Gender Differences in Gifted and Average-Ability Students

This article investigates gender differences in 181 gifted and 181 average-ability sixth graders in achievement, academic self-concept, interest, and motivation in mathematics. Giftedness was conceptualized as nonverbal reasoning ability and defined by a rank of at least 95% on a nonverbal reasoning subscale of the German Cognitive Abilities Test. Mathematical achievement was measured by teacher-assigned grades and a standardized mathematics test. Self-concept, interest, and motivation were assessed by questionnaire. In both ability groups, boys earned significantly higher test scores but there were no gender differences in grades. Girls scored lower on measures of academic self-concept, interest, and motivation. Gender differences were larger in gifted than in average-ability students. Ability group differences for self-concept and interest were only found for boys in favor of the gifted. Results support the assumption that gender differences in self-concept, interest, and motivation in mathematics are more prevalent in gifted than in average-ability students.

[1]  Stability and Change in Gender-Related Differences on the College Board Advanced Placement and Achievement Tests , 1998 .

[2]  G. Leder.  Gender differences among gifted students: contemporary views , 2004 .

[3]  Girls and mathematics : A hopeless issue? An analysis of girls’ and boys’ emotional experiences in mathematics , 2005 .

[4]  Albert Ziegler,et al.  Gender Differences in Mathematics and the Sciences: Can Attributional Retraining Improve the Performance of Gifted Females? , 1996 .

[5]  M. Casey,et al.  Gender Differences in Mathematics: Spatial Ability as a Mediator of Gender Differences on Mathematics Tests: A Biological–Environmental Framework , 2004 .

[6]  J. Freeman.  Gender Differences in Gifted Achievement in Britain and the U.S. , 2003 .

[7]  G. Hanna.  Declining gender differences from FIMS to TIMSS , 2000 .

[8]  Judy L. Lupart *,et al.  Gender differences in adolescent academic achievement, interests, values and life‐role expectations , 2004 .

[9]  D Lubinski,et al.  Psychological profiles of the mathematically talented: some sex differences and evidence supporting their biological basis. , 2007, Ciba Foundation symposium.

[10]  Ralph Reimann,et al.  Is research on gender‐specific underachievement in gifted girls an obsolete topic? New findings on an often discussed issue , 2004 .

[11]  Phyllis C. Blumenfeld,et al.  Change in Children's Competence Beliefs and Subjective Task Values across the Elementary School Years: A 3-Year Study. , 1997 .

[12]  H. Marsh.  Academic self-concept: Theory, measurement, and research. , 1993 .

[13]  A. Elliot,et al.  A 2 X 2 achievement goal framework. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[14]  E. B. Andersen,et al.  A goodness of fit test for the rasch model , 1973 .

[15]  Gregory J. Boyle,et al.  Self-Description Questionnaire II. , 1994 .

[16]  F. Preckel,et al.  Self-estimates of intelligence––methodological approaches and gender differences , 2005 .

[17]  Pajares,et al.  Relation between Achievement Goals and Self-Beliefs of Middle School Students in Writing and Science. , 2000, Contemporary educational psychology.

[18]  J. Stanley,et al.  Academic precocity, aspects of its development , 1983 .

[19]  Michele Grossman,et al.  Sex differences in intensity of emotional experience: a social role interpretation. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[20]  R. Sternberg,et al.  Conceptions of Giftedness , 2005 .

[21]  O. Köller,et al.  Interest research in secondary level I : An overview , 1998 .

[22]  B. Byrne,et al.  The Shavelson Model Revisited: Testing for the Structure of Academic Self-Concept across Pre-, Early, and Late Adolescents. , 1996 .

[23]  Kurt A. Heller,et al.  International handbook of giftedness and talent , 2002 .

[24]  A. Elliot.  Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals , 1999 .

[25]  F. Preckel,et al.  Online- versus paper-pencil-version of a high potential intelligence test , 2003 .

[26]  D. Lubinski,et al.  Gender Differences in Engineering and the Physical Sciences Among the Gifted , 2000 .

[27]  Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius,et al.  Encouraging talented girls in math and science: effects of a guidance intervention , 2004 .

[28]  James C. Kaufman,et al.  Gender Differences in Mathematics: An Integrative Psychological Approach , 2005 .

