Can Teacher's Gender Explain The Growing ‘Boy Crisis' In Educational Attainment?

Gender inequalities in education have seen much change, with females gaining advantages over males in ways that have not been anticipated just two decades ago. At the same time, the share of female teachers has grown in almost all countries of the western world. There is an ongoing, contentious debate on whether this growing “feminization” of the educational system, in particular at the lower levels, can account for the growing educational disadvantage of males. In this talk, I review the literature on the "feminization of teaching" argument and present findings from two empirical large-sclae studies conducted in German elementary schools which allow me to identify the effect of having a same-sex teacher for different scholastic outcomes (‘gender-blind’ test scores and more subjective teacher’s grades) and across different subjects (Reading Literacy, Mathematics, and Science). My findings suggest that the popular call for more male teachers in primary school is not the key to tackle the growing disadvantage of boys.