Class 10 girl students feel more stress than boys: Study

Girls have been outdoing boys in the marks race for a few years now, but new research shows that they are outpacing their male counterparts in terms of stress levels too.

Girls have been outdoing boys in the marks race for a few years now, but new research shows that they are outpacing their male counterparts in terms of stress levels too.

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A study conducted as part of a PhD thesis has found that Class 10 girl students feel more stress than boys, on three different parameters — exams, achievement and social expectations.

The study, conducted between 2006 and 2008, surveyed 1,092 Class 10 students (507 girls and 585 boys) from 20 state board-affiliated English-medium schools across the city.

The findings will be published as a book later this year.

“Girls attach more importance to school, are more concerned about pleasing teachers and parents and believe they have to be extraordinary at everything,” said Giselle D’souza, associate professor at St Teresa’s Institute of Education, who conducted the study and was awarded her doctorate degree last year. “Boys are calmer and more relaxed, but have also been taught that they should break down and express their feelings.”

Girls scored higher on exam-related stress (53.41% against the boys’ 47.35%), achievement-related stress (50.35% against 47.54%) and social stress (44.23% against 41.46%).

At the SSC, ICSE and CBSE board exams this year, girls had a higher average score than boys, a trend that has been in place for the past few years.