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Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering

Published 6 issues per year

ISSN Print: 1072-8325

ISSN Online: 1940-431X

SJR: 0.514 SNIP: 0.875 CiteScore™:: 2.4 H-Index: 27

Indexed in

RACIAL/ETHNIC AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT OF NINE-, THIRTEEN-, AND SEVENTEEN-YEAR OLD STUDENTS

Volume 1, Issue 3, 1994, pp. 221-236
DOI: 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.v1.i3.40
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ABSTRACT

Low achievement in science is evidenced by poor performance on large-scale assessments, particularly by students of certain racial/ethnic groups. Although African-American and Hispanic students have experienced substantial increases in science performance, there is still a large disparity between these minority and majority students on science achievement tests. This is true for females as well. This study examines science achievement for similarities and differences by gender and race/ethnicity. Using the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) science proficiency data for 1990, this study focuses on students' average proficiency scores in four science content areas. The assessments involved nationally representative samples of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old African-American, Hispanic, and white students. When comparing across age groups, gender differences became more apparent. Nine-year-old females and males performed similarly in life and physical sciences. However, males gained the advantage by age 13 and widened their advantage by age 17. Males outperformed females across age groups for earth and space sciences. Females were favored in nature of sciences across age groups. By race, there were differences between and among the three racial groups studied. White students outperformed Hispanic students across content areas and age groups by between 26 and 35 points. The largest gap in mean proficiency scores was evidenced between white and African-American students, widening to the highest—nearly 55 points—difference across areas by age 17. When examining race by gender, females who tended to perform similar to or better than males at age 9 in certain areas, maintained or lost their advantage by ages 13 and/or 17. Males who had an advantage in certain areas tended to gain or widen their advantage by ages 13 and 17.

CITED BY
  1. Osborne Jason W., Testing Stereotype Threat: Does Anxiety Explain Race and Sex Differences in Achievement?, Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26, 3, 2001. Crossref

  2. Ferreira Maria, Gender issues related to graduate student attrition in two science departments, International Journal of Science Education, 25, 8, 2003. Crossref

  3. Clark Kalysha, Pender Danielle, Peterson M. Nils, Stevenson Kathryn, Lawson Danielle, Szczytko Rachel, Reaching Underserved Populations through a Fisheries Education Program, Fisheries, 45, 3, 2020. Crossref

  4. Robinson-Hill Rona M., The journey of a science teacher: preparing female students in the training future scientists after-school program, Cultural Studies of Science Education, 17, 1, 2022. Crossref

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