Understanding the Psychological and Social Origins of Gender Disparities in Self-Beliefs, Motivation, and Educational Attainment

The second wave feminist movement during the mid to late 20th century saw rapid advancements in contraceptive, legal, and economic rights of women. However, despite recent advances in women’s liberation, gender differences in educational outcomes (e.g., self-beliefs, attitudes, aspirations and educational attainment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM]) remain heavily entrenched. This thesis explores the notion that the gender gap in STEM has its origins in self-beliefs and task values of young people. However, less is known about how much of the STEM gender gap can be explained by these Expectancy Value Theory constructs. Moreover, there is a lack of research that utilises an intersectional lens to explore how social and cultural context moderates the size of gender gaps in self-beliefs and attitudes towards math and science. This thesis addresses these research gaps utilising meta-analytic, longitudinal, and interview data. Meta-analytic findings from 176 studies in Study 1 show that gender differences in expectancy value constructs are domain specific, and that there are significant moderation effects across social class, gender equality, and gender segregation in university enrollments. Study 2 explores the replicability of meta-analysis results from Study 1, and extends upon these results through an analysis of a large nationally representative database (n = 10,370) that includes ethnicity, geography, and educational attainment. Using the same database, results from Study 3 show that while EVT can account for some of the gender disparity in STEM enrollment, there is still a very large amount of difference that remains unexplained by current theory. Furthermore, results indicate that even when comparing male and female students of equal ability and attitudes, young women still are significantly disadvantaged in terms of STEM university enrollment. A content analysis in Study 4 explored whether open-ended interview data from young Australians who enrolled in a university STEM course (n = 447) versus those who chose to discontinue their STEM education after senior high school (n = 949) can add to current theory. Results point the role of dimensional comparison as critical to educational choices, but again, there were no major themes that arose that significantly deviate from current theory. Results are discussed in light of future directions for research, and implications for policymakers and educators

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

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

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

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

The intersection of gender, social class, and cultural context: a meta-analysis

Expectancy value theory is often evoked by educational psychologists to explain gender differences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) variables. Yet gender does not operate in isolation. Nor are gender effects likely to be context free. In the current meta-analysis, we explore gender differences in STEM-related expectancy for success, and the task values of intrinsic, utility, attainment, and cost. We find that gender differences were generally small in size. Invoking the concept of intersectionality, we find that heterogeneity in gender effect sizes are large and gender differences are moderated, primarily, by socioeconomic status, ethnic diversity, and somewhat by national gender equalit

Relaxation and related therapies for people with multiple sclerosis (MS): A systematic review

Objective: To establish the effectiveness of relaxation and related therapies in treating Multiple Sclerosis related symptoms and sequelae. Data Sources: PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global databases were searched. Methods: We included studies from database inception until 31 December 2021 involving adult participants diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or disseminated sclerosis, which featured quantitative data regarding the impact of relaxation interventions on multiple sclerosis-related symptoms and sequelae. Studies which examined multi-modal therapies - relaxation delivered in combination with non-relaxation interventions - were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed using the Revised Risk of Bias tool for randomised trials – ROB2, Risk of Bias in Non-Randomised Studies of Interventions ROBINS-I), and within and between-group effects were calculated (Hedges’ g). Results: Twenty-eight studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty-three of these were randomised controlled trials, with 1246 total participants. This review reports on this data, with non-randomised study data reported in supplemental material. Post –intervention relaxation was associated with medium to large effect-size improvement for depression, anxiety, stress and fatigue. The effects of relaxation were superior to wait-list or no treatment control conditions; however, comparisons with established psychological or physical therapies were mixed. Individual studies reported sustained effects (≤ 6 months) with relaxation for stress, pain and quality of life. Most studies were rated as having a high/serious risk of bias. Conclusion: There is emerging evidence that relaxation therapies can improve outcomes for persons with multiple sclerosis. Given the high risk of bias found for included studies, stronger conclusions cannot be drawn

Mindfulness and acceptance approaches to sporting performance enhancement : A systematic review

Background: Mindfulness and experiential acceptance approaches have been suggested as a method of promoting athletic performance by optimally managing the interplay among attention, cognition, and emotion. Our aim was to systematically review the evidence for these approaches in the sporting domain. Method: Studies of any design exploring mindfulness and acceptance in athletic populations were eligible for inclusion. We completed searches of PsycINFO, Scopus, MEDLINE, and SPORTDiscus in May 2016. Two authors independently assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool, and we synthesised the evidence using the GRADE criteria. Results: Sixty-six studies (n = 3908) met inclusion criteria. None of the included studies were rated as having a low risk of bias. Compared to no treatment in randomised trials, large effect sizes were found for improving mindfulness, flow, and performance, and lower competitive anxiety. Evidence was graded to be low quality, meaning further research is very likely to have an important impact on confidence in these effects. Conclusions: A number of studies found positive effects for mindfulness and acceptance interventions; however, with limited internal validity across studies, it is difficult to make strong causal claims about the benefits these strategies offer for athletes

