Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Study: Girls more likely than boys to struggle with social, behavioral, academic needs

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The more failing grades students have during eighth grade, the more likely they are to experience social-emotional learning problems, academic difficulties and behavioral problems during their freshman year in high school, a new study found.

And despite the gender stereotype that boys are more likely to be the problem children in school, the researchers found that girls constitute the majority of youths who struggled the most academically, socially and behaviorally.

University of Illinois social work professor Kevin Tan and his co-authors – graduate students Gaurav Sinha, Esther Shin and Yang Wang – suggest that school practitioners use failing grades and disciplinary referrals during eighth grade as red flags that students may be in need of extra support when they transition to high school.

More than 320 students were involved in the study, which explored the relationship of social-emotional learning needs with eighth- and ninth-graders’ academic performance and behavior. The study was published in the journal Children and Youth Services Review.

The researchers identified five patterns among the youths in the study, who were all students at one Illinois high school.

While Tan said that about 44 percent of the students had no significant social-emotional learning needs, about 25 percent of the youths needed help with assertion, school/peer engagement and internalization issues; nearly 17 percent had social skills needs; more than 6 percent had difficulties with self-control and other behavioral problems; and about 7 percent had significant needs across all of the domains.

In exploring gender differences among the five groups, Tan and his co-authors found that girls accounted for nearly 66 percent of students with high needs across all of the domains.

Students in the high-needs group – and their peers who had primarily social skills deficits – had the poorest academic performance, receiving the most failing grades during eighth grade and the lowest grade point averages as freshmen.

Among students in the high-needs group, girls were the least engaged with school and their peers, had more disciplinary referrals and were absent more days than the boys.

During freshman year, absenteeism was associated with having behavioral needs and with assertion, engagement and internalization needs, Tan said.

In a related study using the same study population, Tan and his co-authors explored whether differing social skills mindsets were associated with gender disparities in student outcomes, such as academic achievement and negative behaviors.

That paper, co-written with Illinois alumnus Minh Dung Hoang Le and Shin, was published in the journal Psychology in the Schools.

Students’ perceived value of social skills were assessed using the Social Skills Improvement System Student Version, a questionnaire that asks students to rate the importance of social skills across seven domains: communication, cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, engagement and self-control.

Girls who placed little value on social skills earned lower grades, had more disciplinary referrals and poorer attendance records than boys with a similar mindset, the data indicated.

“Boys with low social skills mindsets had an average attendance rate of 94 percent, while girls with similar mindsets had an average attendance rate of 87 percent,” Tan said. “So even though these boys thought social skills were unimportant, they were still attending school – but the girls were not.”

While some prior studies suggested that changing students’ social skills mindsets can improve their academic performance, Tan said he and his co-authors found that promoting social skills was likely to have only a modest impact on boys’ grades and no effect on their attendance.

“Greater improvements would more likely be seen in girls’ grades, attendance and behaviors,” Tan said.

Although a number of social-emotional learning programs are being used in schools, these programs tend to take cookie-cutter approaches, Tan said. The interventions might be more effective if they were tailored to students’ individual needs and gender.

“It’s important for schools to understand these students’ perspectives because their world views, their internal reflections of their environment and the things they’re telling themselves drive much of their behavior,” said Tan, who was a school social worker before embarking on a career in academia.

The research was funded by the Spencer Foundation.

Editor’s notes:  To reach Kevin Tan, call 217-300-4432; email kevintan@illinois.edu

The paper “How does gender relate to social skills? Exploring differences in social skills mindsets, academics and behaviors among high-school freshmen students” is available online or from the News Bureau.

The paper “Patterns of social-emotional learning needs among high school freshmen students” is available online or from the News Bureau.

Read Next

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Honors portraits of four Illinois researchers

Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010