Girls’ declining academic performance : an expression of increased gender equality or a sign of societal decline?

For decades, research has shown that girls are superior to boys in most school subjects (Bergstrand, 2022; Stenberg, 2025), and high academic achievement has often been regarded as an indicator of a successful municipality (Segerholm & Hult, 2018). Recent reports from Sweden indicate a shift in this trend and the performance gap between girls and boys is now narrowing. This change is primarily driven by a decline in girls’ academic achievement, particularly among girls with a Swedish background (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2025). At the same time, increasing levels of mental issues and low school satisfaction have been observed among young girls (MUCF, 2024:1). Historically, girls’ well-being has been treated as a secondary concern, as long as they continued to achieve good academic results (Bergstrand, 2022). Through a literature review examining girls’ academic outcomes from social, economic, and cultural perspective (Corbett & Forsey, 2017), this study seeks to understand how educational equity is shaped by structural conditions and how these intersect with gendered expectations in education. The study asks: How do societal discourses influence girls’ academic performance in contemporary education? Wahlgren et al. (2022) used Butler’s (1990) concept of performativity to analyze how children constructed themselves in accordance with gender-stereotypical expectations in their own narratives about preschool life. The concept demonstrates how discourses shape subjectivities and regulates the ways in which individuals construct themselves. By theorizing previous research on this topic through the lens of performativity, we can discern dominant discourses surrounding girls’ achievements as performatives acts that iteratively produce intelligible performances among female students. In this way, performativity offers an analytical framework for examining how discursive practices in education generate and legitimize specific subject positions—such as the “successful girl” or the “underachieving boy.” A literature review of research on girls’ academic achievement will be conducted using the S.M.A.R.T. method (Systematic Mapping and Analysis of Research Topologies) (Nilholm, 2017). This approach enables systematic identification and critical analysis of existing studies concerning gender-related educational outcomes. Preliminary findings indicate that although boys’ underachievement has long been a central focus in educational policy and research, the emerging decline in girls’ academic outcomes calls for renewed attention. The anticipated results aim to illuminate the gendered discourses, that shape girls’ motivation, well-being, and academic trajectories, thereby contributing to a more nuanced understanding of educational equity in a changing society. The observed decline in girls’ academic performance is not merely a national concern but also reflects broader societal transformations within the Nordic welfare context. Understanding the intersections of gender, well-being, and academic achievement is essential for maintaining both educational quality and social cohesion. This study contributes to ongoing Nordic debates on equity, inclusion, and the aim of education in times of social and cultural transition.