Acknowledgement

Its a great privilege to honor those who have aided in the completion of
this study. Thanks to Ms. Bonique.Townsend, a teacher of Caribbean
Studies, who guided me throughout this research. Thanks also go out to
the students of Jonathan Grant High School, who made the coalition of
data possible and the authorities of the school who enabled me to
conduct my investigation.
My family members are indeed honored, due to the fact that they have
being a great source of help in gathering the necessary resources for this
assessment. Finally I thank the Lord for giving me strengthen and vigor,
so that I could complete the research.

Statement of the Problem

What are the social factors which contribute to female students outperforming male students
academically at Jonathan Grant High School in St. Catherine?

Introduction and Purpose of the study

The underperformance of males academically, has become a topical issue within the
Caribbean at large. In Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, there has been a growing trend
of female students outperforming males. This is evident even at the secondary level, at which
students are being prepared for the Caribbean Secondary Examinations. The CSEC passes
over the years show a trendy decline in males performance both in the technical and
vocational areas. Our males are equally important like the females. The greatest dilemma a
country can face is when one gender/sex believes there is no place in society for them. The
increasing prominence of males underperformance is a big hindrance to society. This
problem has been affecting many schools within Jamaica. Jonathan Grant High School is one
such institution that this plaguing plight has taken a toll on.
The purpose of this study is to find out the factors which contribute to female
students outperforming male students academically at Jonathan Grant High School, in
Jamaica. In answering the problem statement, the researcher wishes to find out: which sex
performs better in most or all subject areas at Jonathan Grant High School, What are the
factors that causes this sex to outperform the other and some motivational measures that can
be used as instruments to improve this sex standard, academically.
The main aim of this study is to broaden peoples knowledge about the
underperformance of male students nationally and regionally. In doing this, the researcher
shall highlight the underperformance of males academically at Jonathon Grant High School.
The study also aim to bring to light, the factors contributing the underperformance, so to
ensure that male students who site this research can be motivated to do better in all subject
areas and try to overcome the obstacles to their performance.
5

Definitions of Key Terms

These are some terms you will encounter during this study;

Academically (adverb):
Having to do with education and study, scholarly as opposed to technical or
practical knowledge.

Education (noun):
The process of training a persons mind and abilities so that they can acquire
knowledge and develop skills.

Female (adjective):
Having to do with the sex that can bear offspring or produce egg, in particular
women and girl

Male (adjective):
To do with or belonging to the sex that reproduces by fertilizing egg cells produced
by the female men or boys.

Student (noun):
A person who studies a subject, especially at a school, college or university.

Underachieve (verb):
To do less well than was expected, especially in school work.
6

Literature Review
Nasser Mustapha (2009) commenting on the topic Males Underachievement in school in
his book Sociology for Caribbean Students, concludes that boys rather than girls are at a
disadvantage in Secondary schools. Mustaphas (2009) conclusion is based on findings
revealed in a demographic study conducted in Jamaica 1991. Data from the study revealed
that the illiteracy rate for males was 23% and 13.3% for females. The data also revealed that
the enrollment ratio male to female at the tertiary levels was 2:9 males to females,
Mustapha (2009). In a related studies carried out by the University of the West Indies
Mona (2007), it was revealed that as many as 82% of the students who matriculated to
tertiary institutions in the academic year 2006-2007 were women. Additionally statistics
submitted by four Teachers College in the island namely ; The Mico Teachers University
College, The Shorthood Teachers College, St. Joseph Teachers College and Moneague
Teachers, shows similar situation. Specifically, more males than females are enrolled in
tertiary education.
Authur Hall ( 2007) a senior reporter at the Jamaican Gleaner Company reported that
the phenomenon of an excess of tertiary trained females is already sufficiently established,
that, the results are being seen in todays society as women are taking over many senior
positions, once considered the providence of men and the trend is growing. Hall (2007)
believes that this will undoubtedly affect Jamaicas development, as fewer men are being
certified or obtaining higher education. Unfortunately data shared by Sociologist, Hyacinth
Evans, (Gender and Achievement in Secondary Education in Jamaica, 2006) concludes
that even after reviewing these findings Jamaican men were not alarmed or eager to take any
7

