The authority's report Gender differences in school results points to a new trend. Admittedly, girls still perform better than boys, but the difference has decreased. This is mainly because the girls have backed down. It shows in both the ninth graders' grades and eligibility for upper secondary school.
The pattern is also seen in middle school and upper secondary school, according to the Swedish National Agency for Education's report.
The girls' deteriorated results are worrying, says Lars Thornberg.
This is a new trend and something we need to pay attention to. If the development continues, we must stop it.
Feel worse
The report shows that it is mainly girls with a Swedish background who have deteriorated their school results, and this applies regardless of social background.
The Swedish National Agency for Education mentions a number of factors that may have affected, such as girls feeling worse in school and experiencing increased stress. Sleep problems, depression, and headaches are much more common among girls than among boys.
The pandemic is also a factor. In our studies regarding this, we saw that girls were more affected in their mental well-being than the boys were. It can also be about social media, where more girls are high users. It can be linked to how they feel and how they perform in school, says Lars Thornberg.
Mathematics is a problem
The Swedish National Agency for Education points out that the girls' deteriorated results can largely be explained by the fact that they have lost in the subject of mathematics. There, the boys in grade 9 now have a higher average grade than the girls.
Even in the international knowledge measurement Timss, Swedish boys have better results in the math section than the girls do. The same pattern is seen at the international level.
Samuel Sollerman, researcher in mathematics knowledge measurements at Stockholm University, notes that the results are not unequivocal. In the latest Pisa measurement, boys and girls performed at the same level in mathematics.
But it's interesting that the grades have still fallen for the girls. It's something that needs to be further researched, he says.
He also highlights that girls have more negative feelings for the subject of mathematics.
Students in grade 8 have much more negative feelings and lower motivation than they had in grade 4, and this applies especially to girls. It's alarming - what do we need to change in school? Because we can't have it like this, says Samuel Sollerman.
Anna Lena Wallström/TT
Fact: Results in numbers
TT
Grades: In 2015, girls in grade 9 had an average merit value of 238. Boys had 212, a difference of 26 points.
In 2024, the girls' points had decreased to 237, and the boys' points had increased to 219. The difference had decreased to 18 points.
Girls have had a worse result development than boys in several subjects. Girls have mainly lost in the subject of mathematics, where boys now have a higher average grade than girls.
Measured in the proportion eligible for upper secondary school, a decrease is seen over the ten-year period for both sexes. But the decrease is greater among girls, from 87 to 84 percent eligible. Among boys, the proportion has decreased from 84 to 83 percent.
Source: The Swedish National Agency for Education
