Gender

Learner Variable · All learner variables
Evidence · 261 claims (161 show a difference, 62 mixed, 38 no difference) · 185 studies (117 associational, 32 causal, 14 quant-synthesis, 8 review, 5 qualitative, 5 theoretical, 4 design), q1–q4 · 30 of 185 report an effect size · 253 claims rest on one study

How to read this page

Gender differences in learning are small, vary by country and cohort, and track opportunity and expectation rather than ability. Average differences between groups say nothing about any individual learner. Where gaps appear, in mathematics confidence, in participation in physics and computing, or in reading, they move with stereotypes, encouragement, role models, course access and how tests are built, and they shrink or reverse across countries and decades. Gender is recorded in most studies as a binary category, which leaves out non-binary learners.

Read a group difference below as a description of a setting, not a prediction about a learner. For design, the useful findings are about what narrows a gap or widens participation (see The evidence by question).

Description

Gender is recorded in most education studies, usually as a binary category taken from records or self-report. It appears as a predictor (differences in participation in STEM, in attitudes such as self-efficacy and anxiety, and in some outcomes), as a moderator (an intervention that helps one group more), and as a target (programmes to widen participation). Differences found are mostly small, vary by country and cohort, and track expectations, stereotypes and opportunity more than ability; average differences say nothing about any individual learner.

Implications

Context

• Differences in confidence and participation are larger and more consistent than differences in achievement.
• A design effect that differs by gender is a reason to look for what in the design or setting produces the difference.

Target Learners

• Groups under-represented in a subject or field, such as women in physics, computing and engineering.

Target Learning Objectives

• Participation and persistence in a field, attitudes (self-efficacy, interest, anxiety) and achievement.

