Girls outperform boys throughout education according to new research
Women showed higher levels of academic success from school to university
Women have been shown to outperform men throughout the education cycle, a new study has revealed.
Research from the Cambridge University Press found that female students were more academically successful in all stages of education ranging from primary school to university.
Basing the results on data obtained throughout the UK, this is the largest study of its kind as it covers a number of key stages, well as college and third-level tuition.
Those conducting the study looked at openly available data on educational progress and attainment at each key stage of the cycle.
Researcher found that girls showed much faster development and progress in every stage, including early years education, which covers children aged up to seven years old.
As well as this, female students were more likely to meet or exceed expectations for their educational level and developing further from these early phases.
These differences of girls reaching goals faster and more securely than boys continue into secondary education and university, where a greater number of women are able to obtain an undergraduate degree than their male counterparts.
But one area where female students falter is maths, where male students continue to beat the girls at the highest level from early years to A-levels.
This is reflected in GCSE choices, where male students are more likely to select more data-driven subjects including maths, sciences, business studies and technology.
In contrast, female students have come to dominate the medicinal and dentistry industries, although there are more variations as students get older.
The research added that issues triggered by the reform of qualifications and the COVID-19 pandemic had very little impact on the statistics and did not affect previous patterns.
Speaking about the study, Matthew Carroll - who led the study for the Cambridge University Press said that the figures show a vital need for more women in the scientific field.
"young women remain underrepresented in particular Stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, despite the achievements of female students in education up to the age of 21," he explained.
"We need to figure out why female students are still less likely to pursue technology, engineering and maths, and what the possible implications of these gender-based patterns are for labour markets."
He added that people who work in education can help extrapolate the data so that current pushes for equality are working properly, or whether the system needs reform to help more women into the workforce, filling vital gaps across various industries.