Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Gender and Mathematics Achievement in China and the United States

  • Published:
Gender Issues Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 September 2007

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between gender and mathematics achievement among students in China and the United States, with an emphasis on the gender gap among mathematically talented students. The results show that in neither the US nor China are there gender differences in eighth grade math-achievement test scores. In China, there are no gender differences in mean college entrance examination math scores among high-school seniors, while in America, the mean SAT-Math score among male high-school seniors has been consistently higher than those of their female counterparts. In both the US and China, there are gender differences among the top math performers on college entrance examinations; boys are over-represented. The Chinese national mathematics curriculum, well-trained teachers, beliefs by students and their parents that academic achievement is more a product of effort than of natural ability, a gender-neutral parental expectation for children’s education, and generous family spending on the education of girls are suggested as possible factors underlying the comparable performance of the Chinese female and male students. The sorting system at Chinese secondary school level and a cultural stereotype favoring boys in mathematics are suggested as possible contributors to the math-achievement gender gap found among the top Chinese high school seniors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For a summary of biological explanations of the gender-math gap, see [4, 11: pp. 53–58].

  2. The author thanks one of the reviewers for providing relevant references.

  3. In China, almost all academic high-school seniors take the College Entrance Examination. However, because of the selection and sorting process in the Chinese secondary education system, this sample represented only the top 25% of their age peers. In the US only the top 48% of high-school seniors took the SAT in 2006 [21]. Taking into consideration the 70% drop-out rate among American high school students as well as students who did not attend high school, the SAT test takers represented about 30% of their age cohorts in the United States [21, 22].

  4. The survey was originally designed to explore the effects of the one-child-per-family policy on the educational opportunity of girls and the relationship among family income, parenting, and children’s academic achievement in Chinese large urban areas. The findings about these issues were published in 2002 and 2005 respectively [33, 32]. For a detailed description of research design and sampling method, see [33].

  5. There are national curricula at elementary and secondary school levels in all high-math-performing East-Asian countries.

  6. Individual schools retain 50% of these sponsor fees and the other 50% goes to the local government.

  7. 95% of all families in large Chinese cities have only one child.

  8. Ever since the end of the state-assigned employment system in the 1980s, where some elements of the equal employment for men and women were built into the system and where employers could not choose their workers, many women, including female college graduates, have had difficulty finding good jobs. Worried about costs such as full salaries paid during maternity leave and special accommodations for women in the workplace (required by law), many employers, especially in the private sector, refuse to hire women. Although such practices violate the law, the government has done little to stop them because its priority is to deal with the unemployment situation [34, 35].

  9. Unfortunately, no questions regarding the awareness of the gender-math stereotype were included in my two surveys. American researchers [2, 26] argue that it is the awareness of, rather than personal beliefs in, the gender-math stereotype that affects the math test performance of female students.

References

  1. Alt, Martha, & Choy, Susan (2000). In the middle: Characteristics of public schools with a focus on middle school. Washington D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Aronson, Joshua, Lustina, Michael J., Good, Catherine, Keough, Kelli, Steele, Claude M., & Joseph Brown, J. (1999). When white men can’t do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 29–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Aronson, Joshua, Quinn, Diane M., & Spencer, Steven J. (1998). Stereotype threat and the academic underperformance of minorities and women. In J. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target’s perspective. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Benbow, Camilla Persson (1988). Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability in intellectually talented preadolescents: Their nature, effects, and possible causes. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 11, 169–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ben-Zeev, Talia, Carrasquillo, Cristina M., Ching, Alison M. L., Kliengklom, Tattiya J., McDonald, Kristen L., Newhall, Daniel C., Patton, Gillian E., Stewart, Tiffany D., Stoddard, Tonya, Inzlicht, Michael, Fein, Steven (2005). Math is hard! (BarbieTM, 1994): Responses of threat vs. challenge-mediated arousal to stereotypes alleging intellectual inferiority. In A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Gender Differences in mathematics. Cambridge University Press.

  6. Broaded, C. Montgomery, & Liu, Chongshun (1996). Family background, gender and educational attainment in urban China. The China Quarterly, 145, 53–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Brody, Linda E., & Mills, Carol J. (2005). Talent search research: What have we learned? High Ability Studies, 16(1):97–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brush, Lorelei R. (1980). Encouraging girls in mathematics: The problem and the solution. Abt Books.

  9. College Board. (2006). 2006 college-bound seniors: Total group profile report. New York: The College Board.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gonzales, Patrick, Guzman, Juan Carlos, Partelow, Lisette, Pahlke, Erin, Jocelyn, Leslie, Kastberg, David, & Williams, Trevor (2004). Highlights from the trends in international mathematics and science study (TIMSS) 2003. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Halpern, Diane F. Wai, Jonathan, & Saw, Amanda (2005). A psychological model: Why females are sometimes greater than and sometimes less than males in math achievement. In A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics. Cambridge University Press.

  12. Henke, Robert R., Choy, Susan, Chen, Xianglei, Geis, Sonya, Alt, Martha, & Broughman, Stephen P. (1997). America’s teachers: Profile of a profession, 1993–1994. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ingels, Steven J., Abraham, Sameer, Karr, Rosemary, Spencer, Bruce D., & Frankel, Martin R. (1990). National educational longitudinal study of 1988: Base year: Student component data file user’s manual. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Jacobs, Janis E., Davis-Kean, Pamela, Bleeker, Martha, Eccles, Jacquelynne S., & Malnchuk, Oksana (2005). I can, but I don’t want to: The impact of parents, interests, and activities on gender differences in math. In A. M. Gallagher & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), Gender differences in mathematics. Cambridge University Press.

  15. Jones, Lyle V. (1987). The Influence on mathematics test scores, by ethnicity and sex, of prior achievement and high school mathematics course. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 18, 180–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kristof, Nicolas (2004). Watching the jobs go by. New York Times, A29, 11 February.

  17. Lubinski, David, & Benbow, Camilla Persson (1992). Gender differences in abilities and preferences among the gifted: Implications for the math-science pipeline. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 61–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Ma, Liping (1999). Knowing and teaching elementary mathematics: Teachers’ understanding of fundamental mathematics in China and the United States. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Maple, Sue A., & Stage, Frances K. (1991). Influences on the choice of math/science major by gender and ethnicity. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 37–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). (2003). The condition of education, indicator 11. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  21. NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). (2006). Digest of education statistics 2006. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  22. NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). (2007). Comparative indicators of eduation in the United States and other G-8 countries: 2006. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Parsons, Jacquelynn Eccles, Kaczala, Caroline M., & Meece, Judith L. (1982). Socialization of achievement attitudes and beliefs: Classroom influences. Child Development, 53(April), 322–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Paulsen, Karen, & Johnson, Margart (1983). Sex-role attitudes and mathematical ability in 4th, 8th, and 11th grade students from high socioeconomic area. Developmental Psychology, 19(March), 210–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Spencer, Stacey Lynn (2005). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance: The possible mediating factors of test anxiety, test motivation and self-efficacy. Ph.D. diss., Rutgers, the State University New Jersey.

  26. Spencer, Steven J., Steele, Claude M., & Quinn, Diane M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Stage, Frances K., & Maple, Sue A. (1996). Incompatible goals: Narratives of graduate women in the mathematics pipeline. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 23–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Stevenson, Harold W., Lee, Shu-ying, Chen, Chuansheng, Lummis, Max, Stigler, James, Fan, Liu, & Ge, Fang (1990). Mathematics achievement of children in China and the United States. Child Development, 61, 1053–1066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Stevenson, Harold W., Stigler, James W., Lucker, G. William, Lee, Shin-ying, Hsu, Chen-chin, & Kitamura, Seiro (1987). Classroom behavior and achievement of Japanese, Chinese, and American children. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Advances in instructional psychology. NJ:Erlbaum: Hillsdale.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Stricker, Lawrence J. (1998). Inquiring about examinees’ ethnicity and sex: Effects on AP calculus AB examination performance. Report No. 98-1. New York: The College Board.

  31. Stricker, Lawrence J., & Ward, William C. (1998). Inquiring about examinees’ ethnicity and sex: Effects on computerized placement testsTM performamce. Report No. 98-2. New York: The College Board.

  32. Tsui, Ming (2005). Family income, home environment, parenting and mathematics achievement of children in China and the United States. Education and Urban Society, 37(3):336–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Tsui, Ming, & Rich, Lynn (2002). The only child and educational opportunity for girls in urban China. Gender and Society, 16, 74–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Wen, Dong-mao (2005). A comparative study on the gender disparity in higher education opportunity, school work achievement and graduate employment in China. Tsinghua Journal of Education, 26(October), 16–21.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Zhou, Xueguang, Moen, Phyllis, & Tuma, Nancy Brandon (1998). Educational stratification in Urban China: 1949–97. Sociology of Education, 71, 199–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research is partially supported by a grant from Hearin Foundation. The author thanks Ed Venator for his encouragement, suggestions, and editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, 39210, USA

    Ming Tsui

Authors
  1. Ming Tsui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ming Tsui.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12147-007-9047-z

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tsui, M. Gender and Mathematics Achievement in China and the United States. Gend. Issues 24, 1–11 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-007-9044-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-007-9044-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation