The invisibility of the underachieving girl

The recent high profile of the underachievement debate in the media, through research initiatives, and in resulting remediation programmes within the classroom, has focused almost exclusively upon boys, such that the identity and needs of the underachieving girl have been rendered invisible. Underachievement has become so closely associated with the gender identity of boys that the idea of girls underachieving has become virtually inconceivable. This paper is concerned with teachers’ perceptions of the underachieving girl in the light of the overwhelming attention on the underachieving boy. It is argued that the focus of attention should be underachievement as a complex phenomenon rather than focusing exclusively on the underachievement of boys.