Girls are more likely to have a positive attitude towards higher education from

the age of 13, a new report has suggest. The paper, called Believing in Better,
was published by the Sutton Trust last Friday. It revealed that 65% of girls in Year
9 believed that higher education was "very important" compared with just 58%
of boys. 15% of boys surveyed said that they did not see the point in higher
education.
This has been identified as a cause of the gender gap emerging in education in
the UK. Female pupils now regularly outperform males at school and are 35%
more likely to go to university. White males from poorer backgrounds are now the
least likely demographic group to go to enter higher education, with just 8.9%
choosing to go to university.
Professor Pam Sammons, lead author of the report and Senior Research Fellow at
Jesus College commented: "Our research shows that the students belief in
themselves and their aspirations are shaped by their background. However,
positive beliefs and high aspirations play an additional and significant role in
predicting better A-level outcomes. These findings points to the practical
importance for schools and teachers of promoting both self-belief and attainment
as mutually reinforcing outcomes, especially for disadvantaged students."
The Sutton Trust, which campaigns for greater social mobility in education, has
released a series of reports regarding students' aspirations and academic
performance in terms of going on to higher education. They have also
investigated the roles of ethnicity and area poverty in effecting the ability of
students to go to university. Their research has identified that fewer students
from disadvantaged backgrounds, 27%, think that they will achieve a university
degree, whilst 39% of pupils from non-disadvantaged backgrounds think that
they will do so.
Sir Peter Lampl, who is Chairman of both the Sutton Trust and the Education
Endowment Foundation, said last week: Our research shows how important it is
to raise the aspirations and self-belief of pupils from poorer homes, particularly
boys. To do this we need to offer more support to disadvantaged young people so
that they are in a position to fulfil their potential after GCSE.
However, male students are still more likely to study university subjects which
have been linked to higher earnings, typically science, technology, engineering
and maths (STEM subjects). Professor Kathy Sylva is an Honorary Research
Fellow and Professor of Educational Psychology at Oxford and co-author of the
Believing in Better Report. She commented, "Earlier reports published by the
Sutton Trust show that girls regularly get higher grades at A level. This does not
fit easily with the higher earnings of men, compared to women. We need more
research on the choice of subjects at school/college along with studies on the
entry paths of men and women into the labour market. We have learned that the
higher grades of girls has not led 'automatically' into higher earnings across the
board."
Oxford University Press Office declined to comment on the report. However, the
University admitted 1,709 boys and 1,507 girls last year, an inverse disparity to
that of many other universities. King's College London and Stirling University
have the highest gender gaps of any universities in the UK. 63% of both of their
undergraduate populations are female.