Differential Model of Mathematics Anxiety between Male and Female Students in a State University

Abstract

Anxiety is long believed to impede the mathematics teaching – learning process not only in the foundation years of education but throughout the academic journey of both male and female students. Thus, this research was conducted primarily to identify the personal and environmental predictors of mathematics anxiety among male and female university students and compare their anxiety models. There were 340 students in a state university in the Philippines who were considered as respondents. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive-correlational design, multiple linear regression and discriminant analyses. Negative and weak correlations existed between males’ year level and math subjects taken, and math anxiety as well as female’s year level and anxiety which means that the higher is the year level, the lesser is the anxiety of both sexes and the more math subjects taken by males, the lesser is their math anxiety. Various discriminating variables led to differences between mathematics anxiety models of male and female students. Keywords: mathematics, emotion anxiety, assessment/test anxiety, environment anxiety, mathematics anxiety, discriminant analysis