Gender stereotypes and academic performance: insights from primary school pupils in Sokoto State, Nigeria

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ABSTRACT This paper reports the quantitative relationship between gender stereotypes (GS) and the academic performance of 7–12-year-old pupils from 128 primary schools in Sokoto state of Nigeria using regression methods. Our results show that female pupils who have negative stereotypes towards their gender performed significantly worse in math and language tests than female pupils who do not have such stereotypes. This difference, however, is not present among male pupils. Finally, based on our data, we do not find evidence of a mediator of this relationship. Further research is needed to identify the causal relationship of this phenomenon.