Gender and mathematics: pathways to mathematically intensive fields of study in Australia

Abstract

Women in Australia have gone from being under-represented to being over-represented in university education, but they are still far less likely than men to engage in mathematically intensive science fields including engineering, information technology and the physical sciences. With a rapid growth of employment opportunities in these fields, women need quantitative skills to become competitive in technologically and science-oriented niches of the labour market. The persisting gender gap in mathematically intensive fields is important also because it may reinforce the stereotypical belief that males are naturally more talented in mathematics, abstract thinking and technical problem solving. The prevalence of such a belief drives adolescents to aspire to gender-typical occupations and thus reproduces gender inequality. Given this, there is an urgent need to systematically examine the extent to which socialisation influences and educational experiences in adolescence affect the participation in advanced high school mathematics and mathematically intensive university qualifications. The key question to consider is why engagement in advanced mathematics and cognate disciplines remains so strongly segregated by gender.

This thesis offers a comprehensive examination of this issue in Australia by drawing on the theories of gender stratification and educational psychology. The scope of this examination is broader than any other Australian study of this issue to date. I adopt a life course perspective to study the impact of teenage educational experiences and occupational expectations on the gender differences in later pursuits of advanced mathematics subjects in Year 12 and mathematically intensive fields at university. To achieve this, I use multilevel logistic regression models to analyse the data from the 2003 cohort of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth. The data comprise a nationally representative sample of adolescents who turned 15 around 2003 and entered the labour market in the following decade.

Occupational expectations are crucial in explaining why boys are considerably more likely than girls to enrol in advanced mathematics subjects in Year 12. These expectations, however, are less influential than the combined effect of self-assessed mathematical competence of students and their achievement in mathematics. The gender gap in Year 12 advanced mathematics enrolment would disappear completely should we succeed in generating the same levels of self-assessed mathematical competence and in fostering similar levels of early achievement in mathematics across both genders. To achieve gender parity in the choice of a mathematically intensive university major, we would also have to persuade teenagers of both genders to aspire to similar careers and have similar confidence in their mathematical abilities.

Apart from individual micro-social characteristics of students, single-sex schooling enhances the participation of girls in advanced high school mathematics and related fields of study at university. The advantage of all-girls education is evident in these analyses even after considering the pre-existing differences between single-sex and coeducational schools in school resources, teacher quality and the policy of selectivity in student admissions. These results suggest that all-girls secondary education provides an environment that somewhat counters gender stereotypes and fosters mathematically intensive studies, not only in high school but also at university. Show more