Claims

• Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger [+S] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• AI dependency differs by AI usage frequency and academic year but not gender [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Among students initially on-track, being male, Black, or Hispanic and attending higher-FRPL schools predict higher odds of falling off track in math [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Among students starting 6th grade on track, being male, Black, Hispanic, or attending a higher low-income school is associated with falling off track [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• AP Computer Science participation is disproportionately low among girls and students of color [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• At racially/ethnically diverse schools, African American boys are suspended at about 13 percentage points higher rates than other students in the same school [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• At-risk identification is demographically patterned, with Black, Hispanic, and male students more likely to be identified [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Attainment indices vary sharply by race/ethnicity and gender: Black young men face a projected PAI of 12.6 percent versus 62.0 percent for Asian/Pacific Islander young women [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Bachelor's DAI varies sharply by race/ethnicity and gender: Black and Latino young men are projected at 10 and 13 percent versus a 19 percent district average [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Background characteristics independently predict 9th-grade off-track indicators: boys are 1.7 times as likely to be suspended and 3.5 times as likely to have a GPA below a C than girls [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Baseline motivational states shape perceived AI benefits more than demographics, with female-coded gender the only significant demographic effect (lower perceived competence relief) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Basic conclusions about male-female achievement gaps and changes in gaps as students progress through school may change when models account for test effort [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Bias transfer is asymmetric: prompt condition affects agency in female-target essays but not male-target essays, suppressing female agency while male writing remains stable [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Black and Latinx students were less likely than their peers to be in the On-Track category, and within each race/ethnicity group boys were less likely to be on-track than girls [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Black women and participants with intersecting identities report being overlooked, facing microaggressions, and experiencing imposter syndrome in tech spaces [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Both genders improve in recognising AI's role in entertainment platforms after the workshop, with females additionally gaining in identifying TikTok [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Boys and girls do not differ in the type of mental models of the day and night cycle they hold [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys are disproportionately represented among students designated as LTEL7 in California (56% vs. 51% of other ever-ELs) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys regain the advantage in middle school STEM skills in post-COVID gender achievement gap trends [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys responded faster than girls on the test, but the response-time difference did not affect achievement [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys taught by synthetic phonics showed better word reading than girls in their classes, with spelling and reading comprehension as good as the girls' [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Class of 1997 outcomes differed by gender, with girls graduating at higher counts than boys within five years [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• College completion among CPS 2017 immediate enrollees shows large disparities by race/ethnicity and gender, with fewer than one-third of Black and Latino young men completing a bachelor's degree [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• College completion among immediate enrollees in the CPS class of 2015 shows large race/ethnicity and gender gaps, with fewer than a third of Black and Latino young men completing a bachelor's degree [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• College enrollment gaps by race, gender, and socioeconomic background among CPS graduates were driven primarily by differences in four-year enrollment [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Congressional hearing testimony reports, citing a 1979 ETS study second-hand, that females tend to do better on test items with female or neutral figures than on items with male figures [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• CPS high school graduation rates show large gaps by race/ethnicity and gender, with young men graduating at lower rates than young women within every race/ethnicity group [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Deepfake behaviours show gender patterns: males more likely to have shared deepfakes, females more likely to have reported them [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Deliberation produces a substantial gender gap in voice and authority [+W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Despite more challenges, minoritized, female, and lower-income students were more likely to rate their online STEM experience as good as or better than in person [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Differential course placement gave young men and women different grading category weights, with young women more often in honors and geometry [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Embedded figures test performance differed by sex and correlated relatively highly with intelligence [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Exploratory multi-group analyses suggest competence-related paths differ by educational level and gender, with heterogeneity concentrated downstream of intention [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Female elementary students rated their teacher more positively over time than male students [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female gender, higher autonomous motivation, lower prior knowledge, and higher final course grades each predict more frequent voluntary StatBot use among graduate statistics students [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female kindergarteners outscore males in math and reading at entry; the reading gap was stable while the small math gap narrowed slightly [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female student teachers score significantly higher on performance goal orientation than male students, with no gender differences on the other dimensions [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students are significantly more likely than male students to use AI for schoolwork and to seek advice from AI tools [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students report higher job finding anxiety, AI anxiety, and negative AI attitudes than male students [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students reported higher learning agency than male students after controlling for GenAI literacy and year of study [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students reported lower challenge emotions than male students after controlling for other variables [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students show broader post-workshop gains than males, including significant increases in AI and computer science career interest, while male career interest remains unchanged [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Female students show stronger academic self-confidence, more positive attitudes, higher achievement, and fewer absences, but this advantage diminishes almost completely under mastery learning [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Findings on gender differences in engagement with adaptive learning platforms are mixed, with some studies showing higher engagement among girls and others