Gender Differences in Mathematics: An Integrative Psychological Approach

by Edited by Ann M. Gallagher , James C. Kaufman

• ISBN13: 9780521533447
• ISBN10: 0521533449
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Females consistently score lower than males on standardized tests of mathematics yet no such differences exist in the classroom. These differences are not trivial, nor are they insignificant. Test scores help determine entrance to college and graduate school and therefore, by extension, a person's job and future success. If females receive lower test scores then they also receive fewer opportunities. Why does this discrepancy exist? This book presents a series of papers that address these issues by integrating the latest research findings and theories. Authors such as Diane Halpern, Jacquelynne Eccles, Beth Casey, Ronald Nuttal, James Byrnes, and Frank Pajares tackle these questions from a variety of perspectives. Many different branches of psychology are represented, including cognitive, social, personality/self-oriented, and psychobiological. The editors then present an integrative chapter that discusses the ideas presented and other areas that the field should explore.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
List of Contributors	xv
1 Research on the Women and Mathematics Issue: A Personal Case History	01	(24)
Susan F. Chipman
2 The Perseverative Search for Sex Differences in Mathematics Ability	25	(23)
Jeremy B. Caplan and Paula J. Caplan
3 A Psychobiosocial Model: Why Females Are Sometimes Greater Than and Sometimes Less Than Males in Math Achievement	48	(25)
Diane F. Halpern, Jonathan Wai, and Amanda Saw
4 Gender Differences in Math: Cognitive Processes in an Expanded Framework	73	(26)
James P. Byrnes
5 Cognitive Contributions to Sex Differences in Math Performance	99	(22)
James M. Royer and Laura M. Garofoli
6 Spatial Ability as a Mediator of Gender Differences on Mathematics Tests: A Biological-Environmental Framework	121	(22)
Ronald L. Nuttal, M. Beth Casey, and Elizabeth Pezaris
7 Examining Gender-Related Differential Item Functioning Using Insights from Psychometric and Multicontext Theory	143	(29)
Allan S. Cohen and Robert A. Ibarra
8 The Gender-Gap Artifact: Women's Underperformance in Quantitative Domains Through the Lens of Stereotype Threat	172	(17)
Paul G. Davies and Steven J. Spencer
9 "Math is hard!" (BarbieTM, 1994): Responses of Threat vs. Challenge-Mediated Arousal to Stereotypes Alleging Intellectual Inferiority	189	(18)
Talia Ben-Zeev, Cristina M. Carrasquillo, Alison M.L. Ching, Tattiya J. Kliengklom, Kristen L. McDonald, Daniel C. Newhall, Gillian E. Patton, Tiffany D. Stewart, Tonya Stoddard, Michael Inzlicht, and Steven Fein
10 The Role of Ethnicity on the Gender Gap in Mathematics	207	(13)
Alyssa M. Walters and Lisa M. Brown
11 The Gender Gap in Mathematics: Merely a Step Function?	220	(26)
Sophia Catsambis
12 "I can, but I don't want to": The Impact of Parents, Interests, and Activities on Gender Differences in Math	246	(18)
Janis E. Jacobs, Pamela Davis-Kean, Martha Bleeker, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, and Oksana Malanchuk
13 Gender Effects on Mathematics Achievement: Mediating Role of State and Trait Self-Regulation	264	(30)
Eunsook Hong, Harold F. O'Neil, and David Feldon
14 Gender Differences in Mathematics Self-Efficacy Beliefs	294	(22)
Frank Pajares
15 Gender Differences in Mathematics: What We Know and What We Need to Know	316	(17)
Ann M. Gallagher and James C. Kaufman
Author Index	333	(12)
Subject Index	345