Gender Differences in Mathematics

Preckel, F., Goetz, T., Pekrun, R., Kleine, M. (2008) ”Gender Differences in Gifted and Average-Ability Students: Comparing Girls’ and Boys’ Achievement, Self-Concept, Interest, and Motivation in Mathematics”, Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(2), 146-159

For gifted students, boys seem to have a more positive self-concept, interest and motivation, compared with girls. This gender difference is not evident amongst average-ability students.

Performance is different among males and females based on the content. For example, Males score better on Problem Solving tasks, whereas females score better on Mental Arithmetic.

There is an over-representation of males in higher levels of mathematical ability.

There is a correlation between ability group and self-concept, moreso for boys than girls. Boys estimate their mathematical ability higher than their female counterparts. I believe that this can have significant motivational impacts on students.

One of the implications of this paper is a preference for single-sex schooling. At one co-educational private school in Sydney, Maths classes have indeed been split up based on sex, which could be to the benefit of the students academically, whilst still providing social opportunities to interact with members of the opposite sex.