Small Gender Differences Research Articles

The Role of Math and Language Performance in Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Major Choice. A Test for Germany

Abstract Across the globe, women choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors (STEM) less often than men. One frequently suggested explanation of this gender gap is that women perform less well in math and better in language than men in secondary school and have a comparative advantage in language. Studies for the Anglo-Saxon context have only found weak support for this school performance explanation due to small gender differences in math performance and comparative (math-to-language) grade advantages and weak effects of comparative test advantages on STEM major choice. We aim to contribute to the literature by assessing the role of math and language competencies and grades in explaining the gender gap in STEM major choice for Germany, a country with considerable gender differences in math and language performance. Decomposition analyses of the gender gap in STEM major choice in higher tertiary education among upper secondary students from the German National Educational Panel Study show that math and language performance can explain nearly half of the gender gap in STEM major choice. The role of math competencies and grades in the German language proves especially important due to substantial gender differences herein and strong effects on the likelihood of STEM declaration. Our findings suggest that in contexts with strong gender differences in math and language performance, prior school performance can to a large extent explain women’s underrepresentation in STEM university majors.

Can everyone get interesting jobs? Estimating interest fit across gender, ethnicity, and education

AbstractAlthough research and policy efforts have attempted to “even the hiring playing field” and progress equal opportunities, systemic employment patterns based on gender and ethnicity remain prevalent. An unexplored avenue of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts is the degree to which all people can obtain jobs that fit their interests. The present study used a large, diverse sample of over 250,000 American employees to estimate the average vocational interest fit that people have with their jobs and differences in fit across race/ethnicity, gender, and education. Overall, employees showed moderate positive vocational interest fit with their jobs, with an average profile correlation of .20 between person and job interests. There were small gender differences in vocational interest fit favoring men, especially White and Hispanic men, with minimal differences across other race/ethnicity groups. However, the largest group differences emerged for education, as employees with higher educational attainment showed greater vocational interest fit, particularly among women. Further intersectional analyses added greater nuance to these results, including how various groups achieve vocational interest fit across different types of jobs. Altogether, this work provides important fit benchmark estimates for researchers, counselors, organizational placement, and theory refinement.

When the news reports women: media and the gender gap in political interest

The media plays a prominent role in shaping individuals’ declared levels of political interest, but its role regarding gender differences remains largely unexplored. To what extent are media contents and their reflection of gender roles related to declared levels of political interest in men and women? This article argues that more egalitarian media environments, where a larger share of women are represented, should be associated with smaller gender differences in political interest. Data from the European Social Survey and the Global Media Monitoring Programme have been merged to test this argument. Results suggest that more women being reported shows some association with more minor differences between men’s and women’s declared levels of political interest. This difference is particularly present when the increase occurs in more hard-news-oriented media like the printed press and in topics like economic affairs, or when more women are quoted as experts, which are traditionally identified as more masculinised.

The Role of Opportunity to Learn and School Socioeconomic Composition in Reducing Racial and Gendered Disparities in Mathematics Achievement

Mathematics literacy is crucial in many STEM fields, yet Black and Hispanic students are less likely to achieve high math proficiency. While previous literature investigated potential factors to mitigate racial or gendered disparities in mathematics literacy, few studies attended to the conditions under which the causal interpretation of the results obtained can be established. Guided by intersectionality theory and causal decomposition analysis, we examined the degree to which disparities in mathematics literacy (a) exist at the intersection of race and gender and (b) can be reduced by hypothetical interventions that equalize school socioeconomic status (SES) or opportunity to learn (OTL) across groups. We found large racial/ethnic differences in math literacy favoring Asians and whites and much smaller gender differences. We also found that equalizing school SES may reduce disparities for Black and Hispanic males and females; equalizing OTL may reduce disparities for Black and Hispanic males as well as Asian males and females; compared to white males. Our findings suggest that interventions that target specific race–gender groups are required to reduce disparities in math literacy.

Attitudes toward premarital and casual sex in Canada: A secondary analysis of the seventh wave of the World Values Survey

Numerous studies have examined associations between sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward premarital sex and, more recently, toward casual sex. However, no recent study has examined these associations in Canada’s general population. The present exploratory study consists of a secondary analysis of the World Values Survey’s seventh wave of data collected in 2020 from a sample of 4,018 Canadian adults. Results indicate moderately positive attitudes toward premarital sex and lower levels of approval for casual sex, on average. Religion-related variables yielded moderate to strong effect sizes, with identifying as religious, higher frequencies of religious service attendance, and greater attributed importance to religion being associated with lower levels of approval for premarital and casual sex. Small to moderate effects were found for politics-related, family-related, and ethnocultural variables. On average, participants who considered premarital and casual sex as justifiable tended to be more left-leaning, have fewer children, live together as married, have been born in Canada, identify as White, report French as the language they normally speak at home, and live in Quebec. While age and generation were weakly associated with premarital sex attitudes, they were more strongly associated with casual sex attitudes, with younger participants being somewhat more accepting of casual sex than older participants. Small gender differences were found for casual but not premarital sex attitudes. Attitudinal differences based on socioeconomic variables were overall statistically insignificant or negligible. The findings are consistent with and expand on the existing literature. They also shed light on Canada’s ethnocultural and provincial particularities.

Paid leave to care for sick children – the limitations and opportunities at work

ABTRACT One particularly understudied aspect of the gendered division of work and care is paid leave to care for sick children (CSC). Even though fathers in Sweden take a relatively large share of CSC, fathers still use less leave than mothers. One potential explanation is gender differences in working conditions and income. This study uses high-quality survey data from the Swedish Level-of-Living Survey (LNU) 2000 and 2010 with linked register data to analyse, first, associations between working conditions and income on the one hand and CSC use on the other hand and second, the role working conditions and income play in the gender differences in CSC. The results from a two-part model show that the relatively large gender difference in the likelihood of using CSC is somewhat reduced when controlling for working conditions and income. The relatively small gender difference in the number of CSC days used by CSC users is diminished and rendered statistically non-significant when controlling for working conditions and income. Hence, gender differences in working conditions and income contribute to the gender difference in the number of CSC days used by CSC users, while other explanations need to be found for fathers’ lower likelihood of using any CSC.

Associations of types of physical activity with self-rated physical and mental health in Denmark

The purpose of this article is to analyse the association between types of physical activity and self-rated physical and mental health. The analyses are based on data from a Danish 2020 survey of adults’ exercise habits. The questionnaire was answered by 163,131 adults of whom 55 pct. were women and relatively evenly distributed by age. The questionnaire included questions about participation in different types of physical activity, self-rate of physical and mental health and sociodemographic and socioeconomic background. The analysis distinguishes between 16 main types of sports and exercise activities, cycling as a mode of transport, and gardening at home. The statistical analysis consists of ordinal regression, where the association between practicing a certain form of physical activity and self-rated health takes into account the adults other physical activity habits and their socio-economic and socio-demographic background. The analyses show, firstly, that the association, for most types of physical activity, is stronger for self-rated physical health than for self-rated mental health. Secondly, there are large differences in the strength of the association between the different types of physical activity. Thirdly, the association is significantly stronger for those who practise an activity type most days of the week than for those who do it less often. Fourthly, the analyses show small gender differences in the association between types of physical activity and self-rated health. Finally, the more different types of activity a person practises during a week, the better the self-rated health, but this primarily applies to self-rated physical health.

Mind the gap! Gender differences in alcohol consumption among Swedish ninth graders 1989-2021.

To examine gender differences in drinking habits among Swedish ninth graders over the period 1989-2021. Annual school surveys with nationally representative samples of ninth-grade students in Sweden covering the period 1989-2021, total sample of 180,538 students. Drinking habits were measured with self-reports of frequency and quantity of use and frequency of heavy episodic drinking. Differences between genders were compared annually and differences were tested using logistic and ordinary least square regression models with cluster robust standard errors. Small gender differences in the prevalence of alcohol use during the first part of the study period were followed by an increasing gap over the past decade with girls being more likely to drink alcohol than boys. Boys consumed larger amounts of alcohol than girls during the first three decades of the studied period but no gender differences were found in later years. Binge drinking was more prevalent among boys during 1989 to 2000 but no systematic gender difference was found during the past 15 years. There used to be clear gender differences in drinking habits among ninth graders in Sweden with boys drinking more than girls. This gap has narrowed over the past three decades and among contemporary adolescents, no gender differences are found neither in binge drinking nor volume of drinking and the prevalence of drinking is even higher among girls.

