Treating boys and girls differently at school

Gender bias in education means treating boys and girls differently at school. This can include how teachers respond to students, what students are encouraged to study, and how textbooks represent gender roles. Education researchers have studied gender bias in the schools for the past 20 years, but the subject did not receive widespread publicity until the early 1990s, with the publication of several landmark studies. A study commissioned by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1991 entitled "Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America," synthesized much earlier research and concluded that the average school is biased against girls in a number of ways. The study claimed that girls do not receive as much attention from teachers as boys, boys are called on to answer more abstract and complex questions than girls, teachers encourage boys to think for themselves...