Expostitory Piece

Academic underachievement in teenage boys has been a persistent issue throughout the 21st
century, especially within the Caribbean region. It is no secret that females have been gradually
outperforming males when it comes to academic achievements, especially at the CSEC and
CAPE levels where it clearly shows a decline in male education as compared to females.
My presentation includes research done on educational underachievement, specifically the
factors that contribute to the low educational achievement rates among teenage boys residing in
the Caribbean including the main reasons and the consequences that may result from it. The
challenges encountered while researching this topic and an evaluation of the sources will also be
covered within this presentation
my motivation for choosing this research topic was shaped by my brother's experience with
educational underachievement. Witnessing the challenges, he faced ignited a passion to
investigate the factors contributing to the issue of educational underachievement among teenage
boys with aims to contribute insightful information that could potentially improve educational
outcomes for other teenage boys facing similar struggles.
The gathering of information for this research was a success however it was also one of the
challenges that I encountered while conducting this research simply because the limited
information and perspectives on the issue, finding information that was valid and credible also
posed as a struggle. While researching I found that it is agreed upon widely that
underachievement in boys is a prevalent issue worldwide and most people identified the main
cause for low educational achievement in boys being the feminization of schools.
Within the Caribbean, many factors have contributed to the educational underachievement of
teenage boys such as the changes in societal values, under-participation, discrimination as well
as a popular belief which is the feminization of schools and its being less catered towards boys.
In the 1970’s and 1980’s the expectations for males and females were entirely different girls
were portrayed as wives and mothers and textbooks would reinforce this image whereas males
were expected to obtain an education and labourous work to contribute to being the sole
breadwinner for his family as well as to obtain respect from elders it was frowned upon for
women to be subjected to the same expectations as of men however with the evolving of society
and the pushing of feminism in the fight for equality male and females are more or less subjected
to the same expectations education wise it is believed that because of this evolving society the
expectations for males have dropped leading them to no longer feel motivated or see any purpose
in pursuing further education and often opt to drop out and finding work.
According to Mrs. Bailey the phenomenon has more to do with under-participation than it has to
do with underachievement stemming from the discrimination that boys face for showing actual
interest in school work. Boys are more likely than girls to experience physical bullying and are
often targeted because of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. When
they show interest in their schoolwork, they become victims of gender-based violence which can
negatively impact boys’ academic achievement and this often discourages them.
Additionally, with the feminization of schools which talks about the Majority of teachers being
females with a female majority of students which subsequently led to a curriculum that is better
suited to the learning process of women. Because of this, it is thought that women have an
advantage over males in education women teachers generally hold higher expectations for girls’
abilities over boys. Therefore, these teachers may be less concerned if boys fall behind, while
girls may be more encouraged to raise their standards. Within the early socialization stages, girls
were often kept indoors and thought to listen and be people pleasers while boys on the other
hand were not subjected to the same expectations and as a result, girls tend to be more
comfortable to excel in schools in today’s society.
These causes can lead to terrible consequences to the education of males in our society such as
boys disengaging from education completely.
I was able to obtain information for this research by using books and various journal articles
“The Boy Crisis” by Farrell Warren (2008) can be seen as a valid source for research on the
‘Low Academic Achievement in Boys’ because of his years of experience, qualifications, and
reputation. Farrell Warren is an American educator activist and is recognized as an important
figure in the ‘Modern Men’s Movement’ he is an author whose books cover a variety of men’s
and women’s studies. The second piece by Barbara Bailey (2014) is valid because of the author’s
experience and credentials, she is a professor at the University of the West Indies for gender
studies and a prolific writer whose views align with gender equality and equity. The third piece
by Mark Figueroa (2000) similar to Barbara Bailey can be seen as valid because of the
researchers’ experience and credentials, Figueroa is a lecturer at the University of the West
Indies whose research interests the aspects of relationships between socio-culture and natural
environment that led him to have a long-standing interest in gender. He is a founding member of
the ‘West Indies Women’s Study Group’ and has written several papers on gender and
socioeconomic outcomes focusing on historic male privileging and changing patterns of gender
achievement in education.
In conclusion, the research was a success, and as a result, I was able to conclude that various
factors contribute to the low educational achievement rates among teenage boys residing in the
Caribbean which are the changing societal values, gender discrimination, under-participation and
the feminization of school it was also learned that these factors have a significant negative
impact on male students and can lead to disengagement in school and contribute to the high
levels of teenage dropouts

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Academic underachievement in teenage boys has been a persistent issue throughout the 21st

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