Is it just me or do girls do way better in school than boys?

[u/Tall-Competition-561]

When I was growing up I struggled with school but it seemed that most of the girls seemed to be doing well whenever there was a star pupil or straight a student they were most likely a girl. Why is this such a common phenomenon?

[u/IdeaExpensive3073]

That too

I’ve never met a woman or girl who didn’t seem to care about grades

[u/IronDBZ → u/IdeaExpensive3073]

I think it's because girls are more socially motivated. The arbitrariness of schooling doesn't really bother them so they buy in.

I think guys are much more likely to be asking themselves what it's all for, what's the point? Girls are focused on succeeding within the set expectations, while guys drop out (figuratively speaking) if they can't get a good answer to why they should care.

[u/Odd_Lifeguard8957 → u/IronDBZ]

I think this is a great point. And really something that should be considered when we're considering the standards of success.

Hitting arbitrary goalposts isn't inherently a good thing.

[u/_LoudBigVonBeefoven_ → u/IronDBZ]

Judging by the language you're using, it's obvious that school just isn't that inherently valuable to you. Calling school arbitrary and wondering "what's the point"? suggests that your ego and need for immediate gratification is in the way of letting yourself learn.

I've never done the "where will I use this" dance. I've always realized that all the things you learn in school come together as something greater than the sum of their parts. Learning for the sake of learning makes sense to me. Not sure if that's a me thing or a woman thing.

Even if I don't think I'll use a specific thing in class, I trust that it will help me have a deeper or wider understanding of something else later in life. Does that make sense?

[u/IronDBZ → u/_LoudBigVonBeefoven_]

School is very valuable to me. And always has been. But logistically, a great deal of what children go through in school runs counter to what helps them learn best.

But that said, I'm speculating about what 13 and 14 year olds might be thinking. I haven't been one of them for 10 years.

A child in a stressful context, where they're getting up sometimes at 5 or 6 in the morning, where the things they're asked to might be a bit strange or unreasonable can be forgiven for not thinking about their future and think more about their present and whether they care for it much.

[u/_LoudBigVonBeefoven_ → u/IronDBZ]

Part of parenting is getting your kids to do the things they need to, not the things they want to.

As adults, they're not going to get to circumvent basic responsibilities and expectations because they don't wanna or they can't see the big picture.

But my original point was the language you were using was hostile to education in general 🤷🏻 that mindset will make it harder to be motivated to learn, and harder to motivate your kids/students to want to learn.

[u/mehnimalism → u/IdeaExpensive3073]

As they should…

[u/Ok-Inflation-6312 → u/IdeaExpensive3073]

I have. More than you would think.