Why many boys consider good grades “unmasculine” is a question that reaches far beyond the classroom. While cognitive ability is distributed nearly equally between girls and boys worldwide, restrictive gender roles today hinder the educational attainment of many boys. In a compelling LIfBi Lecture on June 9, Professor Claudia Buchmann (The Ohio State University) analyzed the causes and consequences of boys falling behind in the educational system—ranging from masculinity norms to the so-called “brilliance bias”.
The data shows: Women have outpaced men in receiving tertiary degrees in almost all industrialized nations. The reasons for this are complex and can be traced back to earlier educational stages. In her LIfBi Lecture, Buchmann made it clear that boys fall behind as early as their school years due to harmful masculinity norms, as they often disparage academic effort as “feminine”. Additionally, the “brilliance bias”—the false association of high talent with masculinity—leads some boys to believe intelligence is a fixed trait. This causes them to undervalue hard work, which ultimately reduces their academic performance.
Observations such as an increasing political polarization between genders could be consequences of the diverging educational trajectories. However, Professor Buchmann emphasized that there is not yet any secured evidence for this and that it represents an important field for future generations of researchers to explore.
During her two-day visit to Bamberg, Professor Buchmann discussed stratification in higher education with LIfBi researchers. A key focus was on a comparison between Germany and the USA: how do different systems of student funding and the structure of access to higher education influence educational inequalities in both countries? In addition to these structural issues, a wide range of other current topics in educational research were explored during in-depth discussions.
The visit highlights the importance of international collaboration in understanding global educational trends and their far-reaching consequences.