't be averaged out like this. I don't doubt a lot of girls out there do work harder than boys, but making statements like: " Girls succeed over boys in school because they are more apt to plan ahead, set academic goals, and put e…

Sexism is about power relations. Like racism and capitalism. Men dominate society. Doesn't matter how meritorious women are. Women can be tacitly competent and men buffoonish, yet incompetents routinely triumph. After all, they're gatekeepers and enforcers. Since society ridiculously built a massive infrastructure based on gender, women and men are trained differently. To the intellectual destruction of men.

This is true only if you use a specific sociological definition of "sexism", which is absolutely not to be equivocated with the one in common vernacular.

Re: Girls Get Better Grades Than Boys

#30

Post by andyl » Thu, Sep 18, 2014, 11:20 PM UTC

This society rewards restraint and conformity. Then there are the mood-altering drugs. When my boys were in elementary school, the teachers wanted to drug them into compliance because they were 'too competitive'. Nurse Ratchet lives.