Tenth grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge is the most influential predictor of advanced high school science course completion, and girls have 24.0% lower odds than boys of completing the most advanced science courses¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? In ordered logistic regressions of the highest high school science course taken, 10th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge was the most influential predictor, and girls' odds of completing the most advanced science courses were 24.0% lower than boys', all else equal. → Perez-Felkner L 2017

Evidence¶

Perez-Felkner L 2017¶

Perez-Felkner L, Nix S and Thomas K (2017) Gendered Pathways: How Mathematics Ability Beliefs Shape Secondary and Postsecondary Course and Degree Field Choices. Front. Psychol. 8:386. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00386

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Ordered logistic regression models from the 2015 study (Nix et al., 2015) predicted the highest science course taken in high school using ELS panel data, controlling for background characteristics and objective ability measures. The article reports the direct gender effect and the belief effect as printed.

"10th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge was the most influential predictor of advance d science course completion. Moreover, holding perceived math ability under challenge, objective math ability and other factors constant, girls have 24.0% lower odds than boys of completing the most advanced science courses, all else being equal."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Boys rate their mathematics ability under challenge significantly higher than girls at every level of observed mathematics ability, including the highest (p < 0.001) — related
• Girls' likelihood of majoring in PEMC is 3.1 times greater at the highest versus lowest value of 12th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge (5.6% vs. 1.8%) — related
• A one standard deviation increase in 10th grade perceived mathematics ability under challenge corresponds to a 1.62 times higher risk of staying in the natural sciences rather than never entering these fields in college — related
• High school girls and boys take largely similar math and science coursework, with girls more likely to complete biology and chemistry and boys more likely to complete physics and calculus — related
• Men have a 3.60 times higher risk than women of majoring in PEMC sciences and a 0.74 times lower risk of majoring in health fields, with predicted PEMC probabilities of 14.9% for men versus 4.7% for women — related
• Grading showed differential effects by student group in Swedish quasi-experimental data: low-ability students fared worse when graded, girls better (review-reported) — related