The Research On The Gender Differences In Academic Achievement Based On College Students’ Self-Report

Education is taken as an important part of a national development strategy in the21st century in the world today. China is no exception. The reinforcement of China’s national strength, the increased investment in education and the enhancement of national education awareness all push forward the higher education gradually towards popularization. However, in the process of educational popularization, is the educational quality good or bad? And how can we measure it? The author makes relevant research on the basis of "National Survey of Student Engagement—China"(NSSE—China), an investigation of undergraduates’study by means of self-assessment, which was widely used and achieved effective fruits in USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, etc. In2009, the survey was first conducted officially in China. And what this paper utilizes is the revised version in2010.Through overall self-report and self-assessment of undergraduates in Guangxi University on their academic achievements, differences can be found between male and female in their knowledge gaining, competence acquisition and self-concept development. Boys are excellent at knowledge gaining, critical thinking skills and cooperative skills, while girls may stand out in professional knowledge, expression ability both verbally and in writing, organizational leadership, information technology, independent study, and self-recognition. In response to these existing differences, the author, through interviews, analyzes the factors affecting academic achievements from aspects of individual, environment, and learning style in accordance with Biggs’3P learning model. Analyses show that gender differences in academic achievements are directly or indirectly influenced by different personalities between male and female, rigid gender conceptions held by parents, various school policies, insufficient interpersonal communications within universities, gender restrictions in society, sexism in job hunting, and the lack of right learning concepts and strong interest in the process of study, as well as the inadequate interactions between students and teachers. Several suggestions are involved to address these existing issues to enhance undergraduates’ academic achievements:1. to overcome the individual differences through reinforcing ability training;2. to establish right gender awareness through transforming rigid gender conceptions;3. to encourage all students to participate in collective activities to promote interpersonal communications;4. to break through the gender restrictions, and to create a fair employment environment by optimizing the current employment legislation;5. to cultivate a right learning concept, reinforcing the study of professional knowledge;6. to improve the teaching competence and increase interactions between students and teachers.