Girls outperforming boys in "masculine" subjects (UK)

Girls are outperforming boys in traditionally “masculine” subjects such as engineering and construction, despite repeated attempts to close the education gender gap, it emerged today.

New figures show teenage girls are more likely to achieve good grades in practical courses designed to lead straight to a job in traditionally male-dominated industries.

They were almost twice as likely to score highly in vocational qualifications sat between the age of 14 and 16, while results were around a third higher in courses sat in the sixth-form.

The disclosure – in data published by one of Britain’s biggest exam providers – comes amid continuing concerns over the gulf in standards between boys and girls.

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A Father's Love is One of the Greatest Influences on Personality Development

A father’s love contributes as much — and sometimes more — to a child's development as does a mother's love. That is one of many findings in a new large-scale analysis of research about the power of parental rejection and acceptance in shaping our personalities as children and into adulthood.

"In our half-century of international research, we’ve not found any other class of experience that has as strong and consistent effect on personality and personality development as does the experience of rejection, especially by parents in childhood,” says Ronald Rohner of the University of Connecticut, co-author of the new study in Personality and Social Psychology Review. "Children and adults everywhere — regardless of differences in race, culture, and gender — tend to respond in exactly the same way when they perceived themselves to be rejected by their caregivers and other attachment figures.”

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It's a guy thing: manny enough to fill dad's shoes

Male Nanny Marc Broomhall looks after 8 year old Robbie, coaching him at basketball as part of his supervision. Picture: Stuart Mcevoy Source: The Australian

FAMILIES lacking male role models are turning to male nannies, who offer a different kind of nuturing for children in need of a father figure or young boys who prefer a big brother to a babysitter.

Experts say there has been a trend toward hiring "mannies" to help families out when fathers are absent or too busy. It is also a response to the feminisation of teaching and the lack of men in key areas of children's lives.

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Tea parties with dad may result in better grades (USA)

Chris Langer / for msnbc.com

Wanna play? Dads who do pretend play with toddlers may be helping their future academic success, a new study finds.

By Rita Rubin

Fathers who sip pretend tea, play school alongside stuffed animals or act out storybooks with their toddlers are doing more than establishing their "fun Dad" image. They may be giving kids an academic boost that lasts at least through elementary school, a new study of low-income families suggests. 

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Involved Dads Give Kids an Edge (Canada)

September 15, 2011 — New data from a long-running study of Canadian families suggest that fathers play a key role in their children's intellect and behavior.

Compared with children with absentee fathers, children whose fathers were present and actively involved in their lives during early and middle childhood had fewer behavior problems and higher intellectual abilities as they grew older, even among children of lower socioeconomic status.

"Regardless of whether fathers lived with their children, their ability to set appropriate limits and structure their children's behaviour positively influenced problem-solving and decreased emotional problems, such as sadness, social withdrawal and anxiety," first author Erin Pougnet, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, noted in a statement.

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