Complicated Gender Gaps in Mathematics Achievement: Elevated Stakes during Performance as One Explanation. Issue 1 (6th February 2022) - Lyons, Emily
ABSTRACT: Gender gaps in mathematics achievement persist in many contexts and when visible, these gaps are paradoxical. Low‐stakes measures of mathematics achievement such as grades and study behaviors favor girls, while gaps tend to reverse on assessments/competitions. We explore whether different impacts of raising performance stakes could be one explanation. Study 1 experimentally manipulated the stakes by imposing a performance‐contingent, social‐evaluative pressure either: before instruction ( n = 66), before testing ( n = 61), or none ( n = 54). Pressure, particularly when experienced during instruction, reduced learning among girls. In contrast, boys trended toward enhanced learning under pressure. In the absence of pressure, girls exhibited strikingly larger gains in learning. Study 2 drew from a larger dataset ( n = 386) to interrogate whether girls' superior learning in the no‐pressure context might simply be an artifact of differences in prior knowledge, cognitive resources, or demographic variables, but the effect replicated and was not explained by these factors. LAY ABSTRACT: Gender differences in mathematics achievement appear by fifth grade and widen, but the size and direction of those gaps varies. We explore whether these differences might be in part explained by the stakes of the performance context. Girls learned more than boys from a mathematics lesson when the stakes were low. When we raised the stakes by promising a reward for high performance, boys and girls showed equal learning, and boys enjoyed the lesson more.