The study aims to identify the factors influencing students’ academic achievements overall and to explore the specific factors contributing to the unequal academic success between male and female students. [...] The discourse surrounding the reversal of the gender gap in learning performance currently centres on the question of whether male students truly exhibit lower academic performance than their female counterparts across levels and fields of education (Driessen and van Langen 2013; Meinck and Brese 2019; Takeuchi 2022; Workman and Heyder 2020). [...] What are the factors that contribute to the reversal of the gender gap in learning between male and female students based on the perceptions of students, teachers and school directors? 2. [...] Additionally, the Math and Khmer teachers of these classes were invited to partake in the teacher survey, while school directors from the 23 schools were invited to complete the school survey. [...] The subsequent sections will delve into the learning behaviours of male and female students in the Cambodian context and other factors that seem to contribute to the learning gap reversal.
Related Organizations
- Pages
- 42
- Published in
- Cambodia
Table of Contents
- CDRI Working Paper Series No. 145 3
- Editorial Committee 4
- Chief Editor Managing Editor Associate Editors 4
- 2024 Cambodia Development Resource Institute CDRI 4
- Disclaimers 4
- Citation 4
- CDRI 4
- Table of contents 5
- List of figures and tables 6
- Acknowledgements 7
- Abbreviations 8
- Executive summary 9
- 1. Introduction 11
- 1.1. Overview of trends in global gender achievement gaps 11
- 1.2. Cambodian context 12
- 1.3. Objectives of study 14
- 2. Literature review 14
- 3. Methodology 15
- 3.1. Data collection 15
- 3.1.1. Qualitative strand 15
- 3.1.2. Quantitative strand 16
- 3.2. Data analysis 17
- 4. Results 17
- 4.1. Factors influencing student learning in Cambodia 17
- 4.1.1. Student factors 17
- I occasionally fell ill and lacked money leading to stress and a loss of motivation for learning. My parents give me money but it is far from enough for my daily expenses and private tutoring fees. 18
- 4.1.2. Family factors 19
- One of the factors affecting my study performance is issues in my family. It makes me keep thinking about it. 19
- I feel disappointed that I dont have a motorbike like other students but I strive to motivate myself to study and overcome our current state of poverty. 19
- 4.1.3. Teacher and school factors 20
- 4.1.4. The impact of digital usage and technology 21
- They use smartphones to play games instead of searching for lessons to study. Sometimes students even use phones during class. 22
- Our teachers do not give proper instructions or topics for students to research. They have limited knowledge in guiding the students on how to use digital devices in the right ways. 22
- 4.1.5. The impact from society and peers 22
- 4.1.6. Private tutoring 23
- I always welcome those who cannot afford to come to study in my private tutoring classes for free. But they do not come. Some said that they didnt have time. 24
- 4.1.7. High school tracking system and lack of basic foundation in basic education 24
- Were in a science class but there is not enough time for us to practice exercises in science subjects as there are too many hours for social science subjects. 25
- Sometimes we dont have enough time to study because we have to cover too many subjects including irrelevant ones such as History or Geography. 25
- Some students are not interested in subjects that are not included in the national exams. No matter how much teachers try to teach students still dont engage in learning. 25
- Teachers cannot review lessons from previous academic years or grades. So students with poor background knowledge will fall behind their peers. 26
- 4.2. Why girls are doing better than boys 26
- 4.2.1. Gender-based differences in learning behaviours 28
- Boys are playful pay less attention to studies play games and like chitchatting even during class especially boys in the back rows. 28
- M1 Female students perform much better academically. The reason is that girls pay 28
- F1 This is true. During classes girls pay more attention and even during break time 28
- F2 This is not always the case. Female students do not study all the time and they also 28
- M2 For me I think females do better. 28
- F3 For me I think girls tend to have higher scores than boys. There are some boys who 28
- Results from the Teacher Survey N52 29
- Results from the School Survey N20 29
- First girls pay more attention than boys. They put effort into doing all the work assigned to them. They volunteer to solve exercises in class. Boys dont do the homework and always have excuses. 29
- 4.2.2. Family factors 30
- 4.2.3. Teacher and school factors 30
- Boys in my class have their new friends who ask them to go out. So they skip classes to hang around together. Female students are not easily influenced by such friends. 31
- 4.2.4. The impact of digital usage and technology 31
- A. The main purpose of using the internet 32
- B. Average daily hours spent 32
- 4.2.5. The impact of society and peers 32
- 4.2.6. Private tutoring 33
- 5. Conclusion and policy recommendations 33
- 5.1. Conclusion 33
- 5.2. Policy recommendations 34
- Minimising Negative Societal Community and Peer Influences 34
- Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Teaching and Learning 34
- Promoting Sports as Extra-curricular Activities 35
- Enforcing school discipline and enhancing school accountability and transparency 35
- Need-based financial support 35
- Holistic Approaches to Student Counselling 36
- References 36
- CDRI Working paper series 38
