Sax champions “gender aware” instruction in schools across all subjects. “Now if the gender gap was growing because girls are doing better, I don’t think that would be a problem. “But the gender gap is growing not because girls are doing better — but because boys are doing worse.” But the recent survey also reveals that the reading gap isn’t widening because girls are reading more, explained Sax. A boy’s negative attitude about school, warned Sax, often starts early, long before he ever steps on a college campus.