Underachieving boys - Perspectives from an international debate

This contribution deals with the observable "boy turn" in international debates. This refers to the focus on boys due to worries concerning their underachievement in comparison to girls, their increasing abstinence in higher-level educational programs and problematic social behavior. This paper analyses explanations for this phenomenon and provides evidence for the hypothesis that many lines of argument - particularly in the media - are based on a dichotomy "previously the girls - now the boys". In this, an assumption is made on group homogeneity by gender that covers up more substantial differences such as ethnicity and social background. In the sense of a research-guiding heuristic, two differentiations are demanded: (a) a stronger reflection on the findings from the German debate, which has emphasized the co-existence of advantages and disadvantages within genders instead of a strict girls vs. boys typology over many years and (b) the inclusion of context factors such as social milieu and youth-culture. Such differentiation provides a more balanced fundament for debates than has been hitherto available.