NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY

School of Education
Secondary School of Education

GENDER GAP IN MATH TEST SCORES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

BSED MATH STUDENTS OF NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
AJUY

LEAD RESEARCHER:
POLINES, ARTHUR CARL C.
MEMBERS:
DEMAYO, GLAIDEL GRACE A.
GUAZA, REYNA JANE A.
PAJADO, VANESSA P.
SOBREJUANITE, JONA MARIE L.
VARGAS, JELY D.
 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Secondary School of Education

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
What accounts for the gender gap in mathematics? The

literature offers two principal explanations for the existence of

the gender math gap. The proponents of biological theories argue

that gender differences in brain composition (Cahill, 2005),

hormone levels (Davison & Susman, 2001), or spatial ability

(Kucian, Loenneker, Dietrich, Martin, & von Aster, 2005) produce

the gap. The other body of research attributes the gender math

gap to a complex variety of sociocultural factors rather than

biological differences.

Ever since Benbow and Stanley (1980, 1983) published their

findings on the gender gap in mathematics in the journal Science,

the debate on the gender gap in mathematics has not ceased in

recent decades (for example, see the discussions in Gallagher &

Kaufman, 2005; Ceci & Williams, 2007, 2011; Ceci et al., 2009).

New findings regarding the gender gap in mathematics have

continuously emerged. While some might argue that the gap has

been narrowed in some countries, it does not seem to have

disappeared completely. Some researchers have argued that boys

outperforming girls in mathematics is the consequence of a

socialization process in which women are stratified into

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occupations so that they are bound to perform certain social

roles requiring fewer mathematics skills (Baker & Jones, 1993).

In other words, these researchers have argued that the gender gap

in mathematics will decline as gender equality prevails (Guiso et

al., 2008; Hyde & Mertz, 2009; Else-Quest et al., 2010; Kane &

Mertz, 2012). In recent decades, gender equality, though not

completely prevalent worldwide, has been significantly improved

in most countries, but the gender gap in mathematics has not

correspondingly improved (Wai et al., 2010).

It is apparent that not only is there a well-established

gender gap in math scores across many parts of the world but a

host of potential explanations does little to explain this gap.

This research will focus on these aspects to further shed light

on this issue.

Statement of the Problem

The main purpose of this study is to correlate the math

test scores of Male and Female BSED Math second year students

A.Y. 2022-2023. Specifically, this study will answer the

following question:

1. Is there a significant difference between a male and a female

when it comes to Math test scores?

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Null Hypothesis:

There is no significant difference between males and females in

relation to math test score.

Theoretical Framework:

This study is guided by the Feminist Socialization Theory

and Phenomenology. This feminist theory, is a theory that

critiques the definitions, roles, and conceptualization in gender

in various ways. While a wide range of offshoots of feminist

theory have formed, they all share a critical focus on

questioning the meaning gender. This theory asserts that gender

is socially constructed. Socialization theorists argue that when

treated as rational and capable individuals, girls will prove

themselves just as smart, independent, confident, and creative as

boys (Thompson, 2003, p. 15). The main focus of socialization

theory is how access to opportunities influences choices boys and

girls make. Therefore, the goal of feminist socialization is to

create equal opportunities for both genders in which the

individual can fulfill their potential based on individual

capabilities rather than prescribed roles as much as possible. It

stems from the writings of Edmund Husserl (1937/1970), who was a

male philosopher writing from the perspective of his own

experience. Feminist phenomenologists such as Simone de Beauvoir

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and Judith Butler (1988) appreciated what Husserl argued, but

because he wrote from his own male perspective and lived

experience, they added their own feminist perspectives on

phenomenology. For Butler, gender is a performative experience

manifested as a series of acts that make up a performance, each

act with varying degrees of adherence to a dominant script, from

reification to subversion. Society provides the preexisting cloth

of gender that the individual wears and has scripted the roles

that the individual fulfills, but at the same time the individual

has the ability to wear the clothes and perform the role in ways

that can reinforce or challenge the dominant script.

Conceptual Framework:

Gender gap in math test scores is a well-known debatable topic

until now. A lot of researches have been established, many

prominent individuals are intrigued in the topic and a lot of

interviews, tests and experiments are practiced. In extent to

genders (independent variable), males and females are expected to

differ in math test scores (dependent variable). However,

(Cockcroft, 1982; Stanic, 1995) suggest that mathematics need not

to be learned by students in secondary for the sake of career

choice or advancement but students should be able to learn

mathematics with understanding and to apply mathematical ideas

later in life.
 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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INDEPENDENT VARIABLE INTERVENING VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Independent, Intervening,

Dependent Variables

The gender gap is the difference between women and men as

reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or

economic attainments or attitudes.

