Over the past few years (probably a lot longer in fact) girls have outperformed boys many subjects in schools, so they both attend the same lessons, with the same materials and the same teachers (who can differentiate according to needs of the learner) so why is this gap there? Perhaps it is attitude of the learner, and in many case they have only themselves to blame.
While not perfect we have the internet and some fantastic websites for learning, we have access to libraries and computer access, schools can run homework clubs for students to complete study and get help if needed.
At one time we had none of this and if we struggled we just struggled and scaped through usually.