The role of sex in reading comprehension. Evidence from PISA and PIRLS

Abstract

There is empirical evidence on the influence of sex in the process of acquisition and consolidation of reading comprehension at international level. This paper analyzes whether this phenomenon is also reproduced in the Spanish case. To this end, the existence and evolution of a gender gap in reading comprehension performance in Spain is assessed, based on the results of all the PISA and PIRLS editions in which Spain has participated. Reading comprehension performance of Spanish students is also examined. The mixed methodology used in this study is based on a literature review of the last 25 years and a multisectoral analysis of the data provided by the PISA and PIRLS reports. Results of our work indicate better reading comprehension in girls than in boys observable in all editions of PISA and PIRLS. According to the evolution of PISA results, the observed gender gap would be reduced in recent editions, something not corroborated by PIRLS. On the other hand, both evaluations report an improvement in the overall result of Spanish students in reading comprehension in recent editions.