The Effects of male underachievement

Trenace Lambert

(Candidate number)

Christiansburg Wismar secondary school

Caribbean studies

(Ms. Odessa James)

(Date ,2022)
Topic: Education

Subtopic: The relationship between the underachievement of males in the Caribbean aspect and the Job

opportunities (Academic underachievement of males within the Caribbean)

Theme: Effects of male underachievement

Title: The new agenda of males are now incapable to Land a good future based on this interior

background

Purpose of research: As an aspired Entrepreneur this information serves as a commodity for the

upcoming of future generations in the business aspects.

Education value: this research will contribute to the development and repair of the education society

concerning males.

Research questions

1. What is an underachievement student?

 2. What are the main influences of male underachievement?

3. How is it affecting today and future generations?

4. How do we combat this for the betterment of the world tomorrow?

5. Is it possible to decrease the rate of school dropouts within the school sector?

Problem statement: Based on the researcher’s experience, the crisis is that this new agenda of males

are caught up in bad influences and homes without proper supervision leading to their educational

downfall.

Hypothesis: Males underachievement in the education sector leads to dropouts, failing college

enrollment and little to no job opportunities due to the lack of foundation to build upon.

Null hypothesis: Regardless of the short comings there is still a chance or better future for our males

today
Introduction: In the world today, it is a commonly known fact the distinguishable personality

traits of females compared to males especially with the education sector of today. In alignment

with today’s specific results, it has been proven by the https://blogs.worldbank.org/education that

High-income countries know this all too well: no matter the grade or subject, boys have been

underperforming in school compared to girls, and men have become less represented in higher

education. It’s a phenomenon that has been acknowledged in the literature of many high-income

countries for decades, and now increasingly observed among middle-income countries. With the

devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and the deepening of existing

inequalities, it is important and timely to better understanding the underachievement of boys and

men, in addition to girls and women. Recent evidence highlights the significant effect of school

closures on girls including the estimated 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage over

the next decade. Less is known about the effect on boys due to lacking global research on factors

related to their underachievement prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. So the real question is what

can underachieve be defined as?.

Literature Review

According to the research gate website, there has been a shift in the paradigm for gender

disparities regarding academic achievement. It was stated by tinkling (2003) and Smith (2003)

that a review of scientific and popular literature does not yield a consensus on it definition and

measurement. They further stated that “gender accounted for less than 1% of the variance in

examination outcome," which has deep implications for “commentators who place gender and

the underachievement of boys in particular, at the heart of the standards debate and should

provide a cautionary note for all those who perpetuate the binary notion of boys versus girls”.

It is stated by the http://www.genderandeducation.com/resources-2/the-boys-underachievement-

debate/ vement’ in Education that researchers in the Gender and Education Association take a

critical feminist approach to the issue of boys’ underachievement. A news headline from 2016 –

Is this just a ‘moral panic’?  compromises that they argue that boys’ underachievement has long

been a feature of the UK education system, but it has recently become a ‘moral panic’ (In 1996,

the UK’s Chief Inspector of Schools called it “one of the most disturbing problems facing the

education system”) which has arisen because of the following three reasons:

 First, de-industrialization in the UK has led to the decline of traditional manufacturing

jobs, and so there are fewer jobs available for those with few or no educational

qualifications. As a result, young working-class men who leave school with relatively

few qualifications have now become a ‘problem’.

  Second, feminism has had an impact on girls’ education and career aspirations, and so

women are advancing into technical and professional jobs which were previously male

dominated.

 Third, examination performance is increasingly central to policy, with Britain ranked

against other countries, and failing students matter more.

They argue that focusing on boys’ underachievement is a problem because:

 It ignores other differences between young people, particularly of ethnicity and class,

which actually have a far greater effect on results.

 Since girls are on top, there’s no space to tackle the problems that girls have in education.

Including teenage pregnancy, sexualisation and bullying in friendship groups.

