Male secondary-school student engagement rates with school counsellors, as compared with female engagement rates

Abstract

This article reports on a statistical investigation into the engagement rates of male secondary-school students with school counsellors in co-educational state secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. The data analysis evidences a discrepancy between the engagement rates of male and female students, substantiating what has been known anecdotally: that male students are less likely than their female peers to meet with school counsellors. Data from 2615 counselling records across eight schools nationwide indicate that male students engage between 3% and 11% less than their female peers. Further research in 2022 is planned to investigate any barriers or constraints that could account for this discrepancy and expose possible facilitative factors that may increase male student engagement rates with school counsellors.