Gender Differences and Inequality? A 20-Year Retrospective Analysis Based on 39,980 Students’ Perceptions of Physical Education in Sweden

Purpose: The aim of this study was to critically examine previous studies’ claims about the magnitude of gender differences and gender inequality in physical education (PE) in Sweden. Method: The data were based on students’ (N = 39,980) perceptions of PE and were gathered from four large research projects in Sweden. Three effect size measures (Cramer’s V, r squared, and Cohen’s d) were calculated for gender differences. Results: In general, there are small gender differences; and after controlling for students’ grade, “sports capital,” and parents’ “educational capital,” the differences are practically irrelevant. Conclusion: This study provides compelling evidence that there are small, or even irrelevant, gender differences in students’ perceptions of PE in Sweden. Moreover, given that previous research asserts that large gender differences can be used as an indicator of inequality, this study suggests that gender inequality issues related to students’ perceptions of PE are relatively small.

For or Against Equal Pay? A Study of Common Perceptions

The topic of equal pay usually sparks debates with diverse opinions ranging from those supporting equal pay to those that oppose equal pay. This study attempted to gather empirical data on how individuals perceive equal pay. A questionnaire was designed that probed the respondents’ perceptions of equal pay along 13 dimensions. The respondents were recruited in Norway and grouping analysis was performed according to several demographic factors. The results show that political affiliation, gender, and work union membership were the strongest predictors of standpoint regarding equal pay. The strongest associations with equal pay were observed for unfairness, communism, low realism, and demotivation. Small gender differences were also observed. We argue that data about common perceptions of equal pay is necessary to make informed adjustments to how work is rewarded, and resources distributed. How individuals are to be compensated for the cost of education was the most frequent reservation.

Sources of Loneliness for Older Adults in the Czech Republic and Strategies for Coping With Loneliness

In this article, issues of loneliness and exclusion from social relations in old age are examined from the perspective of older men and women. Our focus is on sources of loneliness they themselves perceive and what strategies they use to cope with it. Twenty‐nine interviews with older adults at risk of loneliness in the Czech Republic and their models of social convoys are analyzed. Surprisingly small gender differences in feelings of loneliness are found. A major source of loneliness for both men and women is the loss of a life partner. Perceptions of loneliness and the shape of social networks differ substantially in the case of lifelong singles and childless people. A second significant source for feelings of loneliness includes unsatisfactory relationships with close family. Based on the participants’ accounts, three strategies for coping with loneliness are identified.

Chinese chemistry motivation questionnaire II: adaptation and validation of the science motivation questionnaire II in high school students

This study aimed to adapt a new version of the Science Motivation Questionnaire II, the Chinese Chemistry Motivation Questionnaire II, for high school students in China, focusing specifically on chemistry. The sample consisted of 1635 students from four high schools, by stratified random sampling. Data was collected online. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original five-component motivation (intrinsic motivation, career motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy and grade motivation) structure after dropping four problematical items, and the factorial invariance was also confirmed across gender, region of residence, and choice of chemistry. Five components were strongly correlated in the Chinese context. Among the five components, students scored the highest in grade motivation. Generally, students who would continue chemistry scored much higher in all five components than those who would discontinue, with boys scoring slightly higher than girls and urban students scoring slightly higher than rural students. Specifically, for students who would continue chemistry, there were medium gender differences in self-efficacy, small gender differences in intrinsic motivation, career motivation, and self-determination, no significant gender differences in grade motivation, and small regional differences in all five components. For students who would discontinue chemistry, there were no significant differences in all five components across gender and region of residence. The internal structure of the questionnaire, correlations among the five components, and group differences in motivation were discussed. Some implications for researchers and practitioners were presented.

Sex and frequency of practical work as determinants of middle-school science students’ learning environment perceptions and attitudes

In this study of 431 Grade 9 and 10 students, we investigated gender and frequency of practical work as determinants of science students’ perceptions of their learning environment and attitudes. We assessed classroom environment with the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI) and attitudes with the Students’ Adaptive Learning Engagement in Science (SALES) questionnaire and a scale involving students’ future intentions to study science. The surveys exhibited sound factorial validity and reliability. Interesting differences were found in the learning environment and student attitudes according to student gender and three different frequencies of practical work (namely, at least once a week, once every 2 weeks, or once every 3 weeks or more). More-frequent practical work was more effective than less-frequent practical work in terms of perceived open-endedness, integration and material environment in the laboratory environment and more-positive task value and self-regulation attitudes (with modest effect sizes exceeding one-third of a standard deviation). Although small gender differences existed for some scales, increasing the frequency of practical work was not differentially effective for male and female students.

A meta-analytic review of the gender difference in leadership aspirations

Compared to their representation in the workforce, women are significantly underrepresented in leadership roles in the United States. Whereas substantial research attention has been paid to the role of bias and discrimination in perpetuating this gap, less has been devoted to exploring the gender difference in aspirations for these roles. We draw from social role theory to hypothesize that men have higher leadership aspirations than women and test our hypothesis using a meta-analysis of 174 U.S. published and unpublished samples (N = 138,557) spanning six decades. The results reveal that there is a small but significant gender difference in the predicted direction (Hedge's g = 0.22). Notably, the gender difference has not narrowed significantly over time, and appears to widen at college age and among working adults within male-dominated industries. Our results also suggest that the process and dissemination of research in this domain exhibits bias. We discuss the implications of our conclusions for future research.

Gender Gap or Gender Differences? Gender and Political Participation in Canada

Unequal participation in certain types of political engagement creates unequal influence on political and civil matters (Boulianne, 2022). Studies find that men and women tend to do a similar amount of political participation, with women engaging in more private and flexible forms, and men participating in more direct and collective forms (Bode, 2017; Coffé & Bolzendahl, 2010; Van Duyn et al., 2019; Pfanzelt & Spies, 2019). However, more data is needed when considering Canadian trends, especially when it comes to the causes of these trends. In this study, I conduct statistical analysis of secondary data from a February 2021 Canadian survey (n=1,568) designed by Dr. Shelley Boulianne. I determine which forms of political participation have gendered participation gaps and whether or not these are related to conflict avoidance tendencies and having political female role models. I find few gender differences in political participation. Some small gender differences persist in online forms of political participation, such as signing petitions online and commenting on news sites. Men were more likely post comments on news sites, compared to women; women more likely to sign online petitions, compared to men. As such, political participation moves online, the gender gap may be reproducing itself in online spaces.

The role of mother’s education and child gender for children’s vocabulary and math skills in the transition from Early Childhood Education and Care to first grade in Norway

ABSTRACT Parental education and child gender are related to learning and development during childhood and adolescence. The present study investigated the role of mother’s education level and child gender for children’s vocabulary and math skills in Norway. Children’s vocabulary and math skills were assessed in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers (M age = 5.8; N = 243, 49.4% girls) and first grade (M age = 6.8 years). Results showed that maternal education predicted children’s vocabulary and math skills in a play-based ECEC setting. There was a small gender difference (favoring girls) in math skills but not in vocabulary in ECEC. However, maternal education and gender did not significantly predict the change in vocabulary or math skills from ECEC to first grade, and gender did not moderate the relationship between maternal education and academic skills in young Norwegian children. Implications of these results are discussed.

Why hunt? Why gather? Why share? Hadza assessments of foraging and food-sharing motive

Over the last half century, anthropologists have vigorously debated the adaptive motivations underlying food acquisition choices and food-sharing among hunter-gatherer groups. Numerous explanations have been proposed to account for high-levels of generosity in food-sharing, including self- and family-provisioning, reciprocity, tolerated theft and pro-social- or skill-signaling. However, few studies have asked foragers directly and systematically about the motivations underlying their foraging and sharing decisions. We recruited 110 Hadza participants and employed a combination of free-response, yes/no, ranking and forced-choice questions to do just this. In free-response answers, respondents typically gave outcome-oriented accounts of foraging motive (e.g., to get food) and moralistic accounts of sharing motive (e.g., I have a good heart). In ranking tasks, participants gave precedence to reciprocity as a motive for sharing food beyond the household. We found small but clear gender differences in foraging motive, in line with previous predictions: women were more likely than men to rank family-provisioning highly whereas men were more likely than women to rank skill-signaling highly. However, despite these gender differences, the relative importance of different motivations was similar across genders and skill-signaling, sharing and family-provisioning were the most important motivators of foraging activity for both men and women. Contrary to the expectations of tolerated theft, peer complaints and requests for food ranked very low. There are several compelling reasons that evolutionary thinkers, typically interested in ultimate-level adaptive processes, have traditionally eschewed direct and explicit investigations of motive. However, these data may yet provide important insights.

Anxiety induction and sexual arousal in men and women

Anxiety can sometimes inhibit and sometimes potentiate sexual arousal. We examined whether an anxiety manipulation in a classical fear-conditioning paradigm impacts self-reported sexual arousal in men and women. University students (62 men, 61 women) underwent differential fear conditioning to erotic images; half the images were sometimes (60%) paired with a shock (CS+) and half were never paired with a shock (CS–). For each trial, participants rated their sexual arousal and anxiety in response to the image; skin conductance response (SCR) and zygomatic and corrugator activity were recorded. During acquisition, self-reported sexual arousal was lower to CS+ than CS− (inhibiting effect), but in men only. During extinction, self-reported sexual arousal was lower to CS+ than CS− for both genders. Some differences produced by CS+ and CS− were observed for SCR and zygomatic and corrugator activation at different points during acquisition and extinction, but the effects were unrelated to ratings of anxiety or sexual arousal. The negative impact of anxiety on sexual arousal appears to be resistant to extinction, and small gender differences were observed. Future studies should include direct measures of physiological sexual arousal. The relationship between sexual arousal and anxiety appears to be complex and should be further investigated.

Facet-level personality development in the transition to adolescence: Maturity, disruption, and gender differences.

The transition to adolescence is marked by enormous change in social, biological, and personality development. Although accumulating evidence has offered insight into the nature of higher-order personality trait development during this period, much less is known about the development of lower-order personality traits, or "facets." The current study used a cohort-sequential longitudinal design to examine domain- and facet-level trajectories for mother-reported personality traits during the early adolescent transition. Personality trait domains and facets were assessed with the Inventory of Child Individual Differences-Short Form (Deal, Halverson, Martin, Victor, & Baker, 2007). Participants were 440 children followed at 4 annual timepoints from middle childhood (Mage = 9.97, SD = 0.81) to early adolescence (Mage = 13.11, SD = 0.84). Results of latent growth curve models showed substantial facet-level personality stability in this period, as well as small to moderate linear change in 13 of 15 facets. Gender differences in change were evident for 9 facets. Overall patterns suggested consistent increases in agreeableness facets with null to small gender differences. Neuroticism and openness to experience facet change was heterogeneous within each domain, but patterns were similar for boys and girls. Extraversion primarily decreased, though the magnitude and direction of change differed between facets and genders. Conscientiousness increased across all facets, but only among girls. These findings overall demonstrate a high degree of developmental consistency in facets within each domain as well as some notable differences. Further, this study contributes to a small and somewhat mixed evidence base for current theories of adolescent personality development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Matthew or compensatory effects? Factors that influence the math literacy of primary-school children in Germany.

This study focuses on individual differences in the math competencies of primary-school children in Germany. It considers whether or not there are Matthew or compensatory effects in math literacy and which factors and background characteristics of primary-school children can affect competence development. Despite the abundant research on this topic, the findings are often ambiguous, and studies in the German context are sparse. We used the Starting Cohort 2 of the German National Educational PanelStudy and a weighted multilevel mixed-effects panel regression for our analyses (N = 4,982). Our results revealed compensatory effects for low-achieving students in math literacy. There were also small gender differences, but lower achieving girls can close the gap with boys during primary school. With respect to the educational background of the parents, almost no longitudinal effects were observed. The results indicated that the joint primary-school period has a compensatory effect on lower performing students. However, higher achieving students retained their lead, implying that social inequalities persist to some extent.