corrective actions to address the situation. Evans (2006) explained that that the men she
interacted with during the course of her study revealed that they are more capable of handling
any Jamaican woman, despite their levels of qualification.
Professor Mark Figueroa in an article published on the topic males socialization
(2004) states, that Our society has employed a form of socialization that is tying the heifer
and releasing the bull. This coincides with Sociologist Professor Barry Chevannes (2002)
publication on the topic What you sow is what you reap. Chevannes (2002) conclusion was
based on the fact that he observed, in the Jamaican culture that at home boys are expected to
misbehave, while girls are expected to conform to a rigid code. In addition, Professor
Chevannes (2002) further added that, if a boy misbehaves it is essentially expected, but if a
girl does so it is a serious matter.
Professor Odette Parry of the University of Edinberg, (2003) in her article schooling
is fooling, why do boys underachieve, also made reference to the perception of males, in
stating that this account suggests that an important casual factor to male educational
underachievement in schools is the hard, macho masculine attitudes and behavior which
run contrary to academic ethos of school. Professor Chavannes (2002) , Professor Figueroa
and Professor Odette Parry, believe that the society is the cause of males. However other
authors disagree with Chevannes et al conclusion.
Parry and Evans (1999) in Nasser Mustaphas text, namely Sociology for Caribbean
Students, noted that males underachievement is not from a Sociological point of view but a
biological a sex differences. They articulated that the academic of males and females in terms
of sex role theory, meaning the roles and statuses individuals adopt are due to their sex or
biological make up, which means that academic achievement then, has to do with biology or

genetic issues. The Scholar Errol Miller (1991), in Nasser Mustaphas text, namely
Sociology for Caribbean Students, supported the points of the sociologists but was also in
agreement with their opponents. He went further and wrote that in Jamaica early
socialization of boys put many of them at a severe disadvantage in schools; he also stated that
they were not encouraged to identify educational achievement with masculinity. This goes in
agreement with the conclusions drawn by Professor Barry Chavannes (2002) and Mark
Figueroa (2004).
While other writers believe that the cause of males underperformance is because of
social and biological reasons, Winston Adams, executive chairman and president of the
University College of the Caribbean (UCC) clearly disagreed with this point when he was
quoted in a speech done at the institution, saying there is a view among Jamaican men that
education is an investment which takes too long to produce a return. Anecdotal evidence,
based on what is heard from many of our Jamaican men in some communities; suggest that
this is a plausible explanation for the under-representation of men in the classrooms at the
secondary and tertiary level.
In an article published in the gleaner Wednesday October 3, 2007 entitled
underachievers the writer Petulia Clarke stated it is good that the females are excelling but
we need our males to reach that standard because the children are the future both the males
and the females. However the growing number of males under- performance that we suffer
from each year is an omen that needs attention. As Caribbean societies move aggressively in
hoping to achieve development from all angles, it must be realized that this cannot be done if
there is inequity as it relates to education among sex. Notably, it should not only be an

individual effort to correct this phenomenon, but a communal effort, as measures should be
institutionalized to correct the dilemma.
The obviousness of this plight draws the attention of many, including the researcher. But
while Mustapha (2009) can point to statistics as evidence, the ordinary man can just look on
the streets to prove his claims. On the streets of the Caribbean, most of the children seen are
males; most of the inmates in the cell are males. The researcher lamented that the society
fails to look at our boys as important as the girls.
We have seen, heard and read that males have no faith that the education system can affirm
their manhood. Therefore they deem the pursuit of a good education as simply girly. What is
even more startling is that the train educators within the education system endorse this kind
of behavior. Even though one may wish to differ with Professor Barry Chevannes and the
other writers, the truth is that these researches were conducted in the Caribbean and is by no
means fallacy or libel of the male character. As a nation and a people, we need to act now and
prevent the endangerment of the male species.

