Effects of single-gender mathematics classrooms on self-perception of mathematical ability and post secondary engineering paths: an Australian case study

Abstract

This study focused on a population of female engineering students, probing the influences of their secondary school experience on their choice to pursue an engineering course of study at university. The motivating question is: Do unique opportunities exist in an all-female secondary school mathematics classroom, which impact a young woman's self-perception of her mathematics ability as well as promote a positive path towards an engineering-based university major? Using both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments, this study examined a sample of Australian engineering students enrolled at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Demographic statistics show that 40% of UTS' female engineering student population attended a single-gender secondary school, indicating a potential influence of school type (single-gender) on engineering enrolment patterns. Female students were primarily motivated to pursue a post secondary engineering path because of a self-belief that they are good at mathematics. In contrast, male students were more influenced by positive male role models of family members who are practising engineers. In measures of self-perception of mathematical skill and ability, female students from singlegender schools outscored their male engineering counterparts. Additionally, female students seem to benefit from verbal encouragement, contextualisation, same gender problem-solving groups and same gender classroom dynamics.

Understanding the Changing Dynamics of the Gender Gap in Undergraduate Engineering Majors: 1971–2011

“…In addition to high GPA, women in engineering tend to have high expectations for their academic performance, high motivation to study, and strong study skills which were developed during the secondary school years (Felder et al 1995;Huang et al 2000;Vogt et al 2007). Tully and Jacobs (2010) also proposed that this academic preparation and resilience might be attributable to secondary school experiences. They found that among their sample of female engineering students, a large proportion had attended single-gender secondary schools.…”

“…These include a wide range of factors from demographic background characteristics such as race/ethnicity (Ohland et al 2011), service orientation (Weinberger 2004), and measures of affect such as self-concept (Logel et al 2009;Riegle-Crumb and King 2010;Williams and GeorgeJackson 2014). Still others have underscored the role of K-12 schooling experiences that favor men's interests and aspirations in engineering-related fields (Tully and Jacobs 2010). Importantly, this range of potential determinants and/or detractors related to women's participation in engineering are understood to occur across a wide range of experiences, contexts, and time-frames.…”

Engineering perceptions of female and male K-12 students: effects of a multimedia overview on elementary, middle-, and high-school students

“…There is ample evidence that students have preconceived notions of engineering as a discipline and about the characteristics of engineers (Brawner et al 2012;Tully and Jacobs 2010). For instance, although there are no systematic studies of children's engineering gender stereotypes, evidence from draw-an-engineer studies indicates that young students envision engineers as male (Capobianco et al 2011;Fralick et al 2009;Karatas, Micklos, and Bodner 2011;Knight and Cunningham 2004).…”

Title IX and Project Lead the Way: Achieving Equity through All-female Cohorts in Public School Settings

“…The study found that female students were primarily motivated to pursue engineering due to their self-efficacy in math and females consistently outscored their male counterparts in measures of self-perception of skill and ability in mathematics. They also found that female students benefited from verbal encouragement, single-sex problem-solving groups, engineering problems that were embedded in context and single-sex classroom dynamics 18 .…”

“…When women are enrolled in single-sex programs or all-girl schools, the results are dramatically different. In Australia, 40% of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) female engineering students previously attended single-sex secondary schools 18 . The study found that female students were primarily motivated to pursue engineering due to their self-efficacy in math and females consistently outscored their male counterparts in measures of self-perception of skill and ability in mathematics.…”