Gender Differences in Mathematical Performance and the School Context: Evidence from Russia

Hierarchical Linear Modeling of the relationship between Attitudinal and Instructional Variables and Mathematics Achievement

“…Several studies have been conducted to examine the factors that influence students' mathematics achievement. In one of the first studies, Coleman et al (1966) reported that the most influential factor on students' learning achievement is the students' family background However, subsequent research has revealed that while socio-economic status ( Oakes, 1989) has been consistently and positively related to mathematics performance, mixed results were obtained for gender (some studies favor boys (Neuschmidt, Barth, & Hastedt, 2008;Frempong, 2010;Teodorovic, 2012), other studies favor girls (Alkhateed, 2001; Azina & Halimah, 2012), and still other studies favoring neither boys nor girls (Bessudnov & Makarov, 2013; Leahey & Guo, 2001)). Further, Else-Quest, Hyde, & Linn (2010) found that all the gender effect sizes in mathematics achievement were small (d < 0.15) in their meta-analysis of the 2003 TIMSS and PISA data sets across 69 countries.…”