Gender Differences In Children Research Articles

Parent-child conversations about science: the socialization of gender inequities?

This study investigated the family as a context for the gender typing of science achievement. Adolescents (N = 52) from 2 age levels (mean ages = 11 and 13 years) participated with their mothers and fathers on separate occasions; families were from predominantly middle-income European American backgrounds. Questionnaires measured the parents' and the child's attitudes. Each parent also engaged his or her child in 4 structured teaching activities (including science and nonscience tasks). There were no child gender or grade-level differences in children's science-related grades, self-efficacy, or interest. However, parents were more likely to believe that science was less interesting and more difficult for daughters than sons. In addition, parents' beliefs significantly predicted children's interest and self-efficacy in science. When parents' teaching language was examined, fathers tended to use more cognitively demanding speech with sons than with daughters during one of the science tasks.

What Type of Support Do They Need? Investigating Student Adjustment as Related to Emotional, Informational, Appraisal, and Instrumental Support.

Despite the availability of conceptual frameworks for examining types of social support, the majority of studies in the literature measure global social support and do not examine specific types of support. Thus, the present study asked: (a) What types of support (e.g., emotional, informational, appraisal, and instrumental) do students most often perceive from each of the sources of support (e.g., parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends)? and (b) Are certain types of social support more related to students’ social, behavioral, and academic outcomes? Preliminary analyses were also conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (CASSS; Malecki, Demaray, & Elliott, 2000) and gender differences in perceptions of types of support. Participants included 263 students in Grades 5 through 8 and data were collected using the CASSS, the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliott, 1990), and the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1998). Results found that although early adolescent boys and girls perceive similar levels of all types of support from their parents and teachers, girls perceive more support of most types from classmates and friends. Furthermore, emotional and informational support were the most highly reported type of support from parents, informational support was most highly reported from teachers, and emotional and instrumental support scores were reported highest from classmates and close friends. Supportive behaviors from parents contributed to students’ personal adjustment. Emotional support perceived from teachers was a significant and sole individual predictor of students’ social skills and academic competence. Finally, supportive behaviors from teachers also predicted students’ school maladjustment.

Active Learning and Democratic Behavior in Guatemalan Rural Primary Schools

Emerging democracies such as Guatemala are beginning to experiment with active learning methodologies to improve learning and encourage democratic behavior among children. However, there exists little information on the effects of different classroom environments on children's behavior in developing countries. This study uses focused classroom observations to examine differences in the democratic behavior of children of different genders and ethnicity attending traditional rural schools and those attending rural schools with an experimental active learning program. Results show that children in the experimental program engage in significantly more democratic behaviors than their counterparts and these behaviors are related to participation in small group activities. Within the active learning program, greater democratic behavior and small group participation are also related to higher reading achievement at the classroom level.

Boys' and girls' perceptions of parental discipline in transgression situations

AbstractChildren's perceptions of parental discipline methods and their perceptions of child gender differences in their parents' choices of discipline methods were assessed. One hundred and seventy 8‐year‐old children (78 boys, 92 girls) in two‐parent families were asked about disciplinary behaviour in five transgression situations. The results pointed to gender differences when the children were talking about themselves. Boys believed that they would receive more physical punishment, milder requests and less induction than girls. Children also indicated that their parents would choose a different response if they (themselves) were of the other sex. Both boys and girls reported that their parents would treat boys more severely than they would girls. The results showed that the responses of those children with a sibling of the other sex did not reveal any gender‐differentiated experience of their parents' discipline strategies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ADHD and Accident Proneness

ADHD and Accident Proneness

Gendered Voice in the Cathedral Choir

The past decade has seen the initiation and growth in the number of cathedrals who have admitted girl choristers in addition to boys. Almost without exception, these initiatives have provoked considerable interest in the local, national and (in some cases) international communities. In large part, this interest stems from a concern that the "social justice" underpinning the entry of female choristers might be in conflict with a musical tradition in cathedrals that has apparently celebrated the "uniqueness" of the male chorister voice for over 1,500 years. A number of related studies have now been conducted in order to examine such an assumption of "uniqueness" and to see if this has any perceptual basis. The available data on child and adolescent vocal anatomy and physiology indicate considerable similarity between the sexes until the onset of puberty. Perceptually, gender differences in untrained children's singing voices become more evident as children progress through childhood. However, the trained chorister perceptual data is more equivocal, suggesting that there is considerable potential for female choristers to be confused as male, depending on the choir and the choice of repertoire. In part, this is believed to be a product of the particular traditions, expectations and cultural practices of the socio-musical environment to which choristers are inducted.

Quality of life and its measurement in children

The concept and definition of quality of life have not been co-ordinated yet, so measurement indicators have not been. The concept of quality of life is mostly understood as a multidimenstional construct reflecting several domains of life. Quality of life in general includes all factors influencing person's life (economic, political, religious), while health related quality of life includes only factors which influence health. Each domain is measured separately by most authors, which is followed by transformation of every domain into a quantitative value. Quality of life measurement in children population is associated with numerous difficulties. As for adults, measuring quality of life in children must include measuring health status, so a comprehensive generic instrument must include full spectrum of health status. Beside that, these instruments must be applicable study for children of different gender, age and culture. Those who design a must consider who is the most appropriate respondent (child or parent), what is the optimal mode of administration, whether respondent will understand questions and whether questionnaire length is appropriate. Quality of life is getting a more and more important place in medical investigations. Quality of life measurement in children population is still insufficiently explored and associated with numerous methodological problems. The existing instruments for quality of life measurement in children significantly differ, and their selection must depend on their psychometric characteristics.

Children's competence and value beliefs from childhood through adolescence: Growth trajectories in two male-sex-typed domains.

The purpose of this study was to document gender differences in children's competence and value beliefs (N =514) from the 1st through 12th grades and to investigate the relation of these trends to initial differences in parents' perceptions of children's ability. Six separate growth models were tested: math competence, math interest, math importance, sports competence, sports interest, and sports importance. Across all 6 models, children's self-perceptions declined from 1st grade to 12th grade. Gender differences in competence and value beliefs were found. The gap between boys' and girls' competence beliefs decreased over time. In addition, parents' initial ratings of children's ability helped to explain mean level differences and variations in the rate of change in children's beliefs over time, with the effect being strongest in the sports models.

Flying Ducks? Girls’ Schooling in Rural Vietnam

Using the Vietnam Living Standards Survey 1992–93, this paper has found significant gender differences in children's education – parents are less likely to keep girls in school. The method of Doiron and Riddell (1994) is applied to decompose the predicted probability gap of being in school between boys and girls. Their method takes into account the nonlinear nature of the probit model. The decomposition result suggests that most observed gender differences in the predicted probability gap may be driven by discrimination, which may be due to Confucian values. Girls are colloquially referred to as ‘flying ducks’ as they are regarded as a loss to the family upon marriage. Cultural values could shape the parents' perception of the rate of the children's income transfer to the parents. If the cultural norms dictate that sons provide old–age security to the parents, while daughters marry and provide no support to the parents, parents may not be willing to invest as much in girls' education relative to boys. Promotion of gender equality and reduction of the reliance on sons in providing old–age security to parents are necessary to ensure that girls have equal opportunities to receive education. JEL classification: I2; J16; J71

Children's Positive and Negative Experiences With the Internet

This survey among 194 Dutch children ages 8 to 13 who had home access to the Internet was designed to explore (a) children's motives for using the Internet, (b) their positive experiences with the Internet, and (c) their negative experiences with the Internet. Results showed that the most important motive for using the Internet was affinity with computers, followed by information and entertainment. Online social interaction and off-line social interaction were the least important motives. Children's spontaneous descriptions of their positive experiences with the Internet most frequently included playing or downloading computer games (17%), watching video clips and songs (13%), visiting kids entertainment sites (12%), and seeking information about animals (7%). As a negative experience, children most frequently reported a virus or computer crash (10%), violence (4%), and pornography (4%). The authors found several significant age and / or gender differences in children's motives for using the Internet and in their experiences with the Internet.

Young Girls' Social Understanding: Emergent interpersonal expertise

This study focused on gender differences in young children's interpersonal understanding. Of particular interest was the articulation of the structure and content of young girls' social cognition, since this is an area where girls are believed to excel. Children from preschool (11 girls and 10 boys) and kindergarten (12 girls and 9 boys) responded to eight picture stories depicting interpersonal situations in the school context. Four of the drawings accompanying the stories contained explicit emotional cues and four contained subtle cues. Using a semi-structured interview format, children were asked questions about the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the protagonist and another character in the story (either a teacher or another child). Stories were analyzed for level of ability to coordinate thoughts and/or feelings and actions in explaining others' intentions. Girls demonstrated more sophisticated and complex reasoning about interpersonal situations than boys, and were better at decoding subtle cues in the drawings accompanying the stories. Within-subject differences were apparent, however, suggesting a need for further research on the influence of context and language on interpersonal understanding and the degree of variability among both girls and boys.

Young Girls' Social Understanding: emergent interpersonal expertise

This study focused on gender differences in young children's interpersonal understanding. Of particular interest was the articulation of the structure and content of young girls' social cognition, since this is an area where girls are believed to excel. Children from preschool (11 girls and 10 boys) and kindergarten (12 girls and 9 boys) responded to eight picture stories depicting interpersonal situations in the school context. Four of the drawings accompanying the stories contained explicit emotional cues and four contained subtle cues. Using a semi-structured interview format, children were asked questions about the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the protagonist and another character in the story (either a teacher or another child). Stories were analyzed for level of ability to coordinate thoughts and/or feelings and actions in explaining others' intentions. Girls demonstrated more sophisticated and complex reasoning about interpersonal situations than boys, and were better at decoding subtle cues in the drawings accompanying the stories. Within-subject differences were apparent, however, suggesting a need for further research on the influence of context and language on interpersonal understanding and the degree of variability among both girls and boys.

