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Influence of Item Content and Stereotype Situation on Gender Differences in Mathematical Problem Solving

Influence of Item Content and Stereotype Situation on Gender Differences in Mathematical Problem... On standardized tests of mathematical problemsolving, the typical finding has been that women scorelower than men. Experiment 1 manipulated gender labeling(female character, male character, or gender neutral) within the problem question to seewhether this accounted for gender differences inmathematical problem solving. Sixty-four seventh andeighth graders were tested on modified versions of theCanadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) with the resultsshowing that although gender labeling affected studentsperformance, it did not account for gender differences.Experiment 2 manipulated both gender labeling and gender stereotype threat for 174 universitystudents writing modified versions of a modelStandardized Achievement Test (SAT). Again, genderlabeling within problem questions did not account forgender differences. However, women scored lower thanmen when they believed that the test had previouslyshown gender differences. There was no gender differencein the performance of the same women and men when they believed that the test was merelycomparing Canadian students with American students. Thissuggests that gender stereotype threat could be a keyfactor in explaining gender differences in mathematical problem solving. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Sex Roles Springer Journals

Influence of Item Content and Stereotype Situation on Gender Differences in Mathematical Problem Solving

Walsh, Margaret; Hickey, Crystal; Duffy, Jim
Sex Roles , Volume 41 (4) – Sep 30, 2004
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References (20)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by Plenum Publishing Corporation
Subject
Psychology; Gender Studies; Sociology, general; Medicine/Public Health, general
ISSN
0360-0025
eISSN
1573-2762
DOI
10.1023/A:1018854212358
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

On standardized tests of mathematical problemsolving, the typical finding has been that women scorelower than men. Experiment 1 manipulated gender labeling(female character, male character, or gender neutral) within the problem question to seewhether this accounted for gender differences inmathematical problem solving. Sixty-four seventh andeighth graders were tested on modified versions of theCanadian Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) with the resultsshowing that although gender labeling affected studentsperformance, it did not account for gender differences.Experiment 2 manipulated both gender labeling and gender stereotype threat for 174 universitystudents writing modified versions of a modelStandardized Achievement Test (SAT). Again, genderlabeling within problem questions did not account forgender differences. However, women scored lower thanmen when they believed that the test had previouslyshown gender differences. There was no gender differencein the performance of the same women and men when they believed that the test was merelycomparing Canadian students with American students. Thissuggests that gender stereotype threat could be a keyfactor in explaining gender differences in mathematical problem solving.

Journal

Sex Roles – Springer Journals

Published: Sep 30, 2004

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