Only a Burden for Females in Math? Gender and Domain Differences in the Relation Between Adolescents’ Fixed Mindsets and Motivation

Abstract

Gendered occupational and educational choices have often been traced back to gender differences in students’ domain-specific ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation. This study explored the role of believing in an “innate” math or language arts ability (i.e., having a fixed mindset) for gender differences in students’ ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation in 423 female (49%) and 447 male (51%) tenth graders from Germany (age M = 16.09 years, SD = 0.68, range: 14–18 years). In line with math-male stereotypes, believing in “innate” math ability was associated with lower ability self-concept and intrinsic motivation in female but not male students. In language arts, students’ mindsets were unrelated to their motivation. The results suggest that a fixed mindset presents an additional burden for female students in math, but not for male or female students in language arts.

Civic Education, Teaching Quality and Students’ Willingness to Participate in Political and Civic Life: Political Interest and Knowledge as Mediators

“…The mean score for cultural capital (i.e., the number of books in the students’ home) was a little higher than in comparable German studies (e.g., Heyder et al, 2021 ; M = 2.88) at M = 3.55. This could be explained by the marginal overrepresentation of students from higher-track schools in the sample.…”

“…It can be conceptualized as all opportunities provided by schools to engage their students in meaningful learning experiences to facilitate and enhance their development as responsible and active citizens (Homana et al, 2006 ). Alongside national-level and student-level aspects (see Isac et al, 2011 ), class-level variables like the quantity and quality of civic learning opportunities are particularly important for the success of civic education (e.g., Hess & McAvoy, 2015 ).…”

“…Deliberating about current political controversies and events provides opportunities for students to consider diverse perspectives and develop political opinions (McCafferty-Wright & Knowles, 2016 ). Furthermore, it equips students with skills to engage with the political discourse and democratic life beyond school (Hess & McAvoy, 2015 ) and enables them to gain political knowledge apart from their textbooks. In particular, exposing students to current political controversies might spark their political interest.…”

Pengaruh Gaya Belajar Terhadap Motivasi Belajar Siswa Pada Pembelajaran Matematika

“…Kontradiktif dengan kajian yang dilaksanakan oleh (Akmalia & Ulfah, 2021) bahwa wanita lebih termotivasi dalam belajar dibandingkan pria, khususnya pada masa pandemi. Akan tetapi serupa dengan yang dikemukakan oleh (Heyder et al, 2021) kemampuan konsep diri dan motivasi siswa perempuan di bawah siswa laki-laki. Terdapat sejumlah aspek yang menjadi penyebab turunnya antusias belajar seperti siswa malas mengerjakan tugas, telat masuk kelas, dan mengantuk di kelas (Saputri, 2018).…”

Developing a Questionnaire on Measuring the Learning Motivation in Reading Quran

“…Personal characteristics, such as gender, can also influence student motivation, especially in adulthood (Rothes et al, 2017). Gender is a relevant predictor in the study of academic motivation (Heyder, Weidinger, & Steinmayr, 2021;Kunanitthaworn et al, 2018). The influence of gender on student motivation has been widely studied.…”