Parent-child math anxiety and math-gender stereotypes predict adolescents' math education outcomes

Abstract

Two studies examined social determinants of adolescents' math anxiety including parents' own math anxiety and children's endorsement of math-gender stereotypes. In Study 1, parent-child dyads were surveyed and the interaction between parent and child math anxiety was examined, with an eye to same- and other-gender dyads. Results indicate that parent's math anxiety interacts with daughters' and sons' anxiety to predict math self-efficacy, GPA, behavioral intentions, math attitudes, and math devaluing. Parents with lower math anxiety showed a positive relationship to children's math outcomes when children also had lower anxiety. The strongest relationships were found with same-gender dyads, particularly Mother-Daughter dyads. Study 2 showed that endorsement of math-gender stereotypes predicts math anxiety (and not vice versa) for performance beliefs and outcomes (self-efficacy and GPA). Further, math anxiety fully mediated the relationship between gender stereotypes and math self-efficacy for girls and boys, and for boys with GPA. These findings address gaps in the literature on the role of parents' math anxiety in the effects of children's math anxiety and math anxiety as a mechanism affecting performance. Results have implications for interventions on parents' math anxiety and dispelling gender stereotypes in math classrooms.

Parental Occupation and the Gender Math Gap: Examining the Social Reproduction of Academic Advantage among Elementary and Middle School Students

“…Early research surmised that boys' putatively superior spatial skills manifest themselves in a gender math gap and produce disparate consequences across educational trajectories Stanley 1981, 1982). However, more recent scholarship has highlighted the role of family factors in mathematical aptitude (Casad et al 2015;Entwisle et al 1994;Frome and Eccles 1998), an influence that had been noted in some early research as well (Benbow and Stanley 1980;Block 1983). Parents' gender ideologies influence their children's self-confidence with respect to math (Muller 1998), and parents with traditional gender attitudes tend to have daughters with diminished mathematical self-efficacy (Frome and Eccles 1998;Jacobs and Eccles 1992;Jacobs 1991;Parsons et al 1982;Schafer and Gray 1981).…”

“…Parents' gender ideologies influence their children's self-confidence with respect to math (Muller 1998), and parents with traditional gender attitudes tend to have daughters with diminished mathematical self-efficacy (Frome and Eccles 1998;Jacobs and Eccles 1992;Jacobs 1991;Parsons et al 1982;Schafer and Gray 1981). Parents with lower mathematical expectations for their daughters tend to have daughters with less ambition in math (Casad et al 2015;Frome and Eccles 1998;Parsons et al 1982). Moreover, because parents of daughters may underestimate the importance of math skills for long-term professional development, they often (1) provide less positive verbal reinforcement related to math; (2) rationalize their daughters' sub-par math performance; and (3) offer less homework assistance (Muller 1998).…”

Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics

“…Females do not only experience higher levels of mathematics anxiety but also show less self-confidence in their abilities in mathematics (Meece et al, 1990; Ertl et al, 2014). In addition, social determinants, such as the influence of parents, teachers, and peers as well as cultural stereotypes about giftedness in mathematics influence the degree of mathematics anxiety (Casad et al, 2015). …”

Sex differences in brain correlates of STEM anxiety

“…We recommend that positive changes in favor of promoting women in STEM should focus on addressing climate issues that contribute to STEM anxiety. At the elementary and secondary school level this could include improving parental and teacher support, which has been shown to significantly impact girls' anxiety, confidence, and performance (Beilock et al, 2010;Gunderson et al, 2012;Casad et al, 2015). At the university level, this could include increasing visible role models (e.g., women as STEM faculty and in senior leadership positions; Winslow and Davis, 2016), revising ineffective Title IX policies, and enacting a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and abuse at institutions, research societies, and federal funding agencies.…”