10

Data Collection Sources

The method of data collection was quantitative in nature; this was in the form of both
primary and secondary sourcing. Primary sourcing means that the research was conducted on
the ground, to get the relevant information needed. In other words, the information was
obtained first hand with the use of questionnaires. A questionnaire is a number of preset
questions that can contain open-ended, fixed choice or a combination of both types of
questions. These questions seek to get information about a particular situation or problem.
Questionnaire was chosen due to its numerous advantages. It is usually easy to administer; it
can be used to reach a large number of people, even if they are geographically dispersed and
it is usually cheap to produce a large number of questionnaires.
The questionnaire encompasses ten questions. These were distributed on Monday
23rd of January 2012 during school hours at the Jonathan Grant High School.
Jonathan Grant High School is a two shift educational institution located in Spanish Town St.
Catherine. To obtain the necessary information a letter was written to the school informing
them about the purpose of the study and asking for their full participation and co-operation.
The population of the school consists of two thousand (2000) students, therefore a sample
size of 10% was deemed necessary to ensure the accuracy of data (10% = 200). The
respondents were chosen on a stratified random base. This was done to get a mixture of the
different grades, which is grade seven to eleven (7-11).
The questionnaires were not collected on the same day; however they were obtained
fully completed on two separate voyages, by the researcher. A thorough analysis was done
by the researcher on the questionnaires to determine the opinions of the respondents and to
11

find out their views, and also to find out if the questions were answered based on the
instructions given.
Secondary sources were used in the form of books, newspaper articles and journals,
to capture the different writers perspective on the research topic. In terms of Article,
Professor Barry Chevannes (2002) in his publication What you sow is what you reap, was
a good source of help, since it aid in substantiating the claims of the researcher about male
underperformance in school and the contributing factors to the dilemma. Other Arthurs and
writers include Nasser Mustapha, when he was quoted from his text, Sociology for Caribbean
Students, giving detailed statistics of male to female ratio and the females prominence in
tertiary institutions across the island. Professor Mark Figueroa was also a help, like the
others, he helped in concreting the points put forth by the researcher.
In gathering the data, the researcher encountered several problems. Firstly, it was
difficult to leave school during the researchers school hour to issue out questionnaires.
Secondly, due to the fact that Jonathon Grant is a two shift school, it was difficult to get
respondents from the two shifts at the same time that the researcher went there. As a result he
had to wait there until one shift was dismissed and the other was commencing, in order to
ensure that respondents were chosen from the two shifts. Young people are normally said to
be irresponsible, this was evident when the researcher tried to retrieve the questionnaires.
Many of the respondents did not take the questionnaire with them, on the day they were told.
As a result the researcher had to go back there another day to collect all the questionnaires.
In terms of secondary sourcing, the only difficult, was its was very hard to gather
information from the different writers about the relevant topic and to compile the information
so that it could flow. Apart from that, the secondary sourcing was ok.

12

Presentation of Data
Question 1
To which sex do you belong?

Figure 1.The donut-chart above shows the sex of the respondents.

50% of the respondents are males while 50% are females.

13

Question 3
Which Grade do you belong?

.
Figure 2 ( what type of diagram is this?) showing the respondents grade.

40% of the respondents are currently in fifth form which suggests it is

their final year at school. 8% of the respondents are in first form which
signifies their first year at the institution. 23% and 16% respectively are
from fourth and third form, while 12% are in second form.

14

Question 4
Which sex performs better in the different subject areas at your school?

Figure 3 a pie-chart sex performs better in the different subject areas at your school.

According to the respondents, females perform better than males in all subject areas at the
institution. This is obvious as 72% agree to this while 28% believe males performance is
better.

15

Question 6
What are the social factors which account for female students
outperforming the male students academically at Jonathan Grant High
School?

Figure 4 a bar-chart displays social factors according to respondents that

cause males underperformance.
The bar-chart above displays social factors according to respondents,
which contribute to female students outperforming male students. Base
on the responses, 15% stated it is due to musical distraction, 13% believe
males are less focus than females, 22% stated males tend to have a gang
preference rather than going to school, another 10% believe educators

16

motivate females more than males, while a maximum of 40% strongly

believe that males prefer to work than to go to school.

Question 7
What are the major effects when female students outperform male students?

Category

Responde
nts' views

More female students than males students graduate

10%

More female students than males students from my school are enrolled
in tertiary institutions

20%

Male students become demotivated

22%

Competition between the male students and female students

18%

Females dominate the working world and are more qualified than males

30%

Figure.5 is a table displaying the major effects when female students outperform male
students.

