Abstract
Girls continue to be underrepresented in Year 11 and 12 intermediate and advanced mathematics courses in Australia, which has implications for their future educational opportunities and career aspirations. The present study compared the choices of 84 Year 10 girls and boys from one school for their Year 11 mathematics course, with their teachers’ recommendations for the same. Findings indicated that while most participants made course selections aligned with their teachers’ recommendations, girls tended to under-aspire and boys tended to over-aspire in their choice decisions, based on their teachers’ recommended course choices. In addition, utilising the Expectancy-value theoretical (EVT) framework, we surveyed participants to measure their self-perceptions (self-concept), and values about mathematics (intrinsic value, utility value, and attainment value). We also measured participants’ views on the domain of mathematics (sense of belonging, growth mindset, the status of mathematics, gender bias). Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that girls showed lowered self-concept, sense of belonging, and growth mindset than boys, also viewing mathematics as less of a high-status subject than boys. In addition, the survey obtained participants’ opinions on sociocultural influences on their mathematics course selections, with no significant gender differences noted.
Highlights
In Australia, girls and boys with similar proficiency in mathematics and sciences have been found to make different choices about undertaking Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at the upper secondary level, which may affect their higher education and career opportunities (Broadley, 2015; Jeffries, Curtis, & Connor, 2019; Timms, Moyle, Weldon, & Mitchell, 2018; Watt et al, 2012)
Given that the choice to study the more demanding maths courses has the potential to serve as critical filter in accessing future educational options and influencing career aspirations noted in both local and international contexts (Watt et al, 2017; Watt & Goos, 2017), the main aim of this study is to investigate salient influential factors associated with mathematics course selections for girls and boys
The three research questions posed for the study were addressed using a combination of descriptive statistics, chi-square, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) procedures
Summary
In Australia, girls and boys with similar proficiency in mathematics and sciences have been found to make different choices about undertaking Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at the upper secondary level, which may affect their higher education and career opportunities (Broadley, 2015; Jeffries, Curtis, & Connor, 2019; Timms, Moyle, Weldon, & Mitchell, 2018; Watt et al, 2012). The ‘outside-in’ perspective emphasises social forces as instrumental in providing opportunities and creating barriers for girls’ educational choices, for example, by positioning them as less competent, or by reducing the value that girls assign to mathematics as a discipline. This dual perspective enables the generation of a range of factor sets for investigation, individual (self- and domain-specific beliefs, personal values), home (perspectives of the expectations of parents and other family members), and school (judgements on the influence of teachers and peers). Recent research in the mathematics domain has explored each of these factors in investigating educational jedp.ccsenet.org
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