Sex Differences in Underachievement and Social-Emotional Functioning of Gifted Students

This study examined sex differences among academically achieving and underachieving gifted students ( N = 280) in the Netherlands attending a pre-university track in secondary school. We focused on three types of underachievement: general, language arts, and STEM. Boys demonstrated higher general intelligence scores than girls, while girls showed higher general academic achievement than boys. No sex differences were found in language arts and STEM achievement. Furthermore, boys underachieved at higher rates than girls across all three achievement domains (general, language arts, and STEM). Students who underachieve in one domain are more likely to underachieve in another. Regarding social-emotional characteristics, the study identified differences between achievers and underachievers in academic-achievement motivation and social-emotional well-being, but not in academic self-concept and inquisitiveness. Our findings highlight the importance of early identification of underachievement in gifted students across multiple domains.