When Perception Is More Important Than Reality: Gender Differences in Goal-Related Behavior on Perceptions of Mathematical Ability

• In Event: Gender and Mathematics: An Interdisciplinary Symposium Examining Classroom Influences, Achievement, and Affect

Abstract

Women do not participate and do not succeed at the same rate as men in mathematics-dependent fields (e.g., Stewart, Malley, & LaVaque-Manty, 2007); however, girls are doing as well as boys in mathematics classes in school (AAUW, 2008). To begin to understand why females fail to pursue mathematics-dependent careers, we have taken a careful look at boys’ and girls’ classroom behaviors. Specifically, we examined how particular behaviors may impact peer perceptions of ability.

The role of peers in the academic pursuits and interests of students is substantial (Ryan, 2000; 2001). Academic reputation among peers is associated with academic self-concept, effort, and performance as early as elementary school (Gest, Rulison, Davidson, & Welsh, 2008). If peer academic reputation has enough influence to support or curb students’ interests, it is important to understand how students’ classroom behavior may impact their peers’ perceptions of their ability.

One way to help us understand which behaviors are implicated in this phenomenon is to examine achievement goal orientations. There are two types of achievement goals: performance (indicating a focus on looking talented) and mastery (indicating a focus on mastering the material). Interestingly, boys have a tendency to endorse performance more than mastery goals in mathematics, whereas girls show the opposite pattern (e.g., Kenney-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan, & Patrick, 2006). Our investigation takes an exploratory look at how the behaviors associated with achievement goals might impact peers’ perceptions of mathematical talent.

Given that some of the more persistent differences between the sexes are for the highest achieving students, we first located all students who “exceeded expectations” on the state standardized achievement test in mathematics. Then, in student interviews, we asked for nominations of “who would you say are the top three students in your math class?”

We found that boys received 42 nominations, while girls received 17. Moreover, nominations were not related to standardized test performance (Spearman’s rank order correlations <.22).

We used these peer nominations, along with students’ mathematics standardized test scores, to target 10 students (5 boys and 5 girls) for case studies from two weeks of observations in three, fifth-grade classrooms. We documented the target students’ behaviors that reflected differential achievement goal orientations and the responses that these behaviors elicited.

All five targeted boys’ but only one targeted girl’s behaviors were consistent with a performance approach to mathematics. All six were nominated by 4-5 of their peers as one of the best students in the class. The other four targeted students—all girls—did not exhibit behaviors consistent with a performance achievement goal and none were nominated as one of the top students in the class more than once.

It is likely that performance-goal behaviors signal confidence in mathematical ability and sufficient interest enough to participate actively. These findings suggest that it may be important for teachers to identify students who are talented but soft-spoken or even disenfranchised. By encouraging their talent, teachers can position these quiet students as mathematically successful, thereby providing opportunities for their abilities to be supported and fostered.

Authors

• Leigh Ann Mingle, University of Illinois

• Megan Schleppenbach, University of Chicago

• Michelle Perry, University of Illinois