Preconception gender selection for nonmedical reasons

Preconception gender selection for nonmedical reasons

Development of Gender Differences in Children's Responses to Animated Entertainment.

This study examined gender differences in children's responses to animated scenes from an action adventure versus a sad film, and to animated previews of a prototypical “male” versus “female” movie. Females were more likely than males to express sadness in response to the sad scene, and gender differences in intensities of sadness increased with age. Children were much more likely to stereotype the “male” preview as most liked by other boys, whereas the majority of children perceived the “female” preview as liked by either gender equally. In terms of enjoyment of the “male” and “female” previews, gender differences in enjoyment of the “male” preview were apparent only among children who perceived the film as more appealing to boys, and gender differences in enjoyment of the “female” preview were apparent only among children who perceived the film as more appealing to girls. Implications for children's programming are discussed.

Research, Reflection, Practice: Gender Equity in Mathematics Education

Gender equity in mathematics education is a complex issue. Although males and females take similar mathematics classes and achieve similar scores on standardized tests throughout the K–12 school years (Kimball 1989; National Science Board 1998), males' participation in mathematics after high school is far greater than females' (National Science Board 1998). Many educators are studying the K–12 school experience in an attempt to understand gender differences in mathematics participation. For example, as we make advancements in assessing children's thinking, we are starting to find gender differences in young children's mathematics achievement. In a large study of first through third graders, in which individual interviews were used to assess children's thinking, researchers found gender differences in children's solution strategies (Fennema et al. 1998). Other researchers are asking teachers what information they can offer to advance our understanding of gender equity in mathematics.

Gender Differences in Children's Nutrition and Access to Health Care in Pakistan

This article analyses gender differences in children's nutrition and access to health care in Pakistan with a view to uncovering parents motives for the favouring of sons in South Asia. It is found that, among 0 to 5-year-old children, boys are favoured in the allocation of health care. However, girls appear as nourished as or better nourished than boys. This is taken to be evidence that intra-household gender discrimination has primary origins not in parental preference for boys but in differential returns to parents from investment in boys and girls.

What Am I Best At? Grade and Gender Differences in Children's Beliefs About Ability Improvement

The authors assessed age and gender variations in children's beliefs regarding the kinds of activities (academics, sports, music and arts) at which they thought they were best and worst. Children also reported the extent to which they thought they could improve their abilities in these different activities. The authors interviewed 865 first-, second-, and fourth-grade children individually. Children in all three grades were very optimistic that increased effort and better strategy use could improve their ability to perform different activities, particularly academic and sports activities. However, by fourth grade, an increasing number of children began to doubt whether they could improve enough to become best at their current worst activity. There were gender stereotypic differences in children's beliefs about their abilities. The implications of these findings for teachers and parents and for children's future activity choice are discussed.

Girls Not Boys Show Gender-Connotation Encoding from Print

The present study examines gender differences in children's encoding of gender-connotation from words. The release from proactive interference method was used to measure gender-connotation encoding. Forty-eight third-grade children attending a public elementary school serving a predominantly White middle-socioeconomic-status community participated and were presented with stimulus words in print. The design of the study can be characterized as a two (gender) by two (condition: control vs. experimental) by four (trials) factorial. Results revealed reliable proactive interference buildup and release for gender-connotation for girls, but not for boys. This new finding, taken together with extant research, demonstrates that while both boys and girls have the ability to encode gender-connotation from aurally presented words, the spontaneous activation of gender-connotation attributes with print is not guaranteed for boys.

Gender Role Orientation and Fearfulness in Children With Anxiety Disorders

Research on gender differences in children's fears has generally shown that girls are more fearful than boys. A common hypothesis offered for this finding is that gender role orientations or expectations may be operating. However, this hypothesis has not been directly investigated in child samples. The present study examined the relation between a self-report measure of gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity/femininity) and the intensity of self-reported fears in a clinic sample of children N = 66; ages 6–11; 41 boys and 25 girls with anxiety disorders. Results revealed that masculinity was negatively related to overall levels of fearfulness as well as specific fears of failure and criticism, medical fears, and fears of the unknown. In contrast, no relation was found between femininity and fearfulness. These findings suggest that gender role orientation, especially masculinity, may play a role in the development and/or maintenance of fearfulness in children.

Preference for violent electronic games, self-concept, and gender differences in young children.

Electronic game-playing has been linked to adjustment problems in player subgroups. This study examined relationships among time commitment, gender, preference for violent games, and self-concept in 364 fourth and fifth graders. Main effects were identified for game preference and gender, with stronger preference for violent games being associated with lower self-perceived behavioral conduct. Implications for future research are discussed.