But it is inevitably reported by the https://blogs.worldbank.org under the name “what about

boys? Addressing educational underachievement of boys and men during nd beyond the COVID

pandemic” that in every region of the world, and in almost every country, boys are more likely

than girls to experience learning poverty , being unable to read and to comprehend a simple text

by the age of (10) ten, it further goes on to say of 152 countries with data , 116(76%) have lower

tertiary education enrollment ratios among men compared to women, not only are men less likely

to participate in tertiary education, but they are less likely to finish they programs to study.
 Survey based on the Male Underachievement within the Christiansburg

Wismar secondary school

Dear respondents

This survey is being conducted with the perimeters of Christiansburg Wismar secondary

school among students and teachers. The aim of this is to determine the influence that has

heavily impacted the underachievement in males with the Caribbean schools, namely of Guyana

the Christian burg multi-lateral for my Caribbean studies Internal assessment. It is being
requested that you please answer all questions honestly. If you are uncomfortable with any

question within this survey feel free to decline or not respond.

Thank you very much for your time and assistance for my assessment

Yours truly

Trenace Lambert

Upper six Student of CWSS

 QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Age

 15-17

 18-21

 21-29

 29-40

 Older

2. Gender

 Male

 Female

3. Would you say Male underachievement is present today with the Christian burg multi-

lateral secondary school?

 Yes

 No
4. What would you say you think plays a major role in this?

 Lack of self-discipline

 Not enough role models within school and their home community

 No help with their school project

 Mental health issues

 All

5. What do you believe are some side effects that can result from the lack of male

performance?

 Low Job opportunities / unemployment

 No opportunity to forward their education

 School dropout

 Crime substance abuse / or crime being their only source of income

 Poverty/suicide

6. What are some ways you believe can prevent or stop this crisis?

 Teachers and parents taking more interest with the gender of males

 The Male students being disciplined for their behavior

7. Please suggest two ways you believe both students, parents and teachers can assist with

this crisis.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

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8.
 Presentation of Data

Figure 1.2: Causes votes for male underachievement

45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10% Teachers
5% Students
0%
Students
e
lin els Teachers
ic p lly
s od ica ue
di em iss all
le f ol em
f s
er ad lth
ko at ac ea
lac u lp lh
eq He nta
ad no e
in m
Figure1.3: Side effects of Male underachievement

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Teachers
es n Students Students
iti tio t
tr u
n
ca pou as
e e Teachers
o d u r o r e id
p p
r e l d inc suc
o ei o e or
job r th cho r im ty
le e S c er
Litt rth e or ov
? fu s p
nt o bs
u
oye ityt a
pl n ce
em
o rtu stan
un p b
op e su
no
im
cr

Figure 1.4 data representing the votes of students and teachers opinion on how they can help

disciplining the male students

 teachers
students

getting involved with helping

0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%

Figure1.5
Analysis and Interpretation

As an inspiring entrepreneur and social worker the purpose of this portfolio is to provide

information centering the aspects of what is male underachievement, why it is majorly impacting

the sections of Caribbean, namely Guyana, who it is affect, side effects or how it is affecting this

gender. In Guyana today it is vividly seen the negative impact and outcome for out present and

future generations of males.

Discussion

Academic underachievement encompasses a group of disorders that result in abnormal function

in school. They may result in academic failure but are often referred at the time that the child is

underachieving and not responding to teacher interventions. Academic underachievement is often

measured by significant discrepancies between IQ scores and grades, or between IQ and

achievement test scores. It may also become apparent as a result of unexplained decreases in any

or all of these measures. For example, a child who scores in the 90th percentile range on

standardized tests can be expected to excel in school, to be earning A’s and perhaps some B’s. A

child with high potential who earns less than B’s is said to be underachieving .Underachievers

are not a uniform group, and they may exhibit a variety of characteristics. Since no single

comprehensive model exists that can organize educators’ understanding of underachievement,

checklists of characteristics can be especially useful. Within this investigation the researcher has

come to the conclusion that the principal cause of this crisis is centered upon terrible role models

and males achievement being based on their masculine common characteristics where they’re not

held to high expectations. The results of this prime problem has many negative effects that are

easily yet thoughtfully able to be altered for the betterment of the country and world.

Conclusion

Conducting this research, the researcher has realized that male underachievement is a topic really

under-looked within the Caribbean and christens burg multi-later school. With the surveys

answered and investigation Carried out it is inevitably seen that there is hope for the future.