[29]  J. Eccles,et al.  The impact of mothers' gender-role stereotypic beliefs on mothers' and children's ability perceptions. , 1992, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[30]  J. Eccles.  Gender Roles and Women's Achievement-Related Decisions , 1987 .

[31]  Thomas D. Snyder,et al.  Trends in Educational Equity of Girls and Women. , 2000 .

[32]  L. Humphreys,et al.  A broadly based analysis of mathematical giftedness , 1990 .

[33]  J. Eccles,et al.  Age and gender differences in children's self- and task perceptions during elementary school. , 1993, Child development.

[34]  J. Welton.  Development of interests. , 1911 .

[35]  D. Lubinski,et al.  Multipotentiality among the intellectually gifted: "It was never there and already it's vanishing." , 1996 .

[36]  Jaco Lok,et al.  Prologue: Stability and change* , 2011, Journal of Management & Organization.

[37]  H. Marsh,et al.  Coursework Selection: Relations to Academic Self-Concept and Achievement , 1997 .

[38]  Joan Freeman,et al.  Cultural influences on gifted gender achievement , 2004 .

[39]  C. Cutrona,et al.  Exceptional Academic Performance: Perfect Scores on the PLAN , 1996 .

[40]  R. Pekrun.  Expectancy–Value Theory of Anxiety: Overview and Implications , 2019, Anxiety: Recent Developments in Cognitive, Psychophysiological, and Health Research.

[41]  J. Meece,et al.  Sex differences in achievement: A test of alternate theories. , 1984 .

[42]  J. Lupart,et al.  Talented Female Students' Resistance to Science: An exploratory study of post-secondary achievement motivation, persistence, and epistemological characteristics , 2000 .

[43]  Irving King.  Development of interests. , 1904 .

[44]  J. Eccles,et al.  Parents' influence on children's achievement-related perceptions. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[45]  M Grossman,et al.  Sex differences in intensity of emotional experience: a social role interpretation. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[46]  Frank M. Pajares,et al.  Role of self-efficacy and self-concept beliefs in mathematical problem solving: A path analysis. , 1994 .

[47]  J. Carroll.  Human Cognitive Abilities-a sur-vey of factor-analytic studies , 1993 .

[48]  E. C. Ritchie,et al.  Gender Differences , 1981, Language in Society.

[49]  S. Embretson,et al.  Item response theory for psychologists , 2000 .

[50]  D. Lubinski,et al.  Gender Differences in Abilities and Preferences Among the Gifted: Implications for the Math-Science Pipeline , 1992 .

[51]  L. Kanevsky,et al.  Factors Influencing the Realization of Exceptional Mathematical Ability in Girls: an analysis of the research 1 , 1997 .

[52]  Why sex differences in mathematics achievement disappear in German secondary schools: A reanalysis of the German TIMSS-data , 1999 .

[53]  E. Skaalvik,et al.  Gender Differences in Math and Verbal Self-Concept, Performance Expectations, and Motivation , 2004 .

[54]  J. Eccles.  Expectancies, values and academic behaviors , 1983 .

[55]  K. Merrell,et al.  Gender Differences in Self-Concept among Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis of Multidimensional Studies. , 1999 .

[56]  E. Fennema,et al.  Gender differences in mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[57]  J. Goldthorpe,et al.  Intergenerational Class Mobility in Three Western European Societies: England, France and Sweden , 1979 .

[58]  K. Heller,et al.  Motivational Preconditions for Girls Gifted and Highly Gifted in Physics , 1996 .

[59]  J. Harackiewicz,et al.  Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. , 1996 .

[60]  G. Guo,et al.  Gender Differences in Mathematical Trajectories , 2001 .

[61]  L. Fox,et al.  An Exploratory Study of Social Factors and Mathematics Achievement among High-Scoring Students: Cross-Cultural Perspectives from TIMSS , 2001 .

[62]  D. Halpern.  Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities , 1986 .

[63]  Sehee Hong,et al.  A Further Look at Youth Intellectual Giftedness and its Correlates: Values, Interests, Performance, and Behavior , 2000 .

[64]  J. Terwilliger,et al.  Gender Differences in Attitudes and Attitude Changes Among Mathematically Talented Youth , 1995 .

[65]  J. L. Holland,et al.  Making vocational choices : a theory of vocational personalities and work environments , 1984 .

[66]  D. Lohman.  The Role of Nonverbal Ability Tests in Identifying Academically Gifted Students: An Aptitude Perspective , 2005 .