among boys [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Fort Worth charter school male students significantly outgrew district-school male students in reading, while female students showed no significant sector difference [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Four or more major challenges were more prevalent among women, Hispanic and minoritized students, and lower-income students [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Four- versus six-year completion gaps of 15–25 percentage points appeared across academic and demographic groups, with Black young men at 13% four-year and 31% six-year completion [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• After gamified security training, female students gave more positive confidence and format-preference ratings than male students (descriptive survey percentages, no inferential test) [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• GenAI function, intervention duration, publication year, and gender were not significant moderators of GenAI's motivational effect [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender differences in AI perception scores appear only in the overall score and attitudes dimension, with males scoring higher [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences in ninth-grade math grades were similar across racial/ethnic groups, with young men earning fewer points in every group [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences in assessment points earned remained small but statistically significant after controlling for math course type and level [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences in reading outcomes at age 10 depend on the type of phonics teaching received in early literacy programmes [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender does not moderate AI adoption among Gen Z university students [-W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender does not significantly moderate the effect of AI-supported PBL on computational thinking or academic achievement [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender is associated with small differences in GenAI use, literacy, and monitoring, while educational level shows no significant differences [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender moderates the association between emotion regulation and academic motivation, with a stronger positive association among male students [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender prompts shift feedback stance: female students receive affective, first-person, empathy-oriented feedback while male students receive objective, task-oriented critique [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender, age and English proficiency show nuanced group differences in chatbot attitudes and concerns [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls and underrepresented minorities remain far below representative participation on AP computer science exams, though new exams show gains [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls in Playworks schools were less likely to be sedentary and more likely to engage in jumping, tag, and playground games during recess [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Girls score lower than boys on timed standardized math and science tests at the same course level, and SAT math scores underpredict women's college math performance [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls show less confidence and interest in math and science from early adolescence, and a strong math/science self-concept predicts course choice and performance for both genders [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls show significantly higher task orientation than boys in preschool [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Graduation rates by age 19 in Chicago varied substantially by race/ethnicity and gender, with African-American boys lowest (39 percent) and Asian girls highest (85 percent) [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Graduation rates improved for all racial, ethnic, and economic groups, but racial and ethnic gaps increased while gender, poverty, and disability gaps declined [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Greater prior AI learning experience and female gender predicted upward motivational profile transitions [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• 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 [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Higher weights on assessments shrank, but did not eliminate, the gender difference in final grades, because young women were more often in classes weighting assessments heavily [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In a 2013 Denver RCT, LLI showed a statistically significant positive effect on BAS reading achievement, a negative but non-significant difference on DRA2, and a positive but non-significant difference on STAR for female students in grades 1–2 [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• In LLM-assisted team formation with name-only personas, male students are significantly less likely than female students to be assigned to Interface Design and Quality Assurance teams relative to Core Development [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In one word-problem study, females gained significantly when the formatted procedural plan came after an unformatted test, and scored lower when the formatted test came first [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• In the 2013 RCT, subgroup findings for female students in grades 1–2 on the STAR Early Literacy Assessment were positive but not statistically significant, yet large enough to be considered substantively important [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• In the analyzed school setting, black girls experience testimonial injustice as direct discrimination and hermeneutical injustice as indirect, structural discrimination that personal effort cannot erode [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In the ethnography the article analyzes, black girls bussed to an affluent suburban school were unpopular and socially excluded for being seen as loud and ghetto, while black boys were classified as incapable of academic achievement [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In the Hawaii randomized trial, Positive Action reduced serious violence among boys but not among girls [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Increases in the percentage of students in the Harlem Fitness Zone were generally larger for boys than for girls [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Individual-difference themes (academic motivation, emotional stability, gender, race and ethnicity) are associated with school belonging [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Intersecting identities compound suspension risk: 0.1% of Asian girls without special education services in elementary schools were suspended versus 27% of Black boys with disabilities in secondary schools [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Kindergarten entry-age effects do not differ by gender or race [-W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• LCFF-induced spending increases reduced suspensions and expulsions, with larger effects for boys and the most pronounced effects for Black students [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Learning engagement, PsyCap, and commitment differ by gender, student-leader status, and grade level [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Learning loss showed little evidence of differing by sex, school grade, subject, or prior performance [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Linked learning communities show no overall enrollment effect, but statistically significant gender-by-condition interactions on registration at Houston and substantively important differences at Hillsborough [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• LLM learners are younger, more likely male, and score higher on technology affinity than non-learners [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male and female students used ChatGPT differently: females used it more frequently and for questions, males more sporadically and to check answers [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male Chinese HSS students reported higher perceived GenAI gains in independent thinking, creativity and motivation, with minimal gender difference in performance [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male faculty report modestly higher self-perceived GenAI knowledge than female faculty in TK and TPK, with small effect sizes [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male respondents were significantly more likely than non-male respondents to have no concern about their labour being used for military purposes [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male secondary students report significantly higher STEM career interest than female students across AI, computer science, and engineering at baseline [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male students report significantly higher overall technological self-efficacy than female students (p = 0.001) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Measurement invariance across gender is supported, but full structural equivalence is rejected, with differences localized to transformational-leadership paths [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• National gender-equality and human-development indicators show no consistent correlation with sex differences in mathematics or reading across the decade [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• New Mexico CTE enrollment shows breadth over depth and demographic underrepresentation, with females only 19% of STEM CTE enrollment versus 49% of the total population [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Ninth grade truancy rates do not differ much by gender, undercutting the hypothesis that gang activity primarily drives absenteeism [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Ninth graders who fail Algebra I are demographically similar to those who pass, but are more likely to be male and African American [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No significant accelerometer-based differences in physical activity were found for boys in Playworks schools compared with control schools [-W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• No significant differential treatment effects by prior (Grade 4) achievement level or gender; the Grade 4 Level 3 subgroup difference was marginal (p = .053) [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• No significant gender difference in word-problem performance on either formatted or unformatted test forms [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No significant gender differences in CTAT performance within either educational pathway [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No statistically significant gender differences in perceived learning outcomes across any dimension among higher vocational students [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No statistically significant sex differences in the direct associations among EF, task orientation, and mathematics or in the mediating effect of task orientation [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• On-track gains were largest for students with the lowest incoming skills and for African American males [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• On-Track gains were largest in the lowest-performing schools and among African American and Latino males [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Playworks showed significant impact on some measures of girls' physical activity but no significant impact on measures of boys' physical activity [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Prior achievement, attendance, and suspensions do not explain the gender difference in ninth-grade math grades [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Prior research attributes growing male superiority in word problem solving to age, with onset debated between sixth grade and high school [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Prospective regression analysis of the same data found somewhat larger sex differences in the same direction [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• PSAT-based National Merit scholarship selection distributes awards disproportionately to boys, with girls receiving 36 percent of scholarships [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Race-by-gender disparities are more pronounced: Black boys lost 132 days per 100 enrolled and Black girls lost 77, seven times the rate of White girls [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Restorying supports Black girls' identification of and resistance to dominant narratives in computing [+W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• San Diego regional data show STEM access and pay remain inequitable by race, socioeconomic status, and gender [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• SAT scores underpredict the academic performance of high school girls, who average lower scores than boys despite higher grades [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Sex differences in mathematics and reading are strongly and inversely correlated across nations in all four PISA assessments [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Small gaps in AVID experiences by gender, achievement, and grade, with girls, lower achievers, and tenth graders more positive [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Spring first-time college enrollees differ from fall enrollees in race/ethnicity, gender, and high school GPA, but the impact on group enrollment rates is small [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Student gender showed no detectable effect on rubric-based teaching quality scores, though the analysis was underpowered [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Student self-reports of effort, social well-being, and math instruction do not explain the gender grade difference [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Student test effort differs substantially across student gender and racial subgroups [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Student voices on GenAI and academic integrity are diverse, shaped by gender, academic level, discipline, psychological factors, and cultural context, though gender findings are inconsistent [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Students assisted by a gender-biased LLM produce career-plan essays with a significantly larger male-female agentic gap than students in neutral-LLM and no-AI control conditions [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Students in alternative schools experience extraordinarily high lost-instruction rates, with Black boys losing 235 days per 100 enrolled [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Syntea usage rates differ slightly by gender, with female students (59.05%) higher than male students (54.94%) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Systematic racial, ethnic and gender differences in grades persist among students with the same test scores, attendance, courses and teachers [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Teaching experience is a minor negative predictor of digital data use, while age and gender show no significant effect [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Test effort differs substantially by student subgroup, with males rapidly guessing nearly twice as often as females in later grades and Black students rapidly guessing more often than White students [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Testimony at a 1987 congressional hearing reported 1985 SAT averages in which Black women scored 43 points below Black men and 264 points below white men, which the witness called a double penalty for minority females [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Testimony at a 1987 congressional hearing reported that the Johns Hopkins talent search, which admitted by SAT score, invited over 2,500 boys but 1,081 girls in one summer although equal numbers took the test [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The Altair (engine) main effect is not significant for winter RIT scores in either content area, but an Altair-by-sex interaction is significant in Reading only [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The effects of thoughtless GenAI use on motivation, self-efficacy, and self-directed learning differ significantly by gender [+W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The exam playbook intervention showed no statistically significant treatment-effect differences by gender, race, class standing, or