Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-chc8l Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-25T15:51:09.374Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Gender differences in personal aptitudes and motivational beliefs for achievement in and commitment to math and science fields

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

By
Ming-Te Wang  and
Sarah Kenny
Edited by
Ingrid Schoon  and
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Ming-Te Wang
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Sarah Kenny
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Ingrid Schoon
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
Jacquelynne S. Eccles
Affiliation:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Get access

Summary

Abstract

In this chapter we examine gender differences in a variety of personal aptitudes and motivational beliefs that move individuals toward or away from STEM fields. The overarching goal of this chapter is to understand how individual intellectual aptitudes interact with motivational beliefs to account for individual and gender differences in STEM interests and choices. Specifically, we aim to address three questions: (1) What are the gender differences in mathematics and verbal abilities, math ability self-concept, personal values, and desired job characteristics at 12th grade? (2) Do adolescent intellectual aptitudes in mathematics and verbal areas at 12th grade predict their future college major selection? (3) How do individual differences in motivational factors discriminate between individuals who select college majors in STEM versus non-STEM fields while holding math and verbal ability constant? Answers to these questions will guide future research and interventions designed to promote individual motivation and capacity to pursue STEM careers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Gender Differences in Aspirations and Attainment
A Life Course Perspective
 , pp. 266 - 284
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abele, A. E., & Spurk, D. (2011). The dual impact of gender and the influence of timing of parenthood on men’s and women’s careers development: Longitudinal findings. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 225–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atwar, M. M., Wiggins, J., & Gardner, C. M. (1995). A study of urban middle school students with high and low attitudes toward science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32, 665–677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baenninger, M., & Newcombe, N. (1989). The role of experience in spatial test performance: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 20, 327–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benbow, C. P., Lubinski, D., Shea, D. L., & Eftekhari-Sanjani, H. (2000). Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability: Their status 10-years later. Psychological Science, 11, 474–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across and adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78, 246–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Casey, B. M., Andrews, N., Schindler, H., Kersh, J. E., Samper, A., & Copley, J. (2008). The development of spatial skills through interventions involving block building activities. Cognition and Instruction, 26, 269–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, M. B., Nuttall, R. L., & Pezaris, E. (1997). Mediators of gender differences in mathematics college entrance test scores: A comparison of spatial skills with internalized beliefs and anxieties. Developmental Psychology, 33, 669–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Casey, M. B., & Pezaris, E. (2001). Spatial-mechanical reasoning skill versus mathematics self-confidence as mediators of gender differences on mathematics subsets using cross-national gender-based items. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 32, 28–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceci, S. J., & Williams, W. M. (2010). The mathematics of sex: How biology and society conspire to limit talented women. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Correll, S. J. (2001). Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self-assessments. American Journal of Sociology, 106, 1691–1730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diekman, A. B., Clark, E. K., Johnston, A. M., Brown, E. R., & Steinberg, M. (2011). Malleability in communal goals and beliefs influences attraction to STEM careers: Evidence for a goal congruity perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 902–918.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Durik, A. M., Vida, M., & Eccles, J. S. (2006). Task values and ability beliefs as predictors of high school literacy choices: A developmental analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 382–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dweck, C. (2008). Mindsets and math/science achievement. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Institute for Advance Study, Commission on Mathematics and Science Education.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (1983). Female achievement patterns: Attributions, expectancies, values, and choice. Journal of Social Issues, 1–26.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (1994). Understanding women’s educational and occupational choices: Applying the Eccles et al. model of achievement-related choices. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 585–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (2005). Studying gender and ethnic differences in participation in math, physical science, and information technology. In Jacobs, J. E. & Simpkins, S. D. (Eds.), Leaks in the pipeline to math, science, and technology careers: New directions for child and adolescent development (No. 110, pp. 7–14). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (2007). Families, schools, and developing achievement-related motivations and engagement. In Grusec, J. E. & Hastings, P. D. (Eds.), Handbook of socialization (pp. 665–691). New York: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S. (2009). Who am I and what am I going to do with my life? Personal and collective identities as motivators of action. Educational Psychologist, 44, 78–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Barber, B., & Josefowicz, D. (1999). Linking gender to educational, occupational, and recreational choice: Applying the Eccles et al. model of achievement-related choices. In Spence, J. T. (Ed.) Sexism and stereotypes in modern society: The gender science of Janet Taylor Spence (pp. 153–191). Washington, DC: APA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., Updegraff, K., & O’Brien, K. M. (1998). An expectancy-value model of achievement choices: The role of ability self-concepts, perceived task utility and interest in predicting activity choice and course enrollment. In Hoffmann, A. K. L., Renninger, K. A., & Baumert, J. (Eds.), Interest and learning: Proceedings of the Seeon Conference on Interest and Gender (pp. 267–280). Kiel, Germany: Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S., & Harold, R. D. (1992). Gender differences in educational and occupational patterns among the gifted. In Colangelo, N., Assouline, S. G., & Amronson, D. L. (Eds.), Talent development: Proceedings from the 1991 Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace National Research Symposium on Talent Development (pp. 3–29). Unionville, NY: Trillium Press.Google Scholar
Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1997). Motivation to succeed. In Damon, W. (Ed.), Eisenberg, N. (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1017–1095). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ferriman, K., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and gender differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 517–532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., Pekrun, R., & Watt, H. M. G. (2010). Development of mathematics interest in adolescence: Influences of gender, family and school context. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20, 507–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frome, P. M., Alfeld-Liro, C., & Eccles, J. (1996, March). Why don’t young women want to pursue male-typed occupational aspirations? A test of competing hypotheses. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Boston, MA.
Gibbons, M. T. (2009). Engineering by the numbers. In Profiles of engineering and engineering technology colleges. Washington, DC:American Society for Engineering Education. Retrieved from .Google Scholar
Good, C., Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents’ standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 645–662.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hakim, C. (2006). Women, careers, and work–life preferences. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 34, 279–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halpern, D. F., Benbow, C. P., Geary, D. C., Gur, R. C., Hyde, J. S., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (2007). The science of sex differences in science and mathematics. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 8, 1–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, C., Corbett, C., & St. Rose, A. (2010). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Washington, DC: AAUW.Google Scholar
Hyde, J. S. (2007). Women in science: Gender similarities in abilities and sociocultural forces. In Ceci, S. J. & Williams, W. M. (Eds.), Why aren’t more women in science? Top researchers debate the evidence (pp. 131–145). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321, 494–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobs, J. E., Davis-Kean, P., Bleeker, M., Eccles, J. S., & Malanchuk, O. (2005). “I can, but I don’t want to”: The impact of parents, interests, and activities on gender differences in mathematics. In Gallagher, A. & Kaufman, J. (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics (pp. 246–263). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. E., & Winslow, S. E. (2004). Overworked faculty: Job and stresses and family demands. Annals of American Political and Social Scientist, 596, 104–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joyce, B. A., & Farenga, S. J. (2000). Young girls in science: Academic ability, perceptions and future participation in science. Roeper Review, 22, 261–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koller, O., Baumert, J., & Schnabel, K. (2001). Does interest matter? The relationship between academic interest and achievement in mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 32, 448–470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuenzi, J. J., Mathews, C., & Mangan, B. (2006). Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education issues and legislative options. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Lips, H. M. (1992). Gender- and science-related attitudes as predictors of college students’ academic choices. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 40, 62–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2007). Sex differences in personal attributes for the development of scientific expertise. In Ceci, S. J. & Williams, W. M. (Eds.), Why aren’t more women in science? Top researchers debate the evidence (pp. 79–100). Washington, DC: APA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubinski, D., Webb, R. M., Morelock, M. J., & Benbow, C. P. (2001). Top 1 in 10,000: A 10-year follow-up of the profoundly gifted. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 718–729.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marsh, H. W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: An internal/external frame of reference model. American Educational Research Journal, 23, 129–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H. W. (1987). The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 280–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, H. W. (1990). Influences of internal and external frames of reference on the formation of math and English self-concepts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 107–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meece, J., Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (1990). Predictors of math anxiety and its consequences for young adolescents’ course enrollment intentions and performance in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 60–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nagy, G., Garrett, J. L., Trautwein, U., Cortina, K. S., Baumert, J., & Eccles, J. S. (2008). Gender and high school course selection in Germany and the US: The mediating role of self-concept and intrinsic value. In Watt, H. & Eccles, J. (Eds.), Gender and occupational outcomes (pp. 115–143). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Higher education: Gaps in access and persistence study (Table E-42-2). Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from .Google Scholar
