Is there a ‘Boy Problem’ in Learning STEM Subjects and Pursuing a Related Career? Findings from Q Methodology Research
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Sep 30, 2026
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Hadeel Alkhateeb
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7744-0328
Youmen Chaaban
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3708-3722
Areej Barham
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7771-6435
Elham Ghazi Mohammad
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1262-2758
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7744-0328
Youmen Chaaban
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3708-3722
Areej Barham
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7771-6435
Elham Ghazi Mohammad
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1262-2758
Abstract
Through Q methodology, this study aimed to investigate whether a ‘boy problem’ exists among 49 Grade 9 and 10 schoolboys in Qatar’s public schools, particularly in relation to learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and pursuing careers in these fields. The overall objective was to foreground the schoolboys’ own narratives regarding their academic performance and future career aspirations, as well as to uncover how they experience, understand and negotiate their social world both within and beyond the classroom. The analysis yielded four distinct factors, each reflecting a shared but differentiated perspective on STEM learning and future aspirations. These were labelled as follows: (1) There is no big problem, just a lot of little problems; (2) The problem is beyond the power of temptation; (3) The problem is complicated; and (4) Let’s get to the root of the problem. The findings suggest that the ‘boy problem’ cannot be reduced to a single explanatory factor, but rather emerges from the interaction between schooling practices, social expectations and individual perceptions. Accordingly, the discussion focused on three dominant discourses that frame boys’ educational experiences, namely: (1) failing schools, (2) poor boys and (3) boys will be boys.
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Keywords
Boy ProblemQ MethodologyQatarSTEMGender Disparities in Education
References
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Brown, S., Baltrinic, E., & Jencius, M. (2019). From concourse to Q sample to testing theory. Operant Subjectivity: The International Journal of Q Methodology, 41(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.15133/j.os.2019.002
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Dewey, J. (1900). The school and society. University of Chicago.
Drudy, S., Martin, M., Woods, M., & O’Fiynn, J. (2017). Men and classroom. Routledge.
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Eurydice. (2018). The teaching profession in Europe: Practices, perceptions, and policies. Publications Office. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/teaching-profession-europe-practices-perceptions-and-policies_en
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Sellami, A., Kimmel, L., Wittrock, J., Cotter, A., Al-Emadi, A., & Al-Emadi, D. (2017). Factors shaping Qatari students’ career expectations in STEM, business or public sector fields. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 13(10), 6491–6505. http://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.01079a
Smith, E. (2003). Failing boys and moral panics: Perspectives on the underachievement. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(3), 282–295. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1555872#metadata_info_tab_contents
Stenner, P., & Rogers, R. (2004). Q methodology and qualiquantology: The example of discriminating between emotions. In Z. Todd, B. Nerlich, S. McKeown, & D. D. Clarke (Eds.), Mixing methods in psychology: The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in theory and practice (pp. 101–120). Psychology Press.
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Stewart-Williams, S., & Halsey, L. G. (2021). Men, women and STEM: Why the differences and what should be done? European Journal of Personality, 35(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890207020962326
Størksen, I., Thorsen, A., Øverland, K., & Brown, S. (2012). Experiences of daycare children of divorce. Early Child Development and Care, 182(7), 807–825. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2011.585238
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Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2012). Doing Q methodology: Theory, method and interpretation. Sage Publications.
Whelen, J. (2011). Boys and their schooling. The experience of becoming someone else. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203827802
World Bank. (2021). Educational underachievement among boys and men. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/111041644611110155/pdf/Educational-Underachievement-Among-Boys-and-Men.pdf
Bossavie, L., & Kanninen, O. (2018). What explains the gender gap reversal in education? Theory and evidence (Policy Research Working Paper No. 8303). World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29213
Brown, S. (2019). Subjectivity in the human sciences. The Psychological Record, 69(4), 565–579.
Brown, S., Baltrinic, E., & Jencius, M. (2019). From concourse to Q sample to testing theory. Operant Subjectivity: The International Journal of Q Methodology, 41(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.15133/j.os.2019.002
Brown, S. R. (1980). Political subjectivity. Yale University Press.
Cohen, M. (1998). A Habit of Healthy Idleness: Boys' Underachievement in Historical Perspective. In D. Epstein, J. Elwood, H. Valerie, & J. Maw (Eds.), Failing boys? Issues in gender and achievement. Open University Press.
Dewey, J. (1900). The school and society. University of Chicago.
Drudy, S., Martin, M., Woods, M., & O’Fiynn, J. (2017). Men and classroom. Routledge.
Epstein, D., Elwood. J, Valerie, H., & Maw, J. (1998). Failing boys? Issues in gender and achievement. Open University Press.
Eurydice. (2018). The teaching profession in Europe: Practices, perceptions, and policies. Publications Office. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/teaching-profession-europe-practices-perceptions-and-policies_en
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford University Press.
