The role of motivation in gendered educational and occupational trajectories related to maths

Watt, Helen Margaret Gilchrist

doi:10.1080/13803610600765562

Cited by 172 publications

(163 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Recent research also confirms that boys and girls differ in the subjective task values they attach to mathematics and related school subjects, even after controlling for achievement levels (Watt, 2006). In general, girls display much greater value and enjoyment in biology, chemistry, and life science than boys.…”

Section: Subjective Task Valuementioning

confidence: 60%

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Yazilitas¹,

Svensson

Vries³

et al. 2013

Educational Research and Evaluation

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This article presents an overview of the recent literature on gendered patterns of academic choice in mathematics, science, and technology. It distinguishes in this literature microlevel, macro-level, and institutional explanations. Micro-level explanations focus primarily on psychological constructs, that is, variables at the level of the individual students. Macro-level explanations focus primarily on socioeconomic conditions and cultural understandings of gender roles. Institutional explanations focus on design characteristics of (national) education systems. After a presentation of these perspectives and of recent research progress that has been made, the authors critically discuss the lacunae that still exist in explaining cross-national variety, and provide suggestions for designing future research in this field.Keywords: gender; education; academic choice; mathematics; science and technology Introduction Female participation in higher tertiary education has increased rapidly over the past decades.1 Currently, about 56% of all students in the European Union are women, and this figure is still rising (Eurostat, 2010). Yet, this increase in female student participation does not apply to all academic fields. In mathematics, science, and technology (MST), where women have always been underrepresented, their participation rate has actually decreased over the last years, from 41% at the end of the 1990s, to 38% in 2010 (Eurostat, 2010). The relative decline of women in MST is generally regarded as undesirable as it contrasts with European ambitions of achieving gender equality and a highly skilled, innovative society (European

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Section: Subjective Task Valuementioning

confidence: 60%

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Yazilitas¹,

Svensson

Vries³

et al. 2013

Educational Research and Evaluation

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Section: Self-beliefs and Subject-choicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Girls have been found to be more concerned than boys with being able to cope with A-Level mathematics, while boys were more concerned than girls with the utility of the qualification (QCA, 2007). Girls also have reported mathematics as being more difficult, which reduced their mathematics selfbeliefs and the intrinsic value they associated with mathematics, and subsequently influenced their subject-choices (Watt, 2006).In work largely undertaken outside of England, boys have generally reported higher mathematics self-concepts than girls (e.g. Fredricks & Eccles, 2002), even though girls often perform equally or even slightly higher than boys (e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mathematics subject-choices in England have also been influenced by the perceived difficulty of A-Level study and (low) confidence, enjoyment and perceptions of the personal utility of mathematics (Brown et al, 2008;Cann, 2009); perceptions of the utility of a subject or extrinsic motivation have also been found to be more influential on some subject choices than intrinsic motivation (Mujtaba & Reiss, 2013). Outside of England, self-concept and self-efficacy for mathematics, past attainment and the intrinsic value associated with mathematics have been found to influence mathematics subject-choices in general (Watt, 2006).Examinations results for England from 2001 to 2012 show that on average fewer girls than boys sat A-Level mathematics examinations, although girls and boys generally performed equally (JCQ, 2012). Girls have been found to be more concerned than boys with being able to cope with A-Level mathematics, while boys were more concerned than girls with the utility of the qualification (QCA, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Students' intentions to study non‐compulsory mathematics: the importance of how good you think you are

