Girls’ exam results don’t equal career success

GCSE results published this week show the gap between girls and boys is widening, with girls outstripping boys, particularly when it comes to the top grades. Not only does this give the papers a legitimate reason for only printing pictures of young girls (in crop tops) clutching their exam results, it raises the question of when this superior academic ability will be translated into success in the job market.

Placing the exams-are-getting-easier-debate in detention for the time being (A -C pass rates rose for the 23rd year in a row) the national figures show one in four girls, that's 26.5 per cent, got an A or A* this year, compared to 19.8 per cent of boys' exams - a gap of 6.7 per cent, which is the widest it's been since 1994.The gap also widened at A —C with 66 per cent of boys gaining at least a C, compared to 73.5 per cent of girls', a difference of 7.5 per cent. It seems more work needs to be done to uncover why boys are falling behind as Andrew Hall of exam board AQA was quoted in the Metro as saying "We've scratched our heads over this."

Meanwhile Forbes released the list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, which featured just three British entries: The Queen, (who doesn't have any academic qualifications and can't even accept honorary degrees) who inherited all her dosh and status; JK Rowling who is Britain's twelfth wealthiest woman and one of the few females on The Sunday Times Rich List who made her own moolah; and lastly Helen Boaden who makes the power list because she bosses BBC News which reaches more than 240 million people in around 200 countries and territories. Of the trio not a one is the boss of a private sector company or a entrepreneur who has launched a successful business.

The Huffington Post quotes Maxine Benson MBE, one of the founders of Everywoman an organisation set up to help female business leaders: "The list demonstrates women are doing well in the world of commerce but it is disturbing to see so few British business women making the cut. It raises some serious questions for UK PLC and the health of its female talent pipeline." This concern is supported by a report released last week by the Equality and Human Rights Commission called Sex & Power which showed: "…that at the current rate it will take around 70 years to reach an equal number of men and women directors of FTSE 100 companies." It also found that at the current rate it will take another 70 years before there are an equal number of women MPs in parliament, so another 14 elections. According to the report there has been no real change in the representation of women since 2008.

Girls at least better boys in the smartness stakes as the latest GCSE results demonstrate but still lag well behind blokes in the workplace. The Sex and Power Report believes that this imbalance damages UK PLC stating that more women on corporate boards would improve business performance and increase levels of corporate social responsibility.
The issue is easier to identify than the solution because positive discrimination is always a tough sell; that is creating all-women shortlists for jobs or safe seats in politics, which will understandably lead to accusations that better qualified men are being passed over and lesser able women are getting an unfair advantage.

However if the girls keep outperforming the boys perhaps better qualified guys will start to become harder to find, meanwhile perhaps a focus on anti-discrimination laws and making the workplace more female friendly will enable girls to fulfill their potential.