Reddock: male underachievement more than males vs females

One regional academic has warned that “male underachievement” is more complex than simply comparing males and females.{{more}}

Vincentian born Professor Rhoda Reddock, Deputy Campus Principal at the University of the West Indies, in Trinidad and Tobago, made the point at Frenches House last Friday.

She was delivering the fourth in a series of lectures organised by the Girls’ High School to commemorate its 100th anniversary next year.

“…[I]t is not just a simple issue of looking at comparing males and females … we also have to look at the complexities of differences that affect the lives of males and females,” Reddock said, while addressing “Gender and Achievement in Higher Education”.

“…In other words, we need to understand the diverse ways in which gender is experienced even within the same sex as well as between sexes,’ she said.

Reddock traced the history of gender and achievement in the Caribbean, citing other academics and lay-persons explanations for “the perceived under-achievement in the education system” in the Caribbean.

She said statistics show that more women than men were accessing tertiary education internationally, with sub-Saharan Africa being an exception.

Women had a higher share of tertiary enrolment in the ten Caribbean countries for which Reddock presented statistics.

The numbers ranged from 84.6 per cent in St. Lucia to 55.6 per cent in Trinidad and Tobago. No figures were available for St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Reddock cited scholars who argued that both the colonial and present-day education systems put women at an advantage.

Colonial male rulers, seeking to reduce the power of men, favour female teachers over the “more militant males”, Reddock said, citing Errol Miller.

In the English speaking Caribbean, males’ underperformance in English Language stands to handicap them more than girls’ underperformance in Mathematics, studies, including in SVG, have shown.

At the lay-person level, the “Women as Villain Thesis” suggests that the prevalence of female teachers at the primary and secondary level and the absence of male role models contribute to male underachievement.

Others factors Reddock spoke of include the large number of single-parent (mother only) households and the opening up of educational opportunities for girls.

She also spoke of the introduction of co-educational schools where boys are “distracted” by girls.

Reddock said while it is important to examine the differences between males and females, the ways in which economic or ethnic differences may affect the outcome of different groups of males and females must also be analysed.

She said that while more women are accessing higher education internationally, they also needed higher qualifications to get the same job than men do and are often paid less.

In the Caribbean, women are twice as likely to be unemployed, Reddock said.

She said that in addressing the “gender and achievement in education”, it is necessary for higher education administrators, teachers, scholars and parents to understand the complexities of the phenomenon.

Issues of gender cannot be understood outside of their relationship to others factors including socio-economic status, location and even issues of health and liability, she said.

Reddock said the post-colonial education system “is one of the bastions of social and economic inequality”, adding that it is “imperative that we move towards a more equitable and enabling educational environment”.

She also identified the need to support parents, including single parents with skills and resources necessary to fulfil their responsibilities in a more effective way.

Reddock quoted the Commonwealth Study on Boys Achievement, which recommends that an emphasis on cooperation, confidence-building and conflict resolution helps create an enabling environment in schools and learning environment.

The study also recommends a focus on active learning and respect for students to help engage young learners.

“Schools, universities and education systems generally should actively question stereotypes gender identity,” Reddock said, citing the study. (KXC)