Social forces can influence the literacy levels seen in either gender. In the early 18th century, girls did not have access to the same educational opportunities boys had access to. After educational opportunities were opened to women, women's literacy increased. The social context of gender and literacy is a great topic for presentations. One presentation idea is to give a social history of gender and literacy. Along with the spoken presentation, you could display a poster with a graph. The graph would have two lines: one showing changes in education policy, one showing changes in female literacy.
The statistics of gender and literacy are interesting. According to a 2007 study by the National Center for Education Statistics, girls outperform boys by 10 points on literacy tests in the United States. Because statistics are amenable to many different visual representations, this topic is suitable for a creative presentation. Supplement a discussion of statistical trends with a PowerPoint presentation showing scores for each gender in various ways: graphs, charts and tables. Present the data in visually compelling ways with statistical software to add a creative element.
The gender gap in literacy levels raises many questions in psychology. Psychologists are concerned with the question of whether intellectual abilities are genetic or environmental (learned). A presentation on psychological testing should focus on this nature vs. nurture debate as it pertains to gender. A creative presentation needs to present this issue in an unconventional way. One idea is to use images from magazines that encourage girls and boys to adopt gender roles, then contrast these roles with the role of a student.
Because the literacy gap between girls and boys is seen in so many countries, it has piqued the attention of education policy makers. A presentation on education policy must deal with the options in a realistic way. One creative idea is to give a presentation as if you were a lobbyist speaking to policy makers. In this presentation, pick a policy recommendation (e.g. literacy help centers for struggling students) and pitch the recommendation to the class, pretending that they are legislators and it is your job to persuade them.