Gender Typicality and Academic Achievement among American High School Students

Jill Yavorsky,Claudia Buchmann

doi:10.15195/v6.a25

Abstract

This study is the first to use nationally representative data to examine whether differences in gender-typical behaviors among adolescents are associated with high school academic performance and whether such associations vary by race or socioeconomic status. Using wave I data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and linked academic transcript data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement study, we find that boys who report moderate levels of gender atypicality earn the highest grade point averages (GPAs), but few boys score in this range. As gender typicality increases, boys’ GPAs decline steeply. In contrast, girls who practice moderate levels of gender typicality earn slightly higher GPAs than other girls. These patterns generally hold across race and socioeconomic status groups.

Highlights

This study is the first to use nationally representative data to examine whether differences in gender-typical behaviors among adolescents are associated with high school academic performance and whether such associations vary by race or socioeconomic status
At the highest levels of gender typicality, grade point averages (GPAs) disparities between girls of different socioeconomic statuses are smaller. These results suggest that the relationship between extreme gender typicality and GPA is more similar among girls of different socioeconomic statuses
The Add Health data are ideal for testing the extent to which gender typicality is related to U.S boys’ and girls’ educational achievement in high school as it provides a representative sample of U.S schools in terms of school size, racial composition, type, and region

Summary

Introduction

This study is the first to use nationally representative data to examine whether differences in gender-typical behaviors among adolescents are associated with high school academic performance and whether such associations vary by race or socioeconomic status. To the best of our knowledge, no research to date has utilized nationally representative data to examine whether differences in gender-typical behaviors among boys and among girls are associated with academic performance in high school or whether such associations, if they exist, vary by race or socioeconomic status. Given the wide variation in girls’ academic performance, a focus on their gendered practices is critical

Methods

Results

Conclusion