School governance contributes to gender differences in grades and health

"Despite political ambitions and extensive governance in the area, girls and boys still do not have the same opportunities and conditions at school. This is expressed through persistent gender differences and shortcomings in the implementation of the school's gender equality mission", says Lena Ag, Director General of the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.

Equal education is one of Sweden's gender equality goals, and the agency has been tasked by the government to follow up how developments are progressing. The follow-up shows that girls still have better grades than boys, but they pay with their health - they are more stressed than the boys.

"The mental illness can be connected with the school's organisation and governance. Reforms over the years have put increased pressure on grades and assessment. More individual responsibility for studies seems to be connected with increasing mental illness among young people, and the negative effects have been shown to be stronger among girls than among boys", says Jakob Lindahl, senior investigator, at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency

The study results for the boys end up even further behind the girls in schools that are judged to be of lower quality. Cuts in school therefore risk contributing to increased gaps between the sexes.

"The teachers and principals need to have sufficient conditions to give girls and boys the same opportunities. There is a gap between expectations and resources. We note that it will be difficult to ever reach the goal of equal education if there is not an investment in greater equality in schools in general", says Boel Kristiansson, senior investigator at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency.

The report on equal education (Ogiltig frånvaro för jämställdheten i skolan) is available in Swedish including a summary in English.