Race and Gender Differences in the Development of Mathematics Interest and Self-Competence

• In Event: 1260 - The Many Pathways to STEM

Abstract

Extensive research has established cross-sectional inequalities in mathematics interest and self-competence by race and gender, where minority students have more positive self-perceptions than white students and girls have less positive self-perceptions than boys. However, it is unclear how these inequalities evolve during elementary and middle school, the key period when interest and self-competence develop. By applying hierarchical growth curve modeling to data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K), this study answers four questions: (1) Does the gender gap in mathematics interest and self-competence grow or shrink with age? (2) Do patterns in the gender gap differ by race/ethnicity? (3) Are race and gender gaps across elementary and middle school attributable to differences in mathematics and reading test scores? (4) Are these disparities attributable to differences in academic environment, peers’ mathematics ability, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of mathematics ability, and/or family background? Another way of interpreting the same models is to ask (1) Does the race gap grow or shrink with age? (2) Do patterns in the race gap differ by gender? I find that the gender gap in mathematics interest and self-competence shrinks over time for white students but not minority students, although these models cannot explain why. Patterns of racial inequality differ for mathematics interest and self-competence. Neighborhood racial and socioeconomic segregation explains some of the racial/ethnic disparities.

Author

• Anne Clark, University of Michigan