Gender Gap in STEM: A Cross-Sectional Study of Primary School Students' Self-Perception and Test Anxiety in Mathematics

Gender Gap in STEM: A Cross-Sectional Study of Primary School Students' Self-Perception and Test Anxiety in Mathematics

Contribution: Significant gender differences are observed on primary school students' perception of self-efficacy and test anxiety in mathematics. Girls perceive themselves to be significantly worse than boys in mathematics and report higher test anxiety toward mathematics exams. Gender differe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on education Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 40 - 49
Main Authors: Ayuso, Natalia, Fillola, Elena, Masia, Belen, Murillo, Ana C., Trillo-Lado, Raquel, Baldassarri, Sandra, Cerezo, Eva, Ruberte, Laura, Mariscal, M. Dolores, Villarroya-Gaudo, Maria
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York IEEE 01-02-2021
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects:
Age Differences
and mathematics (STEM) studies
Anxiety
Attitudes
Augmented reality
Children
Children & youth
Computer Assisted Instruction
Conferences
Cross-sectional studies
Disproportionate Representation
Elementary School Students
Elementary Schools
engineering
Engineering profession
Europe
Females
Foreign Countries
Gender aspects
Gender Differences
Girls
Males
Mathematical analysis
Mathematics
Mathematics Anxiety
Negative Attitudes
Perception
primary school
science
Scientists
Secondary Schools
Self Efficacy
Self image
Spanish
Spanish language
STEM
STEM Education
Student Attitudes
Students
Teacher Attitudes
Teachers
technology
Test Anxiety
women in engineering
Women Scientists
Spain
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Summary:Contribution: Significant gender differences are observed on primary school students' perception of self-efficacy and test anxiety in mathematics. Girls perceive themselves to be significantly worse than boys in mathematics and report higher test anxiety toward mathematics exams. Gender differences in self-efficacy become more pronounced as students grow up, and test anxiety increases for all students. However, the present study shows that teachers' do not perceive differences in self-efficacy in mathematics between boys and girls. Background: The low presence of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) might be explained by the attitude of young students toward mathematics. Different studies show that girls are less interested in STEM areas than boys during secondary school. A study on the reasons for this fact pointed out that the early years of education can provide a relevant insight to reverse the situation. Research Questions: Is there any age-dependent gender difference in primary school students in aspects related to mathematics? Are teachers aware of students' perceptions? Methodology: This work presents a study of over 2000 primary school students (6-12 years old) and 200 teachers in Aragón (Spain). The study consists of a survey on aspects that influence the experience of female and male students with mathematics and Spanish language for comparison purposes and teacher's awareness of students' perception. Findings: The present study shows that during primary school, girls are more likely to experiment a negative attitude toward mathematics than boys as they grow up, and teachers may not perceive girls' situation.
ISSN:0018-9359
1557-9638
DOI:10.1109/TE.2020.3004075