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study are of significant benefits to the

following:

Administrators. The factual results/data of this study will

make the Administrators aware of the gender differences when it

comes to Math and could make a project/ activity that could

address the divergence between the said genders.

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Teachers. The factual results/data of this study will make

the teachers realize that the gender plays a vital role in

learning mathematics. He/She will make the classroom conducive

for learning for both genders despite the differences between

them.

Students. The factual results/data of this study will make

the students understand that genders should not hinder them in

learning, appreciating and loving mathematics. Respect and

camaraderie should be present in them.

Parents. The factual results/data of this study will make

the parents well informed and knowledgeable about the gender and

its relation to math specifically in test scores. Parents will

impart ideas to the children as well as making the house a

sanctuary for any gender and promote equality among them. Future

Researchers. The factual results/data of this study will help the

future researchers with similar topic and use it as a guide

and/or basis in their study.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study will mainly focus on the First Year of the

Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) Mathematics students in

the NISU Ajuy Campus. Other courses and departments that do not
 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Secondary School of Education
fall in the name mentioned above are not within the scope of this

study. The methods of data gathering would be done through

multiple-choice test.

Definition of Terms

Conceptual Definitions and Operational Definitions

Gender Gap. is the difference between women and men as reflected

in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic

attainments or attitudes. (weforum.org) In this study, gender gap

refers to male or female students’ difference in math test

scores.

Math test scores. are mathematical representation of the

performance or ratings of the individuals completing a test.

(https://link.springer.com) In this study, math test scores refer

to the results of math test that will be given to the respondents

through Google Forms.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Foreign Literature

Despite the promising future of employment opportunities in

occupations related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Mathematics (STEM), women remain underrepresented in some STEM

occupational fields. We use data from the Panel Study of Income

Dynamics to study the role of gender differences in achievement

and self-perceived ability in math during childhood, along with

parental occupation (science-related versus non-science-related

jobs), in the subsequent decision of majoring in science in

college. Our findings suggest a loss in STEM enrollment by

otherwise qualified young women and highlight the potential

importance of parental occupation in STEM in encouraging women’s

participation in certain STEM fields.(Anaya et al., 2022)

Negative gender norms and stereotypes often held by teachers,

parents, and peers regarding girls’ innate inability to

understand mathematics, are contributing to this disparity.

“Girls have an equal ability to learn mathematics as boys – what

they lack is an equal opportunity to acquire these critical

skills,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “We

need to dispel the gender stereotypes and norms that hold girls

back – and do more to help every child learn the foundational

skills they need to succeed in school and in life.” Learning math

at a young age strengthens memory, comprehension, and analysis,

in turn improving children’s ability to create, the report notes.

(UNICEF:UN News, n.d.)

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Some countries even saw girls do better than boys in math,

including Malaysia, where by age 14, girls have a seven per cent

lead on boys, Cambodia (three per cent) and the Philippines (1.4

per cent). Despite this progress, the UN educational, cultural

and scientific agency, warned that gender “biases and

stereotypes” will continue to affect girls’ schooling, as boys

“are far more likely to be overrepresented” at the top level of

math, in all countries. “Girls are doing better than boys in

reading and in science and are catching up in mathematics. But

they are still far less likely to be top performers in

mathematics because of continuing biases and stereotypes. We need

gender equality in learning and ensure that every learner fulfils

their potential”.(UNICEF/Mithila Jariwala, n.d.)

Understanding why women are consistently underrepresented in STEM

fields has been a constant puzzle, with a consistent feature of

the puzzle being performance in math. This study uses data from

TIMSS exams to investigate cross-national gender differences in

math-related affect, more precisely liking mathematics,

confidence in mathematics, and valuing mathematics. We compared

fourth and eighth graders to track any differences in these

gender-related affective characteristics. Our findings suggest

that despite the variability and some changes to the magnitude

and direction of gender differences in math affect, boys and

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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girls are similar. We also found that cross-national

sociocultural, political, and educational equality of adults does

not necessarily predict positive affect for both genders. In

fact, the researchers found that some countries with a smaller

adult gender gaps have students with higher gender differences in

mathematics-relevant affect.(Ghasemi & Burley, 2019)

Understanding why women are consistently underrepresented in STEM

fields has been a constant puzzle, with a consistent feature of

the puzzle being performance in math. This study uses data from

TIMSS exams to investigate cross-national gender differences in

math-related affect, more precisely liking mathematics,

confidence in mathematics, and valuing mathematics. We compared

fourth and eighth graders to track any differences in these

gender-related affective characteristics. Our findings suggest

that despite the variability and some changes to the magnitude

and direction of gender differences in math affect, boys and

girls are similar. We also found that cross-national

sociocultural, political, and educational equality of adults does

not necessarily predict positive affect for both genders. In

fact, the researchers found that some countries with a smaller

adult gender gaps have students with higher gender differences in

mathematics-relevant affect. (Ehsan Ghasemi1, n.d.2015)

Foreign Studies
 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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The progress and prosperity of a country depends on the quality

of mathematics taught in its school system. For people to survive

and improve the quality of life, basic learning skills, reading,

writing, arithmetic and life skills, are necessary and

mathematics education is intended to develop these skills. The

importance of mathematics transcends all definitions and no

matter how much you ran away from the subject in school,

mathematics, in daily life, chases you like a monster. No matter

how hard you try, it is impossible to escape it.(Anjum, 2015)

This study was undertaken to assess gender differences in

mathematics achievement and retention by using Problem-Based

Learning (PBL). The design of the study was pre-posttest quasi-

experimental. Gender is a set of characteristics distinguishing

between male and female, particularly in the cases of men and

women. Depending on the context, the discriminating

characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity.

(Ajai & Imoko, 2015)

This study aims to examine the explanatory potential of boys’ and

girls’ attitudes toward mathematics on their performance. Test

anxiety in mathematics seems to only have a negative effect on

boys’ grades, as this variable does not appear in the regression

equation when explaining girls’ performance. (Castejon et al.,

2020)
 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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Local Literature

The Philippines is one of three Southeast Asian countries that

saw girls performing better than boys in mathematics, according

to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The new publication by UNESCO’s

Global Education Monitoring Report released on Wednesday, April

27, said in mathematics, the gender gap favoring boys in early

grades gradually disappears. Girls are also doing better than

boys in reading and science. “Girls are demonstrating how well

they can do in school when they have access to education,” said

Malala Yousafzai, co-founder of Malala Fund cited by

UNESCO.“Girls are doing better than boys in reading and in

science and are catching up in mathematics. But they are still

far less likely to be top performers in mathematics because of

continuing biases and stereotypes. We need gender equality in

learning and ensure that every learner fulfills their potential,”

Antoninis said. “But many, and particularly the most

disadvantaged, are not getting the chance to learn at all. We

shouldn’t be afraid of this potential,” she added.(One Network:

One News, n.d.)

The report finds that boys have up to 1.3 times the odds of

obtaining mathematics skills than girls. Negative gender norms

and stereotypes often held by teachers, parents, and peers

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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regarding girls’ innate inability to understand mathematics are

contributing to the disparity. This also undermines girls’ self-

confidence, setting them up for failure, says the report,

“Solving the equation: Helping girls and boys learn mathematics,”

which features new data analyses covering more than 100 countries

and territories. “Girls have an equal ability to learn

mathematics as boys. What they lack is an equal opportunity to

acquire these critical skills,” said UNICEF Executive Director

Catherine Russell in a press release concerning the report. “We

need to dispel the gender stereotypes and norms that hold girls

back, and do more to help every child learn the foundational

skills they need to succeed in school and in life.”

(UNICEF:Manila Bulletin, n.d.)

A STUDY by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (Unesco) Global Education Monitoring Report

showed that the gender gap in learning in early grades,

specifically in mathematics, has significantly diminished. "This

research confirms that the gender gap in learning has closed even

in the poorest countries. And in some countries, the gap is now

reversed. For example, by eighth grade, the gap is in favor of

girls in mathematics by 7 percentage points in Malaysia, by 3

points in Cambodia, by 1.7 points in Congo, and by 1.4 points in

the Philippines," the report read. Unesco urged education leaders

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to deeply examine gender inequality and the barriers preventing

girls from realizing their full potential. (Unesco: ManilaTimes

by: Kaithreen Cruz, n.d.)

The gender gap in education has closed in some countries

including the Philippines, where girls now outdo boys in

mathematics, a report of the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization said. The gender gap that

favored boys in early grades has diminished, “Even though girls

catch up in mathematics in upper primary and secondary education,

boys are far more likely to be overrepresented among the highest

performers in mathematics in all countries,” based on the new

Unesco report. “But they are still far less likely to be top

performers in mathematics because of continuing biases and

stereotypes. We need gender equality in learning and ensure that

every learner fulfils their potential,” Antoninis said. (UNESCO:

LIEZELLE SORIANO, n.d.)

