Gender differences 101

Physical:• Earlier physical maturation for girls by about 1

½ years (early/later maturation linked to social/emotional outcomes)

• Males more muscle mass, females higher body fat

• Quite similar until puberty• Males excel at activities require power,

females, fine motor

Gender differences 101Achievement/learning• Boys more likely to attribute academic success to skill and effort, girls to luck• Boys attribute failure to lack of effort, girls to outside factors.• In classrooms: boys ask and are asked more questions. Also asked questions in

more challenging ways.• Boys higher dropout rates, referral to office rates, placement in special ed.• Gender-typed academic interested: math/computers for males; literature and the

arts for females• IQ tests show slight strengths in spatial reasoning for males and language

reasoning for females• Males—higher stated career expectations; girls more likely to see selves as

college-bound, but choose careers to accommodate family• Girls—take more time with homework, appear to have higher academic

motivation, take fewer risks on assignments

Gender differences 101

Social/emotional• Sort into gendered play groups by age 4 or so• Girls tend to learn better in cooperative rather than

cooperative groups• Males & females exhibit higher self-esteem for gender-

specific tasks: females for interpersonal situations; boys for problem-solving and control situations.

• Given similar skill levels, boys rate selves more highly than girls

• Boys more overt aggression, girls equally aggressive, but in more passive ways

• Girls have more an closer interpersonal relationships and are more sensitive to social cues.