School, gender differences | Has mapped gender differences at the beginning of school:

Even before first grade has opened their first textbook, it is, so to speak, how children often do; “Unfair teams” between boys and girls.

Shows a new study of nearly 7,500 preschool-age children between the ages of five and six. The study is part of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health’s SOL study, and is the first of its kind to look at this particular age group.

– Although we have long known that there are many indications that boys mature later than girls at that age, we were a bit surprised that the differences are so clear, says Ragnhild Eek Brandlistuen, principal investigator at the National Institute of Public Health, to Nettavisen.

So great is the advantage of the girls

Researchers have measured preschool-aged children in several areas: language skills, number skills, social skills, and so-called externalizing behavior, that is, the degree of outlandish behavior.

It turned out that the girls show fewer symptoms of attention difficulties, that is, they find it easier to sit still and concentrate, and they have better social skills. Regarding academics, the study shows the following:

• Girls have better number skills than boys, meaning it is easier to name and add simple numbers.
• Girls are ahead of boys when it comes to language comprehension, reading and writing.
• By the age of five, only 20 percent of boys can write words, while more than half of girls can.
• By the age of six, about half of boys can write words, while more than 70 percent of girls can.

– When it comes to reading and writing skills, girls are on average a year ahead of boys, says Brandlistuen.

A girl born in January will therefore have a professional advantage of almost two years over a boy born in December.

– Do you think they can reach that track?

– We will study this by following the children up to primary school age. We know very little about the importance of early gender differences for later functioning.

Causes of gender differences

Symptoms of language difficulties, which boys showed to a greater extent than girls at age five, largely disappear by the time they turn six.

– The six-year reform has long been criticized for undermining children. The study now shows that differences in language difficulties stabilize after one year. Do you think the boys would have benefited from starting school later?

– I think several of the younger boys could have benefited from waiting with the start of school until they were six years old. At the age of five, the difference with older girls becomes enormous. On the other hand, not all the differences are erased with age, so the delay in schooling as the only measure will not be able to equalize all the differences between boys and girls.

– Now we must emphasize that this is at a medium level. There are large individual differences between the sexes, which means that even five-year-olds may be ready to start preschool, the NIPH researcher emphasizes.

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Regarding social skills and the ability to concentrate, the study shows that gender differences persisted. NIPH investigators will try to find out how long they will stay.

– We are concerned that the differences we see at the beginning also explain why there are gender differences in later school functioning. But now we’ll be tracking these school-age kids for years to come, so maybe we’ll get an answer to that, Brandlistuen says.

– So, to the big question to which everyone wants an answer: What are these differences?

– We don’t know for sure, nor does this study say anything about it, says Brandlistuen, continuing:

– But we know that there are reasons to believe that there are biological differences between boys and girls in their development at this age. They just have different biological maturations.

However, many believe that it is not just about biology, but about the way we treat children and what we expect of them.

– Scholars argue here, and we have no research to prove either one or the other. But it’s conceivable that the way we interact with young children, both at home and in kindergarten, helps reinforce differences, Brandlistuen says.

Do we expect girls to be able to stay still and focus on quiet activities to a greater extent, while we tolerate more violent and active games from boys? Do we encourage girls to learn calm and focused learning, while asking boys to burn out a little energy?

– I think we probably do to some extent, but we don’t know if this influences the differences we see or if they would have existed anyway. It requires more research.

Has been worried for a long time

Gender differences spread throughout primary school and beyond in institutions of higher education.

Girls consistently earn better grades, complete upper secondary school to a greater extent, and are in the majority in the country’s universities and colleges.

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Can this trend be reversed if teaching is adapted from the first grade, so that children less ready for school also experience a sense of mastery and progress?

Again: scholars argue. But the debate has been going on for a long time.

Almost ten years have passed since politicians first began to worry about children dropping out of school.

When the Stoltenberg committee in 2018 presented reports that revealed large gender differences at school, FHI director Camilla Stoltenberg opened up to immature children to postpone starting school.

It was with the proposal in the first instance, but the Stoltenberg committee launched a long list of measures to follow.

– Many have been arrested due to the corona pandemic, but various solutions will be tested. Among other things, it has been proposed to strengthen special educational competence in kindergartens in order to better help children with difficulties earlier and work will be done to improve the flow of information between kindergarten and school so that the transition is better. In addition, it is planned to try a flexible school start in the municipality of Trondheim, says Brandlistuen.

Meanwhile, the NIPH investigator encourages parents who now want to prepare their children for a good start to school.

– Because so much of this has to do with maturing with age, I think the most important thing is to take it easy. Work to create a feeling of dominance and a good image of yourself, that’s the most important thing. It’s natural that younger kids aren’t as keen on learning words and letters before they start school, so don’t worry about that, Brandlistuen says, and concludes:

– The most important thing is to give children a good image of themselves, and this is done, among other things, by allowing for natural differences.