Are Girls More Impervious to Pressure for Gender Conformity Than Boys? The Association Between Pressure for Gender Conformity and Academic Self-Efficacy

• In Event: 33.020 - Gender, Ethnicity, and Schooling

Abstract

The educational gender gap and gendered studycultures are often studied with a group-based approach. In this study, we examine the inter- and intrasexual differences in academic self-efficacy in a sample of 6380 Flemish 7th grade students, collected at the start and the end of the school year 2012-2013. We investigate the influence of gendered peercultures on an individual level by employing the concept of pressure for genderconformity. Results show that boys’ self-efficacy is lower when experiencing more pressure for genderconformity. Girls’ academic self-efficacy, however, does not tend to decline when experiencing similar levels of pressure for genderconformity. Moreover, this impact of pressure for genderconformity only appears in the course of the first year of secondary education.

Authors

• Ellen Huyge, Ghent University

• Wendelien Vantieghem, Ghent University

• Mieke Van Houtte, Ghent University