Girls get smart, boys get smug: Historical changes in gender differences in math, literacy, and academic social comparison and achievement

Parker, PD; Van Zanden, B; Parker, RB

Girls get smart, boys get smug: Historical changes in gender differences in math, literacy, and academic social comparison and achievement

Parker, PD Van Zanden, B

Parker, RB

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Publisher:: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Learning and Instruction, 2018, 54, pp. 125-137
Issue Date:: 2018-04-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Parker, PD
dc.contributor.author	Van Zanden, B https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9713-5486
dc.contributor.author	Parker, RB
dc.date.accessioned	2022-04-19T03:54:51Z
dc.date.available	2022-04-19T03:54:51Z
dc.date.issued	2018-04-01
dc.identifier.citation	Learning and Instruction, 2018, 54, pp. 125-137
dc.identifier.issn	0959-4752
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/156434
dc.description.abstract	Girls’ lack of self-belief has frequently been cited as a major barrier to advancement in both empirical research and in the popular imagination. With girls now outcompeting boys at almost every educational level, this paper considers if girls still have lower self-concept than boys, if this changes when controlling for academic ability, and what mechanisms explain gender differences. We compare and contrast rational choice, contrast, and assimilation approaches to self-concept and juxtapose historical trajectories in gender differences in self-concept and achievement to distinguish between them. We do this in five age cohorts born between 1981 and 1993 (N = 66, 522) for math, literacy, and general academic domains. Results suggest that there are still significant differences in self-concept between equally able boys and girls and that a mix of assimilation and contrast mechanisms likely explains the size and direction of these effects.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Learning and Instruction
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.09.002
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy, 1303 Specialist Studies in Education, 1701 Psychology
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.title	Girls get smart, boys get smug: Historical changes in gender differences in math, literacy, and academic social comparison and achievement
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	54
utslib.for	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy
utslib.for	1303 Specialist Studies in Education
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-04-19T03:54:50Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	54

Abstract:

Girls’ lack of self-belief has frequently been cited as a major barrier to advancement in both empirical research and in the popular imagination. With girls now outcompeting boys at almost every educational level, this paper considers if girls still have lower self-concept than boys, if this changes when controlling for academic ability, and what mechanisms explain gender differences. We compare and contrast rational choice, contrast, and assimilation approaches to self-concept and juxtapose historical trajectories in gender differences in self-concept and achievement to distinguish between them. We do this in five age cohorts born between 1981 and 1993 (N = 66, 522) for math, literacy, and general academic domains. Results suggest that there are still significant differences in self-concept between equally able boys and girls and that a mix of assimilation and contrast mechanisms likely explains the size and direction of these effects.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/156434