Sheldrake

Mujtaba

Reiß

2014

British Educational Res J

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Increasing the number of students who study mathematics once it is no longer compulsory remains a priority for England. A longitudinal cohort from England (1085 students) was surveyed at Years 10 and 12. Students' self-beliefs of ability influenced their GCSE mathematics grades and their intended and actual mathematics subject-choices; the degree of under-confidence or over-confidence related to these self-beliefs was also influential. Additional factors that significantly influenced students' intentions at Year 10 to study mathematics in Year 12 were the advice or pressure to do so, the extrinsic motivation associated with mathematics, their gender and the emotional response associated with doing mathematics. These same factors were also significant influences on students' intentions at Year 12 to study mathematics at university, with the addition of their intrinsic motivation associated with mathematics. Although gender was not a significant influence on GCSE mathematics grades or whether students actually studied A-Level mathematics, boys were associated with higher intentions to study mathematics into Year 12, 13 and university. Additionally, girls were generally more under-confident than boys in their self-beliefs. Introduction Self-beliefs and subject-choicesIncreasing the numbers of mathematics students and graduates remains a priority for England; mathematics helps solve problems throughout the physical sciences, computer sciences, engineering, medicine and many other areas, and more students and graduates are hoped by policy-makers and stake-holders to ultimately benefit the wider economy (The Royal Society, 2011). Mathematics A-Level entries have only recently recovered following a decline owing to the introduction of Curriculum 2000 (Department for Education, 2011), and it remains important to explore why students decide to study A-Level mathematics or not, especially as fewer students in England study non-compulsory mathematics compared with many other countries (Hodgen et al., 2013).Students' attainment in GCSE mathematics has a major effect on whether they continue with the subject once it becomes non-compulsory. A continued onto A-Level mathematics, but only 15% of students with grade B and 1% with grade C did so (Department for Education, 2012). Other subjects such as the sciences, history and languages, are less critically dependent on GCSE grades for progression to A-Level. Additionally, students' self-beliefs of their own attainment, ability, or success, such as their academic subject-specific self-concept beliefs, are fundamental to both attainment (e.g. Huang, 2011) and subject-choices (e.g. Blenkinsop et al., 2006). A systematic literature review (Tripney et al., 2010) has highlighted that these self-beliefs, together with the perceived usefulness of subjects, enjoyment, and the complementary nature of some subjects, are commonly reported reasons for A-Level choices. Mathematics subject-choices in England have also been influenced by the perceived difficulty of A-Level study and (low) confi...

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“…Asimismo, las investigaciones constatan que los varones se decantan por la física, las matemáticas y la ingeniería (Nosek, Banaji y Greenwald, 2002). Además, los chicos proyectan participar y seleccionan, más que las chicas, cursos avanzados de matemáticas (Watt, 2005(Watt, , 2006.…”

Section: Estado De La Cuestiónunclassified

Rendimiento en la PAU y elección de estudios Científico-Tecnológicos en razón de género= Achievement the university entrance exam and election of Scientific-Technological degrees by gender

Menéndez

Inda‐Caro

Calvo

2014

REOP

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RESUMENDurante las últimas décadas se han estudiado los diferentes comportamientos que siguen chicos y chicas en la elección de estudios universitarios. En esas investigaciones se ha constatado que, pese a los esfuerzos realizados, esas decisiones siguen estando marcadas por el género. El texto analiza los resultados y decisiones que toman los y las estudiantes de Bachillerato Científico-Tecnológico y Biosanitario que realizan la PAU (prueba de acceso) en la Universidad de Oviedo durante un lustro (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010). Este análisis se realiza a partir de los datos suministrados por la Universidad, siendo tratados mediante el programa informático SPSS 19.0, con el que se obtienen distintos parámetros estadísticos desagregados por género, puntuación en las materias, elección de carrera, etc. Se da cuenta de las dimensiones de la población desagregada por género, asignaturas de la modalidad científico-tecnológica y bio-sanitaria, y rama y carrera académica elegida. Se analiza el rendimiento en la prueba de acceso en relación con el género, asignaturas evaluadas y elección de carrera universitaria. Los resultados confirman ciertas esquematizaciones en razón de género, como la pervivencia de la resistencia a cursar estudios tecnológicos por parte de las chicas, pero también se formulan observaciones que contradicen tendencias muy asentadas en otros países y que permiten sustentar algunas conclusiones que evidencian la mayor presencia femenina en carreras tradicionalmente masculinas y la disminución e, incluso, desaparición de diferencias de rendimiento entre chicos y chicas.

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The role of motivation in gendered educational and occupational trajectories related to maths

Cited by 172 publications

References 24 publications

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Gendered study choice: a literature review. A review of theory and research into the unequal representation of male and female students in mathematics, science, and technology

Students' intentions to study non‐compulsory mathematics: the importance of how good you think you are

Rendimiento en la PAU y elección de estudios Científico-Tecnológicos en razón de género= Achievement the university entrance exam and election of Scientific-Technological degrees by gender

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