Mathematics achievement serves as a critical gateway to higher education and future career success (Stieff & Uttal, 2015; Wai et al., 2010), and the gender gap in mathematics would contribute to unequal opportunities in them. Despite ongoing efforts to promote gender equity in education, persistent mathematics gender gaps--often favoring males--remain, especially during adolescence (Blakemore & Mills, 2014). Recent assessments indicate this disparity has even widened post-pandemic (Kuhfeld et al., 2025), threatening female students' education access and career development.

To bridge the gender gap in mathematics, extensive research has explored the roots of gender differences in mathematics, however, most studies have only focused on sociocultural factors like stereotypes and classroom environments. Considering the phenomenon that some female students still excel in mathematics achievement despite similar external challenges, individual traits--particularly social-emotional skills--should have considerable contributions (Gutman & Schoon, 2013; Soto et al., 2021). These skills, including goal-directed behavior, emotional regulation, and social relationship management, have great benefits to mathematics achievement and are largely malleable in educational practices (Guo et al., 2023; OECD, 2021). Therefore, examining the roles of these skills in enlarging/narrowing this mathematics gender gap is crucial to imply targeted education interventions, yet the related studies remain rare.

To address this gap, the present study investigates the contributions of social-emotional skills to gender differences in mathematics achievement (both skill-level disparities and gender-moderated effectiveness) among Macao adolescents using PISA 2022 data. Macao presents a particularly salient case, with one of the largest and fastest-growing mathematics gender gaps among PISA participating regions (OECD, 2023), providing timely insights for educators confronting emerging gender disparities.

1.1 The OECD Framework of Social-Emotional Skills

The OECD recently refined the Social-emotional Skills in PISA 2022, focusing on eight core social-emotional skills directly related to learning strategies, motivation, and self-efficacy (see Figure 1). This streamlined framework enhances measurement precision while maintaining strong theoretical and empirical relevance to academic achievement. Building on this foundation, the present study examines these eight skills' role in shaping the mathematics gender gap and explores their underlying mechanisms of influence. Many of these skills are tightly associated with mathematics learning motivation, engagement and achievement (Singh & Manjaly, 2022; Kwong, 2015; Duckworth et al., 2007; Guo et al., 2023)

1.2 Social-Emotional Skills in the Mathematics Gender Gap

Given their well-established links to mathematics achievement, social-emotional skills may influence the gender gap through two mechanisms: (1) skill-level disparities, where males and females differ in specific skill proficiency; and (2) gender-moderated effectiveness, where the same skill yields different academic benefits by gender. OECD surveys document notable gender differences in social-emotional skills, especially in Asian contexts (OECD, 2021, 2024b). Males often report higher emotional regulation and sociability, while females excel in empathy and cooperation. These patterns vary culturally, highlighting the need for context-specific research.

Beyond quantitative differences, evidence suggests social-emotional skills' effectiveness may be gender-dependent. For example, curiosity links more strongly to mathematics achievement among females, while persistence may benefit males more in STEM. Mathematics anxiety, disproportionately affecting females, underscores stress resistance's importance for their success (Else-Quest et al., 2010). However, limited by analytical methods, most existing studies have only captured part of this complexity, focusing on either skill-level disparities or gender-moderated effectiveness in one or two specific skills, without a comprehensive examination to identify the most influential skill for the mathematics gender gap and uncover its underlying dynamics.

Sample This study draws on data from the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a large-scale international survey of 15-year-old students’ academic proficiency and background characteristics, administered by the OECD. PISA employs a two-stage stratified sampling design: first, schools are randomly selected, then students within those schools are sampled. For this study, we focused on Macao, a region with high mathematics performance but a pronounced gender gap. The final analytic sample included 4,384 students (51.2% male, 48.8% female; mean age = 15.79). Males outperformed females in mathematics (M = 559 vs. 544), underscoring the relevance of this context. Measures Dependent Variables Mathematics achievement was measured using PISA’s plausible values (PV1-10), which estimate students’ proficiency across four content domains and account for measurement error. Independent Variables Eight social-emotional skills were assessed via standardized indices: perseverance, curiosity, creative self-efficacy, cooperation, empathy, assertiveness, stress resistance, and emotional control. Each index was derived from 10-item self-report scales, with higher scores indicating greater competency relative to the OECD average. Covariates Analyses controlled for age and Economic, Social, and Cultural Status (ESCS), a composite index based on parental education, occupation, and home resources. Analytical Approach We employed a multi-step analytical strategy. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and t-tests established baseline gender differences. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) examined associations between social-emotional skills and mathematics achievement, controlling for age and ESCS. To decompose the gender gap, we used the Oaxaca-Blinder (O-B) method, which partitions the mean difference in mathematics scores into explained (due to observed characteristics) and unexplained (due to differential returns or unmeasured factors) components. To capture distributional effects, we applied unconditional quantile regression with the Recentered Influence Function (RIF), estimating gender gaps and their contributors at the 10th, 30th, 50th, 70th, and 90th percentiles. All analyses accounted for PISA’s complex sampling design, plausible values, and missing data (handled via multiple imputation). Statistical procedures were implemented in R, with appropriate weighting and error estimation.

Our decomposition analyses revealed curiosity as the most influential social-emotional skill affecting the mathematics gender gap. Despite lower reported levels, girls derived significantly stronger mathematics benefits from curiosity than boys. Boys' advantages in emotional control and greater returns from assertiveness contributed to widening the gap, while girls' creativity and their lower cooperation levels (which proved beneficial) helped narrow it. Notably, gender disparities were minimal among lower-achieving students but substantial at higher achievement levels, suggesting that high-performing girls face particular barriers in mathematics. These findings suggest targeted educational approaches to address mathematics gender disparities, with curiosity development as the primary focus. Educators should implement inquiry-based learning and real-world problem-solving that specifically engages girls' interests and questions (Reinholz et al., 2022). To maximize curiosity's benefits, classroom environments should encourage creative exploration and intellectual risk-taking, as creativity also helps reduce the gender gap among high achievers (Repeykova et al., 2024). While fostering these exploratory skills, teachers should carefully balance collaborative activities with independent work, given cooperation's negative association with mathematics achievement. By prioritizing curiosity cultivation alongside strategic use of creativity and collaboration, schools can empower female students to realize their mathematical potential and increase their representation in STEM pathways.

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