Grant, J. (2014). The boy problem: Educating boys in urban America, 1870–1970. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Harmon-Jones, E., & Mills, J. (2019). An introduction to cognitive dissonance theory and an overview of current perspectives on the theory. In E. Harmon-Jones (Ed.), Cognitive dissonance: Reexamining a pivotal theory in psychology (pp. 3–24). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000135-001
Haywood, C., & Ghaill, M. (2013). Education and masculinities: Social, cultural and global transformations. Routledge.
Hoff-Sommers, C. (2015). The war against boys: How misguided policies are harming our young men. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.
Law, J. (2004). After method: Mess in social science research. Routledge. Routledge.http://www.leofoletto.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/john_law_after_method_mess_in_social_science_research_international_library_of_sociology__2004.pdf
Lee, S. (2016). What motivates and engages students in the education process- An examination of Qatari students mindset and attitudes towards going to school, learning and future aspiration. Journal of Education and Learning, 5(3), 220–235. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n3p220
Lo Bianco, J. (2015). Exploring language problems through Q-sorting. In F. M. Hult & D. C. Johnson (Eds.), Research methods in language policy and planning: A practical guide (pp. 69–80). Wiley-Blackwell.
Macleod, P. & Abou-El-Kheir, A., (2017). Qatar’s English education policy in K-12 and higher education: Rapid development, radical reform and transition to a new way forward. In (Ed.), English language education policy in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 171–198). Springer International Publishing. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-319-46778-8_11
McGrath, K. F., Moosa, S., Van Bergen, P., & Bhana, D. (2020). The Plight of the Male Teacher: An Interdisciplinary and Multileveled Theoretical Framework for Researching a Shortage of Male Teachers. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 28(2), 149-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060826519873860
Pinkett, M., & Roberts, M. (2019). Boys Don’t try? Rethinking masculinity in schools. Routledge.
Ray, D. (2006). Aspirations, poverty and economic change. In A.V. Banerjee, R. Bénabou, & D. Mookherjee (Eds.), Understanding poverty. Oxford University Press. http://digamoo.free.fr/banerjee2006.pdf
Reilly, D., Neumann, D., & Andrews, G. (2022). Gender differences in self-estimated intelligence: exploring the male hubris, female humility problem. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 812483. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.812483
Ridge, N. (2014). Education and the reverse gender divide in the Gulf States: Embracing the global, ignoring the local. Teachers College Press.
Ridge, N., Kippels, S., & Chung, B. (2017). The challenges and implications of a global decline in the educational attainment and retention of boys. WISE. https://www.wise-qatar.org/app/uploads/2019/04/rr.2.2017_qasimi.pdf
Roberts, M. (2021). The boy question: How to teach boys to succeed in school. Routledge.
Schmolck, P. (2014). PQMethod (Release 2.35). Retrieved August 16, 2022, from http://schmolck.userweb.mwn.de/qmethod/downpqmac.htm
Seigfried, C. (1990). William James’s radical reconstruction of philosophy. State University of New York Press.
Sellami, A., Kimmel, L., Wittrock, J., Cotter, A., Al-Emadi, A., & Al-Emadi, D. (2017). Factors shaping Qatari students’ career expectations in STEM, business or public sector fields. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 13(10), 6491–6505. http://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.01079a
Smith, E. (2003). Failing boys and moral panics: Perspectives on the underachievement. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(3), 282–295. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1555872#metadata_info_tab_contents
Stenner, P., & Rogers, R. (2004). Q methodology and qualiquantology: The example of discriminating between emotions. In Z. Todd, B. Nerlich, S. McKeown, & D. D. Clarke (Eds.), Mixing methods in psychology: The integration of qualitative and quantitative methods in theory and practice (pp. 101–120). Psychology Press.
Stephenson, W. (1986). Quantum theory of advertising. Missouri School of Journalism.
Stewart-Williams, S., & Halsey, L. G. (2021). Men, women and STEM: Why the differences and what should be done? European Journal of Personality, 35(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890207020962326
Størksen, I., Thorsen, A., Øverland, K., & Brown, S. (2012). Experiences of daycare children of divorce. Early Child Development and Care, 182(7), 807–825. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2011.585238
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2020). Designing a contemporary STEM curriculum. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374146
UNESCO. (2022). Leave no child behind: Global report on boys’ disengagement from education. UNESCO. https://doi.org/10.54675/BDLL3314
Watts, S., & Stenner, P. (2012). Doing Q methodology: Theory, method and interpretation. Sage Publications.
Whelen, J. (2011). Boys and their schooling. The experience of becoming someone else. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203827802
World Bank. (2021). Educational underachievement among boys and men. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/111041644611110155/pdf/Educational-Underachievement-Among-Boys-and-Men.pdf
How to Cite
Alkhateeb, Hadeel, Youmen Chaaban, Areej Barham, and Elham Ghazi Mohammad. 2026. “Is There a ‘Boy Problem’ in Learning STEM Subjects and Pursuing a Related Career? Findings from Q Methodology Research”. Journal of Educational Sciences – Qatar University 26 (2). https://doi.org/10.29117/jes.2026.0286.
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Articles in English