prior performance [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The four-year college STEM major advantage of inclusive STEM high schools holds for Hispanic, female, and economically disadvantaged students, with odds ratios above three [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The fraction of women enrolling in mathematics degree programs in the UK and the Netherlands has remained constant despite rising female participation in higher education [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The gender gap in deliberation disappears under unanimous rule with few women or majority rule with many women [~W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The indirect association between AI anxiety and academic motivation through emotion regulation is significant for both male and female students but stronger among male students [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The inverse relation between mathematics and reading sex differences also holds within nations across the performance continuum [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The mathematics sex difference favoring boys is more consistently found among higher-achieving nations, with considerable variability among lower-scoring countries [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The mathematics sex difference is practically non-existent among low performers and largest among high performers, where boys outnumber girls up to 2.7:1 above the 99th percentile [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The reading sex difference favoring girls grew over the decade and was driven by very poor performance of boys at the low end [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The score gaps constitute evidence of sex differences in the validity of the SAT-M as a predictor of college math performance, though not of their cause [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The technological gender gap emerges only within Technology-oriented pathways, with parity in Arts and Sciences [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Two gendered classroom cultures coexisted: rule-following vocal girls and disruptive boys receiving disproportionate time and space [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Two-year and four-year origin transfers differ on gender, enrollment status, and six-year engineering graduation [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Under analytic phonics teaching, boys matched girls in word reading but had inferior spelling and reading comprehension [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• WEC index effects on academic outcomes are more pronounced for male students, with the well-being effect on literacy absent for females [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Within every CPS race/ethnicity group, young men graduated from high school at a lower rate than young women of the same race/ethnicity [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Within the same neighborhoods and schools, boys and Black students are more likely to be overage for grade, a proxy for prior retention [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Women admitted to MIT with lower SAT math scores perform as well as men in freshman math classes [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Women scored about 33 SAT-M points lower than men who took the same math course and received the same grade [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Young women outperformed young men in every grading category family in unweighted points, with the largest gap in assignments and smallest in assessments; weighting reversed this ordering [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Young women were more likely than young men to both immediately enroll in and persist through college, in both four-year and two-year colleges [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Acute psychosocial stress differentially affects cognitive flexibility by sex (significant Sex × Condition interaction on perseverative errors) [+W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Boys are more likely than girls to be reported as bullied in preadolescence [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys received more process praise and scored higher in 4th grade math than girls in this sample [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Bullied boys show greater behavioral problems than bullied girls in withdrawn/depressed, social, thought, and aggression domains [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female preschoolers showed significantly better ANS acuity than males at Session 5, and knower level increased significantly with age [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls scored lower than boys on fifth grade Numerical Operations, with the gap smaller in earlier grades, but no sex difference in fifth grade word reading [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls with ADHD were rated as having more severe ADHD symptoms than boys with ADHD in this sample [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male and female WM growth trajectories do not differ: sex-by-age interactions are non-significant after multiple-comparison correction [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Math anxiety levels do not differ significantly by gender among third graders [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Men scored higher than women on rated divergent thinking creativity in this sample, with no sex differences in fluid intelligence or the executive functions. [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No gender differences emerged in the associations between family ethnic socialization and ethnic identity [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• No significant gender differences on anxiety or reading measures at either time point [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Sex-specific subgroup models show the same functional forms for boys and girls, though cubic coefficients for boys were not significant after correction [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Stereotype threat reverses the gender gap in third-grade reading: boys underperform girls under threat but outperform them under reduced threat [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The ADHD–depression association does not significantly differ by sex, though point estimates are slightly stronger in females [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The association between public regard and intrinsic motivation differs by gender, and between status and motivation differs by ethnicity [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The gender gap in reading is three times bigger than the gender gap in math [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The threat-by-gender pattern in reading occurred only among highly-identified students [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Total anxiety predicts later fluency for girls only, via a significant gender-by-anxiety interaction [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Boys read for leisure and enjoy reading less than girls, but no sex differences appear in mental imagery [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys received significantly more process praise than girls, despite equal overall praise [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Bullying predicts depressive symptoms two years later for boys but not for girls [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Child gender predicts self-regulation trajectory membership, with girls more likely to be earlier developers [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Childhood spatial activity participation predicts adolescent spatial activity participation, and this consistency is stronger for females than males [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Female children and adolescents recognize vocal emotions more accurately than males, with no interaction between sex and age [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Fitness–attention relationships are stronger in boys than girls, with higher explained variance in boys' regression models [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender did not significantly moderate relationships between social functioning and academic development in preschoolers [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Girls outperform boys on effortful control, teacher-rated social competence, and achievement in this sample [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls were on average more accurate than boys in equation rearrangement, with no significant difference in speed [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Growth mindset interacts with gender for health major choice — men's chances decline 3.9 percentage points per unit increase — but no gender difference appears in how ability beliefs influence PEMC major choice [~S] — an instructional effect differs by group
