Received: 4 December 2017 Revised: 24 January 2018 Accepted: 5 February 2018
DOI: 10.1002/pits.22118
RESEARCH ARTICLE
How does gender relate to social skills? Exploring
differences in social skills mindsets, academics, and
behaviors among high-school freshmen students
Kevin Tan Jin Shin Oe Minh Dung Hoang Le
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Correspondence
Dr. Kevin Tan, Assistant Professor, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Social
Work, 1010 W. Nevada St. Urbana, IL 61801.
Email: kevintan@illinois.edu
The authors thank the following research assis-
tants who helped with this project: Gaurav Sinha,
Katie Fairbanks, Lisa Whitecotten, Shongha Kim,
Paisley Steward, Yang Wang, Brittanni Smith, and
Jenna White. The authors also thank the school
administrators and teachers who assisted in this
study. This study is supported by a grant from the
University of Illinois Campus Research Board
#RB17057 awarded to K.T.
Abstract
Boys struggle academically and behaviorally more than girls and are
more likely to have difficulty with social skills. It seems likely that
boys and girls do not perceive social skills in the same light. Past
research has not investigated this or its relationship to academic
and behavioral performance. Using data from a cohort of 9th-grade
students (n = 323) in one high school in central Illinois, this study
involves interaction analyses of student mindsets about their social
skills and gender. Findings indicated that females who perceive social
skills as more important had higher grade point averages (GPAs),
higher attendance rates, and fewer disciplinary problems than their
male counterparts. Conversely, females who perceive social skills as
of lesser importance have lower GPAs, poorer attendance, and more
disciplinary referrals than their male counterparts. Findings highlight
pertinent gender differences in the relation between social skills
mindsets and outcomes among high-school freshmen students.
KEYWORDS
academics, behaviors, gender differences, high school, social skills
Social skills are important for student long-term success. They ease interactions with others and include the ability to
initiate and sustain a conversation (Deming, 2017). Social skills are associated with academic and behavioral outcomes
(Ashdown & Bernard, 2012; Casillas et al., 2012; Del Prette, Prette, De Oliveira, Gresham, & Vance, 2012; DiPrete &
Jennings, 2012; Domitrovich, Durlak, Staley, & Weissberg, 2017; McClelland et al., 2007; Sklad, Diekstra, Ritter, Ben, &
Gravesteijn, 2012; Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg, & Walberg, 2007), especially during periods of developmental shifts,
such as the transition into high school (Durlak, Weissberg, & Pachan, 2010; Lleras, 2008; McClelland et al., 2007). Fur-
ther, school supports that address gaps in students’ social skills can improve their academic and behavioral outcomes
(Durlak et al., 2010; Lafavor, 2017; Littlefield, Cavanagh, Knapp, & O'Grady, 2017).
Boys are more likely than girls to display poor social skills (Merrell & Gimpel, 2014). They also underperform
in U.S. high schools by comparison to girls (Voyer & Voyer, 2014), and have lower dropout rates (National Center
for Education Statistics, 2016). Many educational research studies have examined the mechanisms underlying such
disparities (see, for example, Voyer & Voyer, 2014), but research has not fully addressed the relationship between
Psychol Schs. 2018;55:429–442. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pits
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