Abstract
Globally, gender differences are reported in the early acquisition of reading and mathematics as girls tend to outperform boys in reading, whereas boys tend to outperform girls in mathematics. This can have long‐term impact resulting in an under‐representation of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects. Recent research suggests that sociocultural factors account for differences across genders in the acquisition of these foundational skills. In this study, we investigated whether a new technology‐based intervention, that included activities accessible to both boys and girls, can reduce gender differences from emerging during the early primary school years. The novel instructional method used in this study employed apps developed by onebillion© delivered individually through touch‐screen tablets. Over a series of experiments conducted in Malawi, a low‐income country in sub‐Sahara Africa, we found that when children were exposed to standard pedagogical practice typical gender differences emerged over the first grade (Experiment 1). In contrast, boys and girls learnt equally well with the new interactive apps designed to support the learning of mathematics (Experiment 2) and reading (Experiment 3). When implemented at the start of primary education, before significant gender discrepancies become established, this novel technology‐based intervention can prevent significant gender effects for mathematics. These results demonstrate that different instructional practices influence the emergence of gender disparities in early mathematics. Digital interventions can mitigate gender differences in countries where standard pedagogical instruction typically hinders girls from acquiring early mathematical skills at the same rate as boys.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55x-6hhAY9M&feature=youtu.be
Highlights
The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and pro‐ mote lifelong learning for all” (United Nations, 2016)
We investigated the learning of mathematics and reading through an innovative intervention that uses digital technology to see whether this new instructional method, that includes activities accessible to both boys and girls, can offer a potential solution for equating early learning opportunities of these core foundational skills and preventing gender differences from emerging
This study investigated the impact of individualized instruction with interactive apps on learning attainment and gender inequali‐ ties in mathematics and reading during the early grades of primary school in Malawi
Summary
The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and pro‐ mote lifelong learning for all” (United Nations, 2016). Whilst some biological accounts have been put forward (e.g., Burman, Bitan, & Booth, 2008; Halpern et al, 2007), most recent research implies sociocultural factors account for gender differ‐ ences in reading and mathematics. It has been sug‐ gested that during the preschool years, girls are likely to have more reading experience than boys because they are more motivated to read and mothers talk more to daughters than sons (Sigmundsson, Eriksen, Ofteland, & Haga, 2017), which supports the acquisition of oral language processing skills that are critical for learning to read (Nation & Snowling, 2004). Few gender dif‐ ferences in visuospatial processing abilities of very young children are reported in the literature (Spelke, 2005), which suggests that girls should have a similar propensity as boys to learn mathematics from an early age
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