National Science Board. (2010). Preparing the next generation of STEM innovators: Identifying and developing our nation’s human capital. Arlington, VA: Author. Retrieved from .Google Scholar
Pajares, F. (2005). Gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. In Gallagher, A. M. & Kaufmann, J. C. (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics: An integrative psychological approach (pp. 294–315). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Park, G., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2008). Ability differences among people who have commensurate degrees matter for scientific creativity. Psychological Science, 19, 957–961.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powell, G. N., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2010). Sex, gender and decisions at the family/work interface. Journal of Management, 36, 1011–1039.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quaiser-Pohl, C., Geiser, C., & Lehmann, W. (2005). The relationship between computer-game preference, gender, and mental-rotation ability. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 609–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruble, D. N., & Martin, C. (1998). Gender development. In Eisenberg, N., (Ed.) Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 858–932). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schiefele, U. (2001). The role of interest in motivation and learning. In Collis, J. M. & Messick, S. (Eds.), Intelligence and personality: Bridging the gap in theory and measurement (pp. 163–194). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Schoon, I., Ross, A., & Martin, P. (2007). Science related careers: Aspirations and outcomes in two British cohort studies. Equal Opportunities International, 26, 129–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapka, J. D. (2009). Trajectories of math achievement and math competence over high school and postsecondary education: Effects of an all-girl curriculum in high school. Educational Research and Evaluation, 15, 527–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, R., Rounds, J., & Armstrong, P. I. (2009). Men and things, women and people: A meta-analysis of sex differences in interests. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 859–884.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trower, C. A. (2008). Competing on culture: Academia’s new strategic imperative. Unpublished presentation. Retrieved from .
Updegraff, K. A., Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., & O’Brien, K. M. (1996). Course enrollment as self-regulatory behavior: Who takes optional high school math courses?Learning and Individual Differences, 8, 239–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valian, V. (2007). Women at the top in science and elsewhere. In Ceci, S. J. & Williams, W. M. (Eds.), Why aren’t more women in science? Top researchers debate the evidence (pp. 27–39). Washington, DC: APA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vasta, R., Knott, J. A., & Graze, C. E. (1996). Can spatial training erase the gender differences on the water level task?Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 549–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voyer, D., Voyer, S., & Bryden, M. P. (1995). Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: A meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 250–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2005). Creativity and occupational accomplishments among intellectually precocious youths: An age 13 to age 33 longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 484–492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M. T. (2012). Educational and career interests in math: A longitudinal examination of the links between perceived classroom environment, motivational beliefs, and interests. Developmental Psychology, 48, 1643–1657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M. T., & Degol, J. (2013). Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy–value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields. Developmental Review, 33(4), 304–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2012). Adolescent behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement trajectories in school and their differential relations to educational success. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22, 31–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S., (2013). School context, achievement motivation, and academic engagement: A longitudinal study of school engagement using a multidimensional perspective. Learning and Instruction, 28, 12–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M. T., Eccles, J. S., & Kenny, S. (2013). Not lack of ability but more choice: Individual and gender differences in STEM career choice. Psychological Science, 24, 770–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ware, N. C., & Lee, V. E. (1988). Sex differences in choice of college science majors. American Educational Research Journal, 25, 593–614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). The development of competence beliefs and values from childhood through adolescence. In Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (Eds.), Development of achievement motivation (pp. 92–120). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Wigfield, A., Eccles, J. S., Schiefele, U., Roeser, R. W., & Davis-Kean, P. (2006). Development of achievement motivation. In Eisenberg, N. (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed., Vol. 3, pp. 933–1002). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×