Boys Gender and Schooling > Issues for schools > Masculinities matter >

Social development of boys

A nation-wide report on Australian students' social development found that while many boys and girls get along well with others, more girls than boys feel that it's important to:

relate well to others,
contribute to community wellbeing, and
adhere to rules and conventions.

The study concluded that:

… boys are less concerned with these aspects of social development than are girls and that the gap widens between the late primary and middle secondary years … Empathy may operate as a brake on aggressive behaviour … Much of the research into empathy has reported a consistent gender pattern, with girls showing higher levels of empathy than boys.

(Ainley et al. 1998:xxvii)

Such findings do not indicate that all boys lack social concern and empathy, but that many boys (and some girls) would benefit from more opportunities to enhance their social development and to interrogate ideas of masculinity that undervalue these capacities.

It also seems likely that differences in empathy between boys and girls as groups may feed into differences in their visions of and attitudes towards the future. Research indicates that:

There is a dichotomy in their preferred futures: many boys are attracted by new technology and yet in discussion show that they are aware of its negative effects - many lay the blame for unemployment on new technology. Boys do want a more just and equitable society and many hope for greater environmental awareness but they accept a high-tech future as inevitable and see it as an answer to all human problems.
Girls, however, are more sceptical of the value of such a future, putting greater emphasis on people and relationships and less on technology.

(Hicks & Holden 1995:106-7)

Such research suggests that the curriculum might profitably provide more time for discussion of issues of personal and community values, along with opportunities for all students to engage confidently with new technology.

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