The shocking class and gender divide in school suspensions – poorer boys 10 times more likely to be suspended

Poorer boys are up to 10 times more likely to be suspended or expelled from schools, a decade-long Australian study has found – reflecting a devastating gender and class divide.

Boys from disadvantaged backgrounds are up to 10 times more likely than their peers to be suspended or expelled multiple times during their school days, with new research revealing a stark disciplinary class and gender divide.

Longitudinal data detailing the suspensions of 71,955 students attending New South Wales public schools was analysed by researchers from the Queensland University of Technology.

The results show that by the age of 18, almost one in five students was suspended or expelled from school, with nearly two-thirds excluded more than once.

It’s the first longitudinal study of its kind analysing 10 cumulative years of NSW public school data, ranging from year 3 in 2012 to year 12 in 2021.

One in 20 students had their first suspension or expulsion in primary school, most often for aggressive behaviour or ongoing disobedience.

In total, a quarter received long suspensions lasting 10-20 days for serious misbehaviour and one in 20 received them for serious criminal behaviour, such as possessing a weapon or knife or illegal substance.

Professor Linda Graham, Dr Emma Carpendale, Lauren Piltz, and Professor Kristin Laurens have completed research based on 10 years of data for school student suspensions.

However, most exclusions – defined as suspensions or expulsions – were for low-level behavioural or disciplinary issues such as disobedience.

Children who received nine or more exclusions (12 per cent) accounted for almost half of all of the disciplinary incidents (44 per cent).

Of these, 3 per cent of children received 16 or more exclusions, accounting for 20 per cent of all incidents.

The level of disciplinary action peaked at 43 per cent in year 9.

“Boys were twice as likely as girls to experience a single exclusion, and over 10 times as likely to experience 16 exclusions or more,” lead author Lauren Piltz said.

“And children of parents not in paid work in the past 12 months were 10 times more likely to be excluded 16 times or more, relative to the reference group.”

Ms Piltz suggested boys may be more likely to be excluded because they are “more likely than girls to show externalising behaviours, such as destructiveness and aggression”.

Teachers may also be more “likely to believe boys are harder to control and more frequently exhibit unacceptable behaviours,” she said.

Boys are much more likely to be disciplined than girls in Australian schools.

As News Corp revealed in August, nearly half of all boys in year 9 are also failing writing and grammar, with some experts declaring boys’ education in crisis.

New policies brought in by the NSW government have led to a reduction in the overall suspension rate to 6 per cent of all students in 2024.

However, this rises to 25 per cent for middle school Indigenous students and 23 per cent of middle school students with a disability.

Boys continue to be suspended at more than twice the rate of girls. Students in the state’s northwest had a suspension rate of 9.9 per cent – more than six times higher than those in the northern suburbs of Sydney.

The QUT researchers say the effects of more than a decade of suspensions and explusions continue to be felt.

Professor Linda Graham, director of the Centre for Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology, has researched student suspensions, particularly those involving students with disabilities.

Co-author Professor Linda Graham said evidence “has linked these practices to a range of adverse educational, social, mental health, and criminal consequences”.

Senior researcher Professor Kristin Laurens said the fact that many children were excluded a number of times suggested that “exclusionary discipline was ineffective in curbing problem behaviour” and often fails to improve student conduct, and can exacerbate rather than mitigate behavioural issues”.

In fact, Professor Laurens said, “school exclusion may exacerbate feelings of marginalisation among students already struggling with disadvantage, and create a self-reinforcing cycle where exclusion increases the likelihood of future exclusions. Schools need evidence-based alternatives to exclusion”.

Professor Kristin Laurens from Queensland University of Technology is an expert in child and youth mental health and has been involved in research into NSW suspensions and expulsions.

Professor Laurens noted that “NSW has recently revised their policy on suspensions and expulsions, and further research will be needed to examine the impact of that policy change”.

The NSW Department of Education declined to comment on the record but provided some information by way of background.

In August, Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos told The Daily Telegraph: “We make no apologies for giving teachers and principals the authority to restore discipline to their classrooms. We have never been afraid of increased suspension rates.”

Other researchers working on the study, based at UNSW Sydney, included Professors Melissa Green and Kimberlie Dean.

Originally published as The shocking class and gender divide in school suspensions – poorer boys 10 times more likely to be suspended