MANILA, Philippines — Girls in the Philippines and three other

countries “do better than boys” in mathematics, a report by the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(Unesco) showed. “This research confirms that the gender gap in

learning has closed even in the poorest countries. And in some

countries, the gap is now reversed,” Unesco said in a separate

statement. “Even though girls catch up in mathematics in upper

 NORTHERN ILOILO STATE UNIVERSITY
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primary and secondary education, boys are far more likely to be

overrepresented among the highest performers in mathematics in

all countries,” Unesco pointed out. Girls are demonstrating how

well they can do in school when they have access to education.

But many, and particularly the most disadvantaged, are not

getting the chance to learn at all. We shouldn’t be afraid of

this potential,” Yousafzai was quoted as saying in the Unesco

statement. (UNESCO: Christia Marie Ramos, n.d.)

Local Studies

This study aimed to determine the gender differences in the

mathematics proficiency and mastery of the learning competencies

in General Mathematics of Grade 11 students in the senior high

schools of San Pascual District, Division of Batangas,

Philippines. There is no significant difference between the male

and female students’ extent of mastery of the learning

competencies in functions and their graphs. Female students are

more likely to have greater extent of mastery of the learning

competencies in business mathematics than male students. Male

students tend to have greater extent of mastery of the learning

competencies in Math logic than female students. It can be

attributed to the tendency of male students to use more novel

problem-solving strategies, whereas female students are more

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likely to follow school-taught procedures. Intervention

activities and preparation of strategic intervention materials

that focus on these gender gaps are likely to yield educational

benefits. (Emil C. Alcantara, n.d.)

The present study explored gender inequality in K to 12 basic

educations, based on the experiences of first year pre service

science and mathematics teachers. It also determined if pre-

service teachers' pursuit of a career in science or mathematics

teaching was related to gender influences. A survey instrument

was used to gather data for the study. Gender inequality

therefore is not a great predictor of career choice in science

and/or mathematics teaching. However, to increase enrolments in

the course, in-service science and mathematics teachers should

focus on enhancing and developing the factors which influence the

students’ career choices. (Morales et al., 2016)

Mathematics plays a vital role in science and technology

development. Its usefulness cannot be denied but most of the

Filipino students perform poorly in the subject. Several factors

were identified to influence student’s achievement in mathematics

and one of the identified factors in the student’s attitude

towards it. (Ellenita G. Manalaysay, n.d.)

Abstract Language choice in teaching mathematics is a legitimate

area of concern. It is noted that tension exists in classrooms

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where mathematics is taught in a different language spoken by the

learners (Martínez & Dominguez, 2018). It is then a logical

supposition to make that if students in mathematics classes are

taught and tested in a language that is not their native their

scores and proficiency levels may not be a true measure of their

abilities, but a reflection of their mastery of the language used

as medium of instruction (Haag, Heppt, Stanat, Kuhl & Pant,

2013).(Bacolod-Iglesia et al., 2021).

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes the research design, the subjects of

the study, research instrument, the data gathering procedure and

the statistical treatment.

Research Design

The descriptive design was used in this study, particularly

descriptive-comparative. Descriptive-comparative is a design

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where the researcher considers two variables (not manipulated)

and establishes a formal procedure to compare and conclude that

one is better than the other. (Paler-Calmorin, Research Methods

and Thesis writing 2nd edition.p.73,2015)

Research Respondents

The respondents of this study will be the first year BSED-

MATH students of Northern Iloilo State University Ajuy Campus.

Total population is used. The distribution of the respondents is

shown in the box.

Gender No. of Respondents Percent

Male 5 35.71%

Female 9 64.29%

Total 14 100%

Research Instrument

For the purpose of the study, the researchers used a test as

the instrument to gather data from the respondents. The math

items in the NISU entrance exam will be used.

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Data Gathering Method

The researchers will give the test to the respondents and

after the respondents answered the said test, the researchers

will gather and check the answer sheets. The results will be the

basis for comparison.

Statistical Treatment

The following statistical tool will be used in analyzing and

in interpreting the gathered data:

The Weighted Arithmetic Mean is used in getting the result

of the first year BSED Math when they are classified according to

Gender: a) Male and b) Female students.

The Formula:

x₁ = Σ x₁ ∕ N x₂ = Σ x₂ ∕ N

Where: x₁ = mean of the Male

x₂ = mean of the Female

Σx₁ = sum of the test scores of Male

Σx₂ = sum of the test scores of Female

N = the total population

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