Analysis of data collected by international educational achievement studies from a great many countries shows that girls in their 8th grade of formal schooling (age abt 14+ usually) expect to attain higher education more often than do boys. We also know that girls tend to mature earlier than boys.
Good evening,
Thank you for that very interesting question! What I could contribute to its solution is a piece out of a research summary of mine that focuses gender distinction in language acquisition (see my page in researchgate). As the white matter development in the prefrontal cortex, as well as the myelination process within speech centers, matures later in boys, it might have an effect on metastrategies like planning within the age range of 14 to 17. But: Around the age of 18 does this imbalance definitely level off. Therefore, I wouldn`t expect gender differences in plans/expectations during adolescence. Hope I could help a little further. All the best!
In India, female students have been performing better than boys in class 10 and 12 exams. This is one indication why more girls aspire to pursue higher education. You could check online news reports.
Comment on Rucchi Jaggi, above: In many countries there are gender differences in performance and usuallygirls then perform better than boys. But I find that there are in many countries gender differences in grade 8 in expectation of higher education, also net of performance differences on achievement tests.