The role of gender in educational contextes and outcomes PDF
Preview The role of gender in educational contextes and outcomes
ADVANCES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR Series Editor JANETTE B. BENSON Morgridge College of Education, Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA AcademicPressisanimprintofElsevier 525BStreet,Suite1800,SanDiego,CA92101-4495,USA 225WymanStreet,Waltham,MA02451,USA TheBoulevard,LangfordLane,Kidlington,Oxford,OX51GB,UK 32JamestownRoad,LondonNW17BY,UK Firstedition2014 Copyright©2014,ElsevierInc.AllRightsReserved. Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans, electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,oranyinformationstorageand retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.Detailsonhowtoseek permission,furtherinformationaboutthePublisher’spermissionspoliciesandour arrangementswithorganizationssuchastheCopyrightClearanceCenterandtheCopyright LicensingAgency,canbefoundatourwebsite:www.elsevier.com/permissions. 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ISBN:978-0-12-411582-8 ISSN:0065-2407(Series) ForinformationonallAcademicPresspublications visitourwebsiteatstore.elsevier.com CONTRIBUTORS OscarA.Barbarin DepartmentofPsychology,TulaneUniversity,NewOrleans,Louisiana,USA RebeccaS.Bigler DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA ChristiaSpearsBrown DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofKentucky,Lexington,Kentucky,USA RuthButler SchoolofEducation,HebrewUniversityofJerusalem,Mt.Scopus,Jerusalem,Israel LisaChinn DepartmentofPsychology,TulaneUniversity,NewOrleans,Louisiana,USA EmilyF.Coyle DepartmentofPsychology,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark, Pennsylvania,USA RichardA.Fabes PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA AdrianGale DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA LauraD.Hanish PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA AmyRobersonHayes DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA JanetShibleyHyde DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofWisconsin,Madison,Wisconsin,USA BethKurtz-Costes DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill, NorthCarolina,USA CampbellLeaper DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,California,USA LynnS.Liben DepartmentofPsychology,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark, Pennsylvania,USA FantasyT.Lozada DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA ix x Contributors CarolLynnMartin PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA EthanH.Mereish DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege, ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA JenniferPetersen DepartmentofEducationalFoundations,UniversityofWisconsin,Whitewater,Wisconsin, USA V.PaulPoteat DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege, ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA LatishaRoss DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA StephanieJ.Rowley DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA JillianR.Scheer DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege, ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA MelindaA.Solmon SchoolofKinesiology,LouisianaStateUniversity,BatonRouge,Louisiana,USA AmberWilliams DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA YamandaF.Wright DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA PREFACE Educationalaccomplishmentsvarydramaticallyamongindividualsandpro- foundly affect lives by facilitating or constraining access to positive out- comes. Educational achievement is linked, for example, to later physical health,mentalhealth,careeroptions,income,andlifesatisfaction.Identify- ingthefactorsthatinfluenceeducationalexperiencesandoutcomesisthere- fore of great interest in developmental science. Importantly, the characteristicsthat individualsbringto educationalsettings (e.g.,their eco- nomic,religious,andculturalbackgrounds)affecttheirexperiences.Among the most powerful of these characteristics isgender. Gendershapes youths’ understandingandexperienceofeducationacrosstheglobeandacrosshis- tory. Consider this quote: Womenarelargerconsumersandbetterdistributorsofknowledgethanmen. They read more books, and get more satisfaction out of intellectual pursuits than men. Put boys and girls together in school and college, and if you are foolishenoughtogivethemtheirrelativerank,andtoofferthemprizes,the girls will win much more than their proportion. Indeed, many coeducational institutionshavebeenforcedtoputupsomesortofprotectivebarrierinorder togivethepoorboyshalfachance(p.202). Widespread media attention to girls’ and women’s recent educational suc- cesses or, conversely, boys’ and men’s recent struggles might lead one to assume this passage was written by a contemporary observer of the U.S. educationalsystem.ThequotecomesinsteadfromWilliamDeWittHyde, former President of Bowdoin College, in a 1906 book entitled The College Man and the College Woman (Boston: Houghton Mifflin) that detailed his observations of gender differences in relation to education. The more than 100 years since thepublication ofW. Hyde’s book have witnessedbothremarkablesimilaritiesanddifferencesinthewaysthatgender hasbeenrelevantforeducation.Thecurrentvolumewasdesignedtoassemble papers that discuss important contemporary issues at the intersection of genderandeducation.Collectively,thechaptersaddressthegender-education nexusinacademic,occupational,social,andathleticdomainsfromchildhood through adulthood. The volume begins with an examination of one of the most important foundationsofacademicsuccess:motivation.Specifically,Butler(Chapter1) examines historical and contemporary models of achievement motivation. Afterreviewingtheliteratureonyouth’sstrategiesofacademicself-evaluation xi xii Preface and self-regulation, she argues that—at the group level—boys develop a motivational orientation focused on proving their skills, whereas girls develop a motivational orientation focused on improving their skills. Her insightful analyses of the costs and benefits of both approaches shed needed light on the possible causes of current gender gaps in achievement. Next, Petersen and Hyde (Chapter 2) examine the processes involved in the creation of a U.S. workforce characterized by high levels of gender segregation. The authors review evidence for the roles of sex-differentiated abilities and interests, gender stereotypes, and gender discrimination in shapingoccupationalgoals.Theypayspecialattentiontotheroleofsocialcog- nitions(e.g.,individuals’expectanciesandvalues)inshapingyouths’decisions. Gender differentiation of academic and occupational interests is also addressed in the contribution by Liben and Coyle (Chapter 3), but with a specializedfocusoninterventionsdirectedtoscience,technology,engineer- ing,andmath(STEM). Theauthorshighlighthistoricalandcontemporary data on women’s participation in STEM and then review intervention mechanismsimpliedbyvarioustheoriesofgenderdevelopment.Theyoffer ataxonomyofinterventiongoalsanduseittoorganizeareviewofillustra- tive interventions designed to reduce the STEM gender gap. Movingtoadifferent—yetalsogender-differentiated—domainofachieve- ment,Solmon(Chapter4)examinesgirls’andboys’interestandinvolvement insportandphysicalactivities.Shepresentscompellingevidencethatthelower participationofgirlsintheseactivitiesharmstheirwell-beingandderivesfrom pedagogical practices that privilege boys. Solmon makes insightful recom- mendations for improving the experiences of both girls and boys in physical education with the goal of promoting life-long physical health. Continuingthefocusongenderedprocessesinarenasthatextendbeyond the learning of academic content, Martin, Fabes, and Hanish (Chapter 5) examine the causes and consequences of gender segregation in children’s peerrelationships.Theirchapterdrawsattentiontowaysinwhicheducators (oftenunknowingly)undermineversusfacilitatewarm,respectful,andsup- portivecross-genderrelationshipsthat,respectively,therebydiminishversus enhance the cohesiveness of classroom communities. Leaper and Brown (Chapter 6) also focus on gender and relationships, describinghowyouths’educationalexperiencesmaybenegativelyaffected bygenderstereotyping,prejudice,anddiscriminationonthepartofparents, teachers, and peers. Their chapter presents information about an under- studied form of gender bias—sexual harassment within educational settings—and argues for the importance of providing youth with strategies for challenging and coping with sexism and sexual harassment. Preface xiii Single-sexschooling—sometimespresentedasasolutiontotheproblems createdbygenderstereotyping,prejudice,anddiscriminationinschools—is examinedbyBigler,Hayes,andLiben(Chapter7).Theyanalyzeandeval- uateeachoffivemajorrationalesthathavebeengivenforthecontroversial (and increasingly common) use of gender segregation in public schools. They conclude that evidence fails to demonstrate that the single-sex struc- ture per se yields better social, emotional, or academic outcomes, but note thatsomeeducationalpracticesemployedinsuchschoolsmaybeprofitably implemented in coeducational contexts. One area that needs more attention in coeducational settings concerns sexual minority and gender-variant youth. As Poteat, Scheer, and Mereish (Chapter 8) describe, experiences of victimization in school settings are common among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and gender nonconforming youth. The authors posit pathways through which such experiences negatively impact individuals’ learning processes that, in turn, affect their academic and occupational interests, goals, and outcomes. The authorspointtoresourcesandstrategiesavailabletoeducatorsandcommu- nity members who seek to improve educational outcomes among sexual minority and gender-variant youth. Another student group that has received attention for comparatively poor outcomes within the U.S. educational system is African American boys.Rowleyandhercolleagues(Chapter9)acknowledgethatBlackboys’ academicunderperformancerepresentsanurgenteducationalcrisis,butthey alsoarguethatthepervasivenessofanarrativeoffailureisitselfharmful.In particular,thisnarrativeunderminesparents’andteachers’academicexpec- tationsandsimultaneouslyundercutsBlackboys’ownacademicmotivations and goals. The authors call for the development of counter-narratives that instead focus on African American boys’ academic talents and successes. In a related chapter, Barbarin, Chinn, and Wright (Chapter 10) address the unique barriers to academic success faced by African American boys. Theyoutlinemanyrealandseriousobstaclesthattheseboysfaceintheirlives bothinandoutofschool.Theauthorsthenprovidespecificrecommenda- tions for educational reforms designed to support African American boys, including the provision of African American male (i.e., in-group) mentors andtheestablishmentofpositivestudent–teacherrelationships.Theysuggest thatsuchreformsmaybereadilyimplementedinsingle-sexschools,butnote that such practices are likely to benefit students in other school settings as well, irrespective of race and gender. Insum,thisvolumecoversawiderangeofwaysinwhichgenderhasa powerfulinfluenceonindividuals’education-relatedexpectancies,interests, xiv Preface aptitudes,andoutcomes.Throughoutthevolume,authorshavefocusednot onlyonhowempiricalfindingshelptotestandextendtheoreticalworkon genderandeducation,butalsoonhowempiricalworkcaninformpedagog- ical and curricular changes aimed at increasing gender fairness, justice, and equality.Suchreformsshouldhelpyouthovercomethegender-,sexuality-, andrace-relatedconstraintsthatnowoperatebothwithinandbeyondedu- cational settings. Anyvolumereachesprintthankstothecollectiveeffortsofmanypeople, andthisvolumeisnoexception.Wethuscloseourprefacebyexpressingour deepthankstothemanyindividualswhohelpedtomakethisprojectareal- ity.WebeginbythankingJanetteBensonforidentifyingthetopicofgender asripeforathematicvolumeintheseriessheedits,forinvitingustoserveas guest editors, and for supporting our proposal to focus the volume on education-related topics. Second, we are grateful to the chapter authors fortheirstrongcommitmentsandcontributionstothisresearchareaingen- eral,andfortheirwillingnesstowritechaptersforthisvolumeinparticular. Theywereapleasuretocollaboratewiththroughouttheprocess,andtheir contributions will continue to push the field forward in years to come. Third, we thank the Elsevier staff with whom we have worked along the way. Although there are too many individuals to name them all, we wish to single out for special thanks Sarah Lay, Zoe Kruze, and Radhakrishnan Lakshmanan who have been particularly efficient and responsive in so many ways. Duringthefinalstagesoftheproductionofthisbook,thefieldlostoneof itsearliestandmostcreative,productive,andforesightedcontributorstothe study of gender development—Sandra Bem. Among the many things that were remarkable about Sandy were her excellent theoretical and empirical scholarship and her dogged attention to what that theory and research impliedaboutchildren’sdevelopmentineverydaysettingsofhome,school, andcommunity.Sheandherfamilyhavebeenmodelsofresistingthesocietal genderconstraintsthatfiguresoprominentlyinmanyofthechaptersofthis volume.Wemissherasafriend,aresearchcolleague,andasamodelofinte- gratingscholarshipandpractice,anddedicatethisvolumetohermemory. LYNN S. LIBEN University Park, Pennsylvania, USA REBECCA S. BIGLER Austin, Texas, USA CHAPTER ONE Motivation in Educational Contexts: Does Gender Matter? Ruth Butler1 SchoolofEducation,HebrewUniversityofJerusalem,Mt.Scopus,Jerusalem,Israel 1Correspondingauthor:e-mailaddress:[email protected] Contents 1. Introduction 2 2. TheoreticalFrameworks:EarlyandContemporaryApproaches 4 2.1 Beginnings 4 2.2 Expectancy-ValueTheory 6 2.3 AttributionTheory 7 2.4 AchievementGoalTheory 7 3. AQuestionofConfidence?GenderandPerceptionsofCompetenceandControl 8 3.1 PerceptionsofCompetence 8 3.2 DoSexDifferencesinPerceivedCompetenceChangewithAge? 11 3.3 PerceptionsofCausalityandControl 12 4. ProvingandImproving:GenderandMotivesforEvaluation 15 4.1 ApproachestoEvaluation 15 4.2 DevelopmentofProvingandImprovingApproachestoSelf-Evaluation 16 5. AchievementGoals 20 5.1 GenderandAchievementGoals 20 5.2 GenderandAchievementGoalsinContext 21 6. AchievementandSocialGoals,Values,andInterests 23 6.1 GenderandRelationships 23 6.2 GoodGirls,BrainyBoys:PerformingAcademicallyandPerformingGender 24 6.3 Interests,Values,andIdentity 27 7. SocialInfluences 29 7.1 Parents 29 7.2 Teachers 30 8. Conclusions 32 8.1 Improving,Proving,andAcademicMotivationAmongBoysandGirls 32 8.2 ImplicationsforTheoryandResearch 33 8.3 ImplicationsforEducation 34 References 35 TheRoleofGenderinEducationalContextsandOutcomes(L.S.Liben&R.S.Bigler,Eds.) #2014ElsevierInc. 1 AdvancesinChildDevelopmentandBehavior(J.B.Benson,SeriesEd.),Vol.47 Allrightsreserved. ISSN0065-2407 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2014.05.001 2 RuthButler Abstract Girlsandwomennowoutperformboysandmenonmanyindicesofacademicachieve- ment. Gender differences in motivation may underlie these trends. In this chapter, Ireviewandintegrateresearchongenderdifferencesinself-evaluation,self-regulation, and achievement goals. I argue forthe existence ofgendered tendencies “to prove” versus “to try and to improve,” whereby males tend to orient to demonstrating and defending their abilities, and females to working hard and addressing deficiencies. Idiscusshowthesemotivationsdevelopwithinsocialandeducationalcontextsoflearn- ing,andintersectwithgenderedpatternsofsocialization,values,andbehaviorsinother arenas,especiallyrelationalones.Recurringthemesincludethecostsandbenefitsof differentialemphasesoncompetitionandself-promotionversusaffiliationandconsid- erationofothersinthefamily,peergroup,andclassroom.Iconcludewithsomerec- ommendations for creating classroom environments that might promote optimal motivationamongallstudents,regardlessofgender. 1. INTRODUCTION For me, as for many women who went to college in the 1970s, dis- covering gender was a formative and transformative experience. Feminist analyses provided us with a new way of understanding ourselves and the world that had a profound influence on the ways we lived, or at least tried toliveourlives,onourcareerchoices,onourