Do more effective schools succeed in reducing the gender gap in linguistic communicative competence in a bilingual context?

Abstract

The study aims to determine whether schools in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (ACBC) succeed in reducing gender differences in language achievement (in Spanish and Basque) in accordance with their effectiveness level. The study was based on a census sample (30.148 girls/ 32.000 boys) encompassing all students in grade 4 of primary (9-10 years) who had completed Diagnostic Assessments (DAs) on three different occasions. We used a quantitative methodology. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare the scores obtained for language competence by students from schools with high and low effectiveness levels, as well as to compare boys’ and girls’ mean scores and scores across different years.The results obtained reveal that, on average, girls scored lower than boys for language competence in Spanish and higher than boys for language competence in Basque, regardless of their school’s effectiveness. These findings suggest that, although most studies report that women score higher than men for language competence, it is important to explore the specific situation of each individual language in relation to gender roles.