The given graphs compare the proportion of boys and girls gaining top score in five subject, which are Science, Arts, Math’s, Languages and Humanities , between the years 1960 and 2000.
It is clear from the graph that boys scored higher in science and humanities whereas girls obtaining their highest score in language and also humanities.
In 1960, the highest proportion of high-achieving males was in Science just over 30%, followed by Mathematics(30%) and Humanistic studies approximately 22%. A smaller percentage performed well in Communication-based subjects (20%), while Arts was the least successful subject for males at about 10%. By 2000, top scores among males decreased in few courses. Social studies almost jumped to over 40%, and Science and Math’s also fell significantly to below 20%. Only Arts and Languages showed slight increases, both rising to approximately 22%.
For females, the strongest subjects in 1960 were Languages and Humanities, at around 45% and 30% respectively, while about one-third achieved top grades in Arts. In contrast, fewer women good in Science and Math’s, with figures remaining under 12%. Forty years later, the proportion of female top achievers fell in Arts, Languages, and Humanities dropping to about 25%, 30% and 25% respectively. However, there was an improvement in Science and Math’s, increasing slightly to around 12% and 7%.