[Paleopsych] BBC: Women cleverer than men, says MP

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Women cleverer than men, says MP
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4079653.stm

[Note the date. Mr. Mencken certainly thought so, at least that women were far 
more intelligent than men in what mattered. No woman, he said, would be so dumb 
to want to be a lawyer or a stock broker.]

    Last Updated: Wednesday, 8 December, 2004, 16:13 GMT

    GCSE students after receiving their results
    Girls are getting more top grades than boys at GCSE and A-level

    Women are brighter than men, according to the Labour chairman of the
    Commons education committee.

    Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman said there was a "danger" of being
    obsessed about how boys were doing at school.

    His comments followed a committee discussion about whether girls or
    boys found it easier to learn to read.

    "My own personal view is that women are brighter than men," the MP
    said, adding that women now earned on average more than men as middle
    managers.

    First class?

    He said: "We should celebrate this, shouldn't we? The brightest kids
    are coming through and they happen to be women."

    In recent years girls have consistently outperformed boys at all
    levels of the education system.

    The "gender gap" at GCSE level in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
    this year was 5.3 percentage points at grades A* and A and by 8.4
    points at grades C and above in girls' favour.

    Boys' performance had improved more than girls', however.

    This was even more noticeable at A-level. Even so, 23.7% of girls'
    entries achieved A grades, compared to 21% of boys'.

    Ninety-five per cent of boys' entries were passes, against 96.8% of
    girls'.

    More young women than men go to university.

    Schools define many more boys than girls as having special educational
    problems - which some researchers argue means the schools are failing
    to meet boys' needs.

    'Wrong schooling'

    In the latest major international study of the performance of
    15-year-olds in maths, reading and science tests, boys out-performed
    girls in almost all of the 40 countries involved in maths.

    In reading, girls had "significantly higher average performance" in
    all countries except Liechtenstein. The biggest gap was in Iceland.

    Science showed the smallest average gender gap, with boys doing a
    little better.

    American educational researchers William Draves and Julie Coates have
    argued that it is not boys who are the problem but schools.

    While boys are developing the skills they will need in the "knowledge
    jobs" of the future, schools are still preparing students for a past
    industrial age, they have said.

    SEE ALSO:
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    [48]Top grades rising again for GCSEs
    26 Aug 04 |  Education
    [49]Finland tops global school table
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    [50]Will boys always be boys?
    28 Feb 04 |  Education
    [51]GCSE 'gender gap' sparks concern
    22 Aug 02 |  Education
    [52]Addressing the gender gap
    22 Aug 02 |  Education
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References

   47. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3577868.stm
   48. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3597490.stm
   49. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4073753.stm
   50. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3494490.stm
   51. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2208547.stm
   52. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2208596.stm
   53. http://www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/edemhome.htm
   54. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4200238.stm
   55. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4202844.stm
   56. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4197218.stm
   57. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4201706.stm