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Why are boys falling behind? Explaining gender gaps in school attainment in Sri Lanka

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  • Rozana Himaz
  • Harsha Aturupane

Abstract

A trend that is increasingly common in developed countries and middle income countries such as Thailand, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka is that females outperform males in terms of attainment at school and enrolment in higher education, on average. Alarmingly in countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, households also seem to allocate significantly higher resources towards girls' education rather than boys’ (Himaz, 2010, Wongmonta and Glewwe, 2017). This paper looks at attainment in mathematics among a sample of 12 year olds in Sri Lanka to see to what extent parental aspirations, teacher attitudes as well as school-based management programs, inter alia, can explain gender differentials disfavouring boys. The paper finds that although teacher attitudes and parental aspirations are significantly lower for boys, these factors -as we measure them- do not sufficiently explain the attainment gap. Much of the gap remains ‘unexplained’ and is due to differences in returns to endowments. The paper argues that positive discrimination of men in the labour market and bottle necks in higher-education may be important in understanding the unexplained component.

Suggested Citation

  • Rozana Himaz & Harsha Aturupane, 2019. "Why are boys falling behind? Explaining gender gaps in school attainment in Sri Lanka," CSAE Working Paper Series 2019-14, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2019-14
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    1. Joerg Baten & Michiel de Haas & Elisabeth Kempter & Felix Meier zu Selhausen, 2021. "Educational Gender Inequality in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Long‐Term Perspective," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 813-849, September.

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