According to the respondents from the Jonathan Grant High School, 10% believe that more
female students than male students graduate, 20% believe that more females are enrolled in
tertiary institutions, 22% stated that males become demotivated, 18% stated that competition
develops between both sex, while a maximum of 30% believe that females dominate the
working world and are more qualified than males, as a result.

17

Question 8
How do you think the male students at Jonathan Grant high school can improve
their level of performance academically?

Figure.6 shows how male students can improve their level of academic performance.

According to the respondents 40% stated that taking extra classes and studying more/harder
can help to improve males academic standards, 15% stated that they should pay more
attention while a maximum of 45% believe that if they attend classes regularly their
performance can be improved.
18

19

Question 9
What measures can be used to motivate male students at Jonathan Grant high school to
perform better?

Figure 7. Measures that can be used to motivate male students.

Based on the research, 15% of the respondents believe that educators should motivate male
students more to learn, 20% believe that regular counseling sessions should take place, 25%
are of the view that males should be encouraged to work harder and 40% stated that the
implementation of a more male friendly teaching approach should be encouraged.

20

Interpretation of Findings
The hypothesis was proven that the female students outperform male students at the Jonathan
Grant high school in the parish of St. Catherine. This conclusion is supported by the research,
in which 72% of the respondents answered yes. It can be argued that the remaining 28% of
the respondents who stated no was due to the fact that that they were male students and felt
offended and even angered by the question and its reality. It was not surprising that majority
of the respondents who answered yes, were mostly females and believed that their
performance is better due to their understanding of lessons taught, their devotion and
application of selves academically.

It was discovered that there are many social factors which account for female students
outperforming male students academically. The main ones are rather evident and obvious.
These include: musical distraction, as stated by 15% of the respondents. Musical distraction
causes males to lose focus on their school work, thus not performing well academically. As a
result many musical artists nowadays, try to motivate males to stay in school and improve
their academic performance. One such artist is Daniel Mc Gregor who sang a hit single
youth tek in your education, nuh put nuh woman pony uh head. This is to show that males
are distracted by music, henceforth the same music is used as an instrument of
encouragement since much attention is placed on it male by students.
Other social factor includes gang preference, which 22% of the respondents
concurred that male students prefer to join gangs rather than to attend school or classes. In
21

doing this it is easier for them to fit into these social groups rather than to adhere to the rules
and regulations of the schools. This is not strange, as the sex that is mostly involved in
criminal activities is the male sex. Hence, the respondents believed that male rather to engage
in these activities than to go to school. Nevertheless a next 10% believe educators motivate
female students more and this influence males underperformance. Due to the fact that the
respondents are in school, they are competent to give information on the issue. In fact they
are the ones in the school system and know who the educators motivate more. This may be as
result of teachers vigilance when a boy interrupt the class than when a girl does so. When a
girl does so, she may motivated saying you are a young lady, which means that is not the
norm. But for a male or boy, the teacher may just bring him to the office, at that point they
will have no tolerance due to the perception they have of males. 13% are still of the view that
males are less focus, while 40% stated that males prefer to work than to go to school. In this,
they fail to realize the importance of education, but enjoy the get rich quick idea and want
fast cash. In wanting fast cash males prefer to work rather than to stay in school and work at
a later period.

Social plights normal have disturbing effects on a community, country or even a region;
males underperformance is no exception at Jonathan Grant High School. As stated, 10% of
the respondents stated that the main effect of this phenomenon is that more female students
than males graduate, 20% stated that more female students are enrolled in tertiary
institutions. This effect is not latent as recent statistics have made this assertion, therefore the
researcher unbiasedly concur with it. Notably, in Universities across the Caribbean, female
students have established their dominance spreading themselves all over and performing far

22

better. In addition to that, 22% of the respondents also stated that males become
demotivated, while another 18% stated competition normal develop between both sex. But
even though respondents have varying opinions as it relates to the effects of this dilemma,
30% are still of the view that female dominant the working world and are more qualified than
males. Though debatable, this point is still up for more criticisms.
It was a strong opinion among the respondents (figure 6) that this problem can be solved by
the male students themselves taking extra classes and studying more/harder, this was
indicated by 40% of the sample size, 15% of the respondents also believe that if males pay
attention in class this problem can be extricated. However most of the respondents, that is
45%, stated that they should attend their classes regularly. In doing this they will become
more familiar to the content taught and will be better able to retain information.

Understandably, males have an important role to play in order to alleviate this problem, but
one should note that some measures need to be institutionalized if solutions should work. As
shown in figure 7, 15% of the respondents believe that educators should motivate males
more, 20% believe regular counseling sessions should take place and 40% stated that
teachers should implement a more male friendly teaching approach to teaching. One of the
reasons for majority believing that there should be a more male friendly teaching approach, is
due to the fact that the teachers are mostly females and tend to teach the lessons in a way that
female would better understand rather than males. This is so because the examples used
would be of a female nature making it subtle for males to understand.

23

Discussion of Findings
This survey revealed three major findings. Firstly, the gender which performs the
best at Jonathan Grant High School in the parish of St. Catherine is the females and not the
males. According to Petuila Clarke, in The Gleaner dated October 3 2007, she stated, it is
good that the females are excelling but we need our males to reach that standard.
This data clearly indicates that the females are the ones who perform the best and the males
are surely underperforming, which was

also confirmed by the findings (questionnaire)

which 70% of the respondents agreed to

The main social factors which account for male students underperformance at
Jonathan Grant High School are that males prefer to work rather than to go to school, others
include musical distraction, males are less focus, educators motivate females more and gang
preference. This is in agreement with Winston Adams executive chairman and president of
the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) when he was quoted saying there is a
view among Jamaican men that education is an investment which takes too long to produce a
return which Adams suggest is the explanation for the under-representation of males in the
classrooms at the tertiary level. But how far is this finding from Professor Odette argument,
which she mentioned that the casual factor to male underachievement in schools is the hard,
macho, masculine attitudes and behavior which runs contrary to the academic ethos of school

24

and to work is one of those macho attitudes. Males tend to have a get rich quick idea and
would use any means to get by it.

It was confirmed in the findings by 20% of respondents that one of the major effects of
female students outperforming male students at the Jonathan Grant High school was that
more female than male students are enrolled in tertiary institutions, as the male students are
not qualified enough after five (5) years for higher education. This point is supported in the
literature review with the 2007 statistical data from the University of the West Indies
(UWI). Which revealed that as many as 82% of the students who matriculated to tertiary
institutions in the academic year 2006-2007 were women.
Nonetheless, it was clearly proven in the findings that many persons (40% of the
respondents) believe that this problem of males underperforming at Jonathan Grant can be
solved by the putting measures in place to motivate male students such as implementing a
more male friendly teaching approach which male students would be better able to relate to
and/or understand the lessons taught. As a result they should ignore the societal expectations,
as described by Professor Barry Chavannes, who stated that at home boys are expected to
misbehave while girls are expected to conform to a rigid code.

25

Conclusion
In the ending of this study it can be concluded that the gender which performs the best
academically at Jonathan Grant High School is the female. This was claimed by 70% of the
respondents and that the male students at Jonathan Grant High School are indeed
underachieving academically.

It was also proven by the findings that some of the main social factors which account for
female students outperforming male students at Jonathan Grant High School are: gang
preference, working rather than to attend school, males are less focus, educators motivate
female more and musical distractions. One cause of this is due to some of Jamaicas popular
dancehall artistes portraying an image of quick money/ quick rich idea, and not using the
educational route of getting it. And also, the fact that the male students dont have to follow
any rules and regulation they tend to have this gang preference rather than to attend school as
they see it easier to follow.
And finally, the major effects of female students outperforming male student at Jonathan
Grant High School is that more female students than male students graduating from Jonathan
Grant and enrolled in tertiary institutions which lead to an increase in illiteracy rate among

26

our males, lacked of employments ( i.e. males in the workforce) and an increase in criminal
activities among males. But nonetheless, person still believe that if there were measures put
in place such as the implementation of a more male friendly teaching curriculum, it will
encourage the males to perform better academically and would avoid the effects listed above.

Limitations
In conducting this research, the researcher encounters some major challenges. Firstly, the
information that was collected by the researcher was limited as there were not enough
sources to collect relevant and sufficient information. Furthermore, the respondents mostly
the male students felt offended by the questions in the questionnaire and were reluctant to
answer them, therefore not giving the researcher sufficient time to analyze the data. On the
other hand, the assignment was still successfully completed.

27

Recommendation
Based on the information gathered by the researcher, it can be clearly seen that male students
are underachieving academically at the Jonathan Grant High School. As a people we need to
come to an agreement to battle this problem which can increase over time.
The researcher strongly recommends that greater emphasis should be placed on programmes
that develop life skill education such as decision making skills, problem solving skills,
conflict resolution skills and civic responsibility.
The researcher also recommend that the government and educators or whoever have the
power to do this should try to and make the academic curriculum male friendly or develop a
new program to be more male friendly in a way that male students are as eager to learn as
female students. Also the program must be able to grasp the attention of the male students
and keep it. And to potential researcher it is recommended that when doing this study, you
should avoid using unreliable and useless research techniques in collecting adequate
information on the study.
To reduce the underperformance at Jonathan Grant High School, the researcher will
implement a boys club. This club will aid in motivating males. With this club, male positive
role models will come in and speak to males in club meetings and encourage them of ways to
get over the any problem which they encounter. The researcher will also have male musical
28

artistes coming in the school to create songs about the importance of school. The club will
also engage in game playing so that males may feel a sense of belonging among their peers,
to prevent them from seeking external belonging, that is gangs and other deviant companies.

29

Questionnaire
Dear Respondents,
This study is being carried out to determine the factors which account for female
students outperforming male students academically at Jonathan Grant High School. The
Information gathered will be used to complete an assignment for a Caribbean studies Internal
Assessment. All your information will be kept confidential.
Instructions: please place a tick in the box [] where necessary or write where instructed.
1. To which sex do you belong?
Male

[ ]

Female

[ ]

2. To which age group do you belong?

13-16 years

[ ]

17-18 years

[ ]

18 years and over [ ]

3. Which form do you belong?
First

[ ]

Second

[ ]

Third

[ ]

Fourth

[ ]
30

Fifth

[ ]

4. Which sex performs better in the different subject areas at your school?
Male

[ ]

Female

[ ]

5. Why do you think that the female students outperform the male students?
Male students are lazy

[ ]

Females are more ambitious than male students [ ]

Females concentrate better than male students [ ]
Females learn faster than male students

[ ]

Other

[ ]

6. What are the social factors which account for female students outperforming the male
students academically at Jonathan Grant High School?
Musical distraction

[ ]

Males are less focus than female students

[ ]

Males prefer to join gangs than attend school

[ ]

Educators motivate males less than female students [ ]

Males prefer to work than go to school

[ ]

7. What are the major effects when female students outperform male students?
More female students than males students graduate

[ ]

More female students than males students from my school are enrolled in
tertiary institutions

[ ]

Male students become demotivated

[ ]

Competition between the male students and female students

[ ]

Females dominate the working world and are more qualified than males

[ ]

31

8. How do you think the male students at Jonathan Grant high school can improve their
level of performance academically?
Pay more attention in their classes

[ ]

Attend their classes regularly

[ ]

Take extra classes and studying more/ harder

[ ]

9. What measures can be used to motivate male students at Jonathan Grant high school
to perform better?
Encouragement to male students to work hard

[ ]

Regular counseling sessions for male students

[ ]

Implement more male friendly approach to teaching

[ ]

Educators should motivate male students more to learn.

[ ]

10. Do you believe that government intervention will help to alleviate this impending
problem? If yes briefly state what can they do.
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

32

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Haralambos Michael and Holborn Martin (2000), Sociology Themes and Perspectives the
Fifth Edition, Published by Collins Educationa.

Mustapha Nasser(2007), Sociology For Caribbean Students, Published by Ian Publisher.

Hyacinth Evans (2005), Gender and Achievement in Secondary Education in Jamaica,

Published by Brain Publisher.

Petulia Clarke ( 2007), Underachievers, the Daily Gleaner, October.

Barry Chevannes (2002), What you sow is what you reap, article Publication.

33