The Girl Effect: What Do Boys Have to Do with It?

This paper argues for a gender and developmental perspective to explore "what boys have to do with the 'girl effect'." This approach seeks to combine the lenses of gender and developmental psychology to better understand gendered behavior in adolescents over their life cycle, with a focus on adolescence (generally defined as ages 10 to 19) in order to develop programs and undertake policy efforts to promote equitable and healthy gender identities and norms with benefits for both girls and boys in a gender relational perspective.