Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Abbreviations (selected)
- Part I Introduction
- Part II The early school years
- 1 Peer influences on gender differences in educational aspiration and attainment
- 2 Beginning school transition and academic achievement in mid-elementary school
- 3 Gender differences in teachers’ perceptions and children’s ability self-concepts
- 4 Emerging gender differences in times of multiple transitions
- Part III Career planning during adolescence
- Part IV Choosing a science career
- Part V Longer-term consequences of early experiences
- Part VI The role of context
- Index
- References
2 - Beginning school transition and academic achievement in mid-elementary school
Does gender matter?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Abbreviations (selected)
- Part I Introduction
- Part II The early school years
- 1 Peer influences on gender differences in educational aspiration and attainment
- 2 Beginning school transition and academic achievement in mid-elementary school
- 3 Gender differences in teachers’ perceptions and children’s ability self-concepts
- 4 Emerging gender differences in times of multiple transitions
- Part III Career planning during adolescence
- Part IV Choosing a science career
- Part V Longer-term consequences of early experiences
- Part VI The role of context
- Index
- References
Summary
Abstract
This chapter examines the individual and social antecedents of boys’ and girls’ coping with the transition to school and its consequences for their academic achievement in mid-elementary school. In particular, this chapter focuses on the interrelationships between children’s family background, individual competencies, beginning school transition, and their later academic achievement. The empirical analyses are based on the child cohort of the Swiss Survey of Children and Youth (COCON) and make use of the first three survey waves (2006–2009) when the children were 6, 7, and 9 years old (N = 963). Path models are estimated for boys and girls. The findings show that before entering school, girls score higher on cognitive competencies, school-relevant knowledge, and conscientiousness, and they have a more positive social self-concept. These competencies affect the transition quality to school and explain why girls find it easier to adopt the student role. Competencies at the age of 6 years as well as the transition quality to school affect academic achievement at the age of 9. Gender differences are also found regarding the effects of social background and competencies on the quality of school transition and academic achievement.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Gender Differences in Aspirations and AttainmentA Life Course Perspective, pp. 53 - 78Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
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