Gender Equity and Cultural Dimensions on PISA for Development 2015 

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Innovate Approaches to Assessing STEM

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between two cultural dimensions, power distance and Masculinity/Femininity, and gaps on gender achievement on math and reading. Two statistical tests, correlation and ANOVA, were applied to large-scale assessment PISA for Development 2015. The five countries selected were Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Senegal, and Zambia. Results show that there is a moderate relationship between power distance and gender achievement on math and reading. On average, female and male perform significantly differently in math in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Senegal. Significant mean differences in reading occurred in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Zambia. This paper provides valuable insights to interpret gender performance differences in selected countries from the perspective of two cultural dimensions. 

Authors

• Xin Bu, University of Montana - Missoula

• Sofia Reis, University of Montana