Beyond the gender gap: improving education for all by minding the differences

This policy brief compares eighth-grade average TIMSS science scores for males and females in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on the magnitude of the gender gap and trends over time. Females significantly outperformed males in every country and assessment year. Despite some successful efforts to close the gender gap in the region, there was a widening of the gap in some countries. This document offers a number of policy options to both narrow the gap and to improve overall student achievement.