A study of the International Student Assessment Program "Pisa" on the level of education in Germany finally revealed that the level of male youth in reading is very weak compared to girls.
Hamburg researchers suggest that gender stereotypes are the reason why girls outperform boys in reading.
The researchers believe that these stereotypes may have negative effects on children's love to read, and thus their ability to read, "as these stereotypes affect children 's belief in their abilities," according to German researcher Francesca Montoni, in a statement to German News Agency d. B) in Hamburg, which is the lead researcher who prepared the study published in the current issue of the Child Development magazine on child development.
During the study, the researchers analyzed the answers of 1508 children in the fifth and sixth grades of primary school, through a special questionnaire, and the size of the material they read.
The researchers polled the opinions of girls and boys twice, one and a half years apart, on stereotypes about reading.
The respondents were asked to rate whether girls or boys are the best read, who enjoys reading the most, and which gender read more. The researchers also tested the size of the substance that students of both sexes absorbed during reading.
Researchers found that boys who firmly believe that girls read better are closer to considering their reading ability slim, and reading less, as well as performing poorly during tests.
As for girls, the effect of stereotypes on them was less slim. According to the researchers, school children in grades five and six are affected by common ideas about the distribution of roles between the sexes, when their schoolmates, for example, think that the level of reading of boys is lower than that of girls, or that they have the same prejudices.
Researchers say these ideas have a visible effect on boys in particular, as they become less enthusiastic about reading and less faithful in their abilities.
The researchers suggested that among the consequences of this is that they read less than their original abilities allow without these stereotypes, which makes their love for reading turn into frustration with reading, and "impedes their reading capabilities."
Researchers recommend that both parents and teachers focus more on children's personal abilities, and motivate them to read without regard to gender. Study authors also recommended that parents read more to their children, and that teachers search for more exciting texts for male students, while supporting children more individually.
"The teachers must learn to deal with this disparity, and this learning must actually begin during the teacher training phase," said Montoni.