Boys have a stronger sense of belonging at school and are less likely to be anxious than girls, a survey of 135,000 students in NSW high schools reveals.
But girls have higher aspirations and are better behaved at school, data from the survey – the largest of its kind in Australia – shows.
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Mark Scott's NSW education priorities
Mark Scott backs calls for needs-based funding for schools in his first interview as the new head of NSW's Department of Education.
The Tell Them From Me survey, run by the NSW Department of Education's Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE), captures the views of hundreds of thousands of students in years 4 to 12 at NSW public schools.
A new report, using the results from the survey of high school students in term one of 2015, found there was a gender gap between boys and girls on most measures of student engagement and wellbeing.
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"Girls in NSW are more likely to aspire to finish year 12 than boys, they are more likely to want to go on to university than boys and are more likely to aspire to go on to VET courses in the early years of high school than boys, the report says.
Girls report more positive behaviour than boys at school and are less likely to be disruptive in class, lie or cheat or break the rules.
But the report says the survey's data shows that boys have a greater sense of belonging than girls, which is the opposite to what much of the previous research has shown. Boys are also less anxious.
"While this is true throughout the high school years, it is particularly visible in year 9, where girls' sense of belonging experiences a noticeable dip compared to boys," the report says.
The report says the reason boys have a stronger sense of belonging could be because Australia has a significantly lower proportion of female principals than male principals in secondary schools, compared with the OECD average.
"This could explain particularly why in NSW (compared with other countries) boys feel a greater sense of belonging at school (as they connect with the male leaders at school)," the report says.
"But girls have more positive relationships with other students (as they connect with their fellow female peers) at school."
Figures from the department show that in 2007, 33 per cent of principals in NSW public high schools were female, but last year 44 per cent were female.
Jenny Donovan, the executive director of CESE, said the survey "recognised the importance of the student voice".
"In the past we have always looked at the gender gap in terms of performance, but now we are also looking at wellbeing and we can see there are new gender gaps," she said.
Dr Donovan said male leaders in schools could play a part in boys' sense of belonging but it would not be the only factor.
"Sport could be another factor because we do a lot of organised sport in school," Dr Donovan said.
Education Minister Rob Stokes said the Tell Them From Me survey was a "great way to understand our students, and help our teachers continue to create engaging lessons and identify where greater support is needed".
"Success for both boys and girls depends on quality teaching and support for the particular students in the classroom," Mr Stokes said.
"While historically there have been more male principals, over the last 10 years the number of female principals has risen significantly in primary and secondary schools.
"I have seen no other leadership role that is more direct, more consequential, or more powerful in shaping our young people."