• In the higher track, reading enjoyment and sex show main effects on non-leisure readers' school achievement, with enjoyers of both sexes scoring higher [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Low warmth trajectories predict lower achievement gains for boys but not for girls [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The mediated EC-achievement model is not moderated by children's sex, age, or SES [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Trajectory patterns of teacher-student warmth and conflict differ between boys and girls, with a high-stable conflict class found only for boys [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In the early intervention sample, boys increased more in aggression than girls, but intervention effects did not differ by gender [-W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Regulatory strategy use and classroom grades showed no subject-area differences, though females received higher grades than males [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Task value was higher for mathematics than for English and social studies for both genders, with gender differences only in the English–social studies comparison [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Test anxiety was highest in social studies and lowest in English, with the pattern differing by gender [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Teacher-rated grades show girls rated slightly higher than boys, but gender is unrelated to test performance [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences in global performance judgments follow domain stereotypes: men higher in mathematics, women higher in reading, with no gender differences in bias [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students provided lower local judgments with lower sensitivity but higher specificity than male students [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The homework management–homework behavior link is stronger for girls than for boys [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender disparities in CT education show a very small but statistically significant overall effect favoring males (g = 0.106) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Pedagogical tool significantly moderates the CT gender gap, with programming and robots associated with male-favoring gaps and other tools (e.g., web-based) showing a negative significant effect [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Perceived biased treatment linked to brilliance-oriented FABs explains a substantial portion of the gender gap in entry into brilliance-oriented fields [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The learning benefit of mathematics test practice is larger for boys than for girls [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• No gender differences in writing self-efficacy were found in any included postsecondary study [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Studies reporting age and gender differences in student engagement unanimously show higher engagement for girls and younger students [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Demographic moderators (child gender, parent gender, ethnicity, sample type, socio-economic status) show limited moderating effects on the self-efficacy–partnership association [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender and migration background have only very small impacts on the strength of single comparison effects [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Sex differences in mathematics tend to be somewhat larger in more gender-equal countries (GGGI coefficient B = 0.921, p = .051), controlling for region [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Sex differences in mathematics vary by content domain, with male advantages for geometry (d = 0.218), broad mathematics (d = 0.145), computation (d = 0.089), and national tests (d = 0.068), but near-zero differences for advanced mathematics and basic numeracy [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The magnitude of sex differences in mathematics varies across geographical regions, with larger estimated effects in Central Europe (d = 0.164) and Central and South America (d = 0.153) than in North America (d = 0.047) [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender and academic level do not moderate the perfectionism–academic achievement relationships [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The wellbeing effects of school-led nature interventions show a gender effect, with girls benefiting in PA in some studies, but inconclusive findings for age [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender differences on WISC subtests and factors are generally smaller or unchanged with newer WISC versions, never larger [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences on WISC working memory (gSM) are negligible and not statistically significant [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• A medium gender difference in mental rotation favouring boys exists across adolescence and is already apparent at the beginning of adolescence [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• A small gender difference in visualisation favouring boys exists across adolescence and is robust across measurement instruments [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Age moderates gender differences in both mental rotation and visualisation, with gaps continuing to grow during adolescence [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Studies of preservice teachers found no statistically significant associations between gender or other sociodemographic variables and AHS [-W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The temporal asymmetry holds across gender and initial ability levels, with a cautious gender difference in the French lagged effect [~M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Gender is not a significant moderator of the math anxiety–performance relationship [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Girls scored significantly higher than boys on writing quality, handwriting fluency, and attitude toward writing [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys outperform girls on the final two-digit number test in this sample [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Country significantly moderates the gender gap in L2 achievement, favoring females in China and males in Türkiye [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Most study characteristics (publication year, mean age, sampling, target language, L2 major, proficiency, measure, mode) do not significantly moderate the gender gap [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Population type significantly moderates the gender gap in L2 achievement, largest in secondary schools and smallest at university [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Norm policing amplifies loneliness and social anxiety: higher-weight students are lonelier in schools with stronger weight policing, and gender policing harms gender-atypical boys [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls exhibited a stronger decrease in mathematics ASC than boys over the school year, while school type did not predict ASC development [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys outperform girls on graphics tasks classified as Axis and Map graphical languages [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences on graphics items arise on tasks requiring movement between 2D and 3D representations or directional processing, not on 2D-to-2D tasks [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The gender gap in graphics decoding remained stable over three years, with no gender-by-year interaction [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The overall gender difference across the six