Girls Don’t Like Math!? Linking Gender, Motivation, and Competences in Mathematics for Boys and Girls in Preschool and Primary Education

Author(s):

Ilka WolterBettina Hannover

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

4. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 02 A, The Role of Music and Maths in Inclusion or Segregation.

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-25

11:15-12:45

Room:

Sh405, Kielikeskus / Language Centre

Chair:

Liz Todd

Contribution

Achievement differences between boys and girls have been subject of a continued and extensive debate both in public and research. As shown by large national and international student assessments already in primary school do German boys obtain higher levels of achievement in mathematics than girls (e.g., IGLU-E, Bos Lankes, Prenzel, Schwippert, Valtin, & Walther, 2004). These differences increase as students progress through the years of schooling. It’s also known that motivation and self-concept are significant predictors for academic achievement already in early school years (e.g., SCHOLASTIK, Weinert & Helmke, 1997; LOGIK, Weiner & Schneider, 1999) and that this relation seems to be different for boys and girls (Entwisle, Alexander, Pallas & Cadigan, 1987).

Our research investigated whether gender differences in mathematical competence can be traced back to early differences in children’s learning motivation in mathematics that is even before entering school. More specifically, we argue that already in preschool, children acquire a negative performance related stereotype pertaining to females in the domain of mathematics. Childrens preconception of mathematics as a stereotypic male subject should then lead to lower motivation and engagement of girls in activities related to mathematics, ultimately resulting in the markedly lower mathematics performance of female students of secondary level I and II in Germany and most European countries.

Method

To test our predictions, we randomly recruited 135 children (65 boys, 70 girls; age 5.5 years) from preschools in Berlin. The children were interviewed regarding their motivation in mathematics during their last two month in preschool. This standardized interview consists of 10 items including information about interest, autonomy, and trying difficult tasks in mathematics. Competences in mathematics were assessed using standardized performance tests: the ‘Osnabrücker Test zur Zahlenbegriffsentwicklung’ (van Luit, van de Rijt & Hasemann, 2001) for assessing precursors of mathematical abilities in preschool and the ‘Heidelberger Rechentest 1-4’ (Haffner, Baro, Parer & Resch, 2005) for assessing mathematical competences at the end of first year of primary school.

Expected Outcomes

Results show that although there were no gender differences in both the precursors of mathematical competences and the motivation to learn mathematics in preschool, boys outperformed girls in mathematics by the end of first grade in primary education. Further analyses confirmed gender as a moderator of the relation between motivation and competences. Specifically, while among girls motivation was not related to the precursors of mathematical ability nor did it have an impact on mathematical competences at the end of first grade these constructs were positively related among boys. A second result pertains to gender differences regarding the motivation to learn in the subject domains of mathematics and reading and writing among preschoolers. Unlike in mathematics, where both girls and boys were equally motivated to learn, we found gender differences regarding the motivation to learn to read and to write as such as that girls were more motivated to learn reading and writing than boys. This finding suggests that while female preschoolers are equally interested in acquiring abilities in both domains, preschool boys show a clear preference for learning mathematics. Our current research explores alternative predictors of girls’ mathematics achievement to improve teaching in pre- and primary school settings across Europe.

References

Bos, W., Lankes, E.-M., Prenzel, M., Schwippert, K., Valtin, R. & Walther, G. (Hrsg.) (2004). Einige Länder der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im nationalen und internationalen Vergleich. Münster: Waxmann. Denissen, J. J. A., Zarrett, N. R. & Eccles, J. S. (2007). I like to do it, I'm able, and I know I am: Longitudinal couplings between domain-specific achievement, self-concept, and interest. Child Development, 78, 430-447. Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., Pallas, A. M. & Cadigan, D. (1987). The emergent academic self-image of first graders: Its response to social structure. Child Development, 58, 1190-1206. Haffner, J., Baro, K., Parzer, P. & Resch, F. (2005). Heidelberger Rechentest (HRT 1-4). Göttingen: Hogrefe. van Luit, J., van de Rijt, B. & Hasemann, K. (2001). Osnabrücker Test zur Zahlenbegriffsentwicklung. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Weinert, F. E. & Helmke, A. (1997). Entwicklung im Grundschulalter. Weinheim: Beltz Psychologie Verlags-Union. Weinert, F. E. & Schneider, W. (Hrsg.). (1999). Individual development from three to twelve: Findings from the Munich Longitudinal Study. Cambridge: University Press.

Author Information

Ilka Wolter

Freie Universitaet Berlin

Educational Science and Psychology

Berlin

Bettina Hannover

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany

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