Dive Brief:
- A recent survey of U.S. teens finds that teen girls and boys have similar goals but face different social and academic pressures.
- In the classroom, for instance, 63% of teens say boys are more disruptive than girls, while 34% say girls speak up more, according to the Pew Research Center survey of 1,391 teens ages 13 to 17.
- Despite these differences in perceptions, girls and boys want many of the same things out of life — 86% of teens said it’s extremely or very important to them that they have a job or career they enjoy, 69% emphasized having close friends, and 58% want to have a lot of money. Anxiety, depression and grades were some of the most common pressures reported across both genders.
Dive Insight:
While most teens experience social pressures in school, the nature of these pressures differs by gender, the Pew survey found.
Girls said they feel more pressure than boys to look good (55%) and fit in socially (45%). Conversely, boys reported feeling more pressure than girls to be physically strong (43%) and good at sports (36%).
Despite these differences, boys and girls feel equally pressured to be involved in extracurricular activities and to get good grades.
Some 68% of teens said they face a great deal or fair amount of pressure to get good grades. While 55% said academic performance is about equal, 42% reported that girls get better grades than boys at their school. Girls were also more likely than boys to say girls get better grades at their school.
Anxiety and depression are at the forefront of problems teens said their school peers face. Among teens who said anxiety and depression are common at their schools, 39% said it's more common among girls. However, 56% said it affects both equally, according to the report.
At the same time, majorities of teen boys and girls alike said girls have it easier when it comes to having friends they can turn to for emotional support.
Additionally, while a large majority of teens reported that they prioritize having a job or career they enjoy when they’re an adult, their postsecondary plans to achieve that goal differ.
Most teens said they plan to attend a four-year college, but a smaller percentage plan to attend a two-year college, enroll in a technical or vocational school, work full-time, or join the military. About 1 in 5 teens are unsure of their plans.
Girls were more likely to say they plan to attend a four-year college, at 60% of girls compared to 46% of boys. The survey also found boys are more likely than girls to say they plan to enroll in a technical school, work full-time, or join the military after high school.