graphical languages is statistically significant after controlling for non-verbal ability [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender related to students' emotions but showed no significant effects on math grades, while intelligence and SES related positively to grades [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls showed more SRL strategic behaviours than boys but did not outperform boys on task performance; child age correlated with metacognitive, motivational behaviours and performance [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender-specific prediction patterns: working memory span negatively predicts listening more strongly in males, while its positive bridging influence on English performance is stronger in females [~W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Male and female networks differ in structure and overall connectivity, with tighter internal connections in the male sample [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male gender predicted lower grades, moderated by cohort [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls show higher reading enjoyment and lower math enjoyment than boys, with no science enjoyment difference, after controlling for achievement, SES, and age [~W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys report more frequent classroom discipline problems than girls in language classes [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls started lower in math self-concept and interest than boys, and the L1 self-concept gender gap widened over Grades 7–9 [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Girls report higher initial mathematics enjoyment and boys higher initial boredom, with no gender differences in arithmetic skill development or mathematics performance [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No sex difference in the effect of drill on arithmetic improvement [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Altering the order of administration of math and verbal tests serves as an ecological intervention that reduces stereotype threat on girls’ math performance. [+M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Non-fraternity male freshmen were more likely than non-fraternity female freshmen to reach the laggard list [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In story recall, boys' memory power culminated about the beginning of high school, girls recalled more of the story than boys across parallel grades, and earlier parts of the story were recalled better than later parts [+W] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Across the four graduating classes, the percentage of graduated boys entering 'Early' declined (44, 43, 40, 29 per cent) while the percentage of girls rose (12, 48, 53, 53 per cent) [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Adolescent girls perceive higher utility value of social competences than boys [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Adolescent girls report higher self-reported social competences than boys in vocational high school [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Jigsaw classroom curbs the widening gender gap in perceived utility value of social competences, reducing the Time-3 gap by 50% versus business-as-usual and 25% versus resource independence [~W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Jigsaw classroom curbs the widening gender gap in self-reported social competences, reducing the Time-3 gap by 27% versus business-as-usual and 20% versus resource independence [~W] — an instructional effect differs by group
• The gender gap in perceived utility value of social competences widens over time [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The gender gap in self-reported social competences widens over two years of vocational high school [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys hold advantages on all spatial measures while girls are more attentive in classroom settings [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys outperform girls on algebra word problems, function mapping, equation memory, and arithmetic fluency, with no sex differences on other mathematics measures [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The spatial pathway to mathematical competence is relatively more important for boys and the in-class attention pathway for girls, confirming the differential contributions hypothesis [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Female students and students with lower prior achievement experienced more negative motivational changes [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Sex differences in scattering reverse across scales: girls scatter more on the 1908 scale, boys on the 1911 and Stanford scales [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• No significant gender differences in communal or agentic goal affordances, endorsements, or incongruity among Indigenous STEM students [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• The effect of Tekster does not depend on student gender [-M] — an instructional effect differs by group
• Application of the Stanford Revision to 1000 non-selected children found the intelligence quotient a valid expression of intelligence, practically no sex differences, and social status not a disturbing influence on mental-age estimates. [-M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender differences in the math–science achievement profile of top-performing math students are small, with both genders tilted toward mathematics [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Gender equality indicators moderate gender differences among top-performing math students: tertiary enrollment ratios predict the share of female students and their achievement profiles [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male students are overrepresented among top-performing math students, with a mean female-to-male ratio of 1:1.50 across 82 countries [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male top-performing math students report higher math self-efficacy and stronger math-oriented motivation than female top performers [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Male top-performing math students show strongly science-oriented science–reading profiles while female students' profiles are more balanced [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Differences in self-concept and value partly, but not fully, explain gender differences in STEM study intentions [~M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• Boys are more likely than girls to rank at both the top and the bottom of the grade scale, supporting greater variability of excellence among boys [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause
• In this group the average girl's grades equal or exceed the average boy's in all six subjects, with the largest advantage in Latin [+M] — outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

The evidence by question

• Do girls and boys differ in mathematics and reading achievement, by how much, and where in the distribution? Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger [+M]
• Do girls and boys with the same test scores earn the same grades, and does a test score predict each group's later performance equally well? Systematic racial, ethnic and gender differences in grades persist among students with the same test scores, attendance, courses and teachers [+M]
• Does an instructional programme or intervention work differently for girls and boys? GenAI function, intervention duration, publication year, and gender were not significant moderators of GenAI's motivational effect [~M]
• Do girls and boys differ in confidence, interest and participation in mathematics, science and computing? Girls show less confidence and interest in math and science from early adolescence, and a strong math/science self-concept predicts course choice and performance for both genders [+M]

Related Learner Variables

• Self-Efficacy
• Academic Anxiety
• Belonging

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	learner-variable
id	gender
title	Gender
description	A learner's gender as recorded in research data, used to describe differences in participation, attitudes and outcomes and to test whether an instructional effect differs between groups.
status	review
canonical	True
generated	by claude/unspecified on 2026-10-15
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.