Self-concept: From unidimensional to multidimensional and beyond

Self-concept is one of the oldest and most important constructs in the social sciences. It is also at the heart of the positive psychology revolution focusing on how healthy, normal, and exceptional individuals can get the most from life. We begin by distinguishing between an historical unidimensional perspective that focuses on self-esteem and a more recent multidimensional, hierarchical perspective that distinguishes between specific facets of self (e.g., academic, social, physical, and emotional). In this article we review developmental, educational, and personality perspectives of self-concept, gender differences, theoretical models, and empirical research on the reciprocal effects relating self-concept and performance, frame of reference effects based on social and dimensional comparisons that influence the formation of self-concept, and the juxtaposition between multidimensional perspectives of personality and self-concept

The Benefits of Believing You Can Change: Incremental Theories Weaken the Links Between Low Self-esteem and Negative Outcomes

Background: Intervention-related research suggests that there are two ways to combat the negative consequences of low self-esteem: improving the level of self-esteem, or reducing the links between low self-esteem and negative outcomes (L. Hayes & Ciarrochi, 2015). Incremental theories tend to prevent low-self-esteem from occurring in response to failure. Aims: We sought to examine whether incremental theories can also decouple the links between low self-esteem and negative outcomes in two large samples. Method: Study 1 surveyed 489 Australian female high school students (age: M = 14.7; SD = 1.5) and Study 2 surveyed a representative sample of 7,884 adult Americans of both genders (age: M = 47.9; SD = 16; 52.5% female). Results: Moderation analyses in both samples showed that the links between low self-esteem and negative outcomes (lower wellbeing and achievement) were weaker for those with stronger incremental theories. Conclusions: People are likely to experience fluctuations in self-esteem due to success, failure, and social rejection. Those with chronically low self-esteem may be especially likely to benefit from interventions which promote perceptions of self-malleability

If one goes up the other must come down : Examining ipsative relationships between math and English self-concept trajectories across high school

Background: The Internal-External frame of reference (IE) model suggests that as self-concept in one domain goes up (e.g., English) self-concept in other domains (e.g., mathematics) should go down (ipsative self-concept hypothesis). Aims: To our knowledge this assumption has not been tested. Testing this effect also provides a context for illustrating different approaches to the study of growth with longitudinal data. Sample: We use cohort sequential data from 2,781 of Year 7 to Year 11 Australian high school students followed across a total of 10 time waves 6 months apart. Method: Three different approaches to testing the ipsative self-concept hypothesis were used: Autoregressive cross-lagged models, latent growth curve models, and autoregressive latent trajectory models (ALT); using achievement as a time varying covariate. Results: Cross-lagged and growth curve models provided little evidence of ipsative relationships between English and math self-concept. However, ALT models suggested that a rise above trend in one self-concept domain resulted in a decline from trend in self-concept in another domain. Conclusion: Implications for self-concept theory, interventions, and statistical methods for the study of growth are discussed

Illusory gender-equality paradox, math self-concept, and frame-of-reference Effect : New integrative explanations for multiple paradoxes

Gender-equality paradoxes (GEPs) posit that gender gaps in math self-concepts (MSCs) are larger—not smaller—in countries with greater gender equality. These paradoxical results suggest that efforts to improve gender equality might be counterproductive. However, we show that this currently popular explanation of gender differences is an illusory, epi-phenomenon (485,490 students, 18,292 schools, 68 countries/regions). Between-country (absolute) measures of gender equality are confounded with achievement and socioeconomic-status; tiny GEPs disappear when controlling achievement and socioeconomic-status. Critically, even without controls GEPs are not supported when using true gender-gap measures—within-country (relative) female-male differences, that hold many confounds constant. This absolute/relative-gap distinction is more important than the composite/domain-specific distinction for understanding why even tiny GEPs are illusory. Recent developments in academic self-concept theory are relevant to GEPs and gender differences, but also explain other, related paradoxes. The big-fish little pond effect posits that attending schools with high school-average math achievements leads to lower MSCs. Extending this theoretical model to the country-level, we show that countries with high country-average math achievements also have lower MSCs. Dimensional comparison theory predicts that MSCs are positively predicted by math achievements but negatively predicted by verbal achievements. Extending this theoretical model, we show that girls’ low MSCs are due more to girls’ high verbal achievements that detract from their MSCs than to their low math achievements. In support of the pan-human wide generalizability of our findings, our cross-national results generalize over 68 country/regions as well as multiple math self-belief constructs (self-efficacy, anxiety, interest, utility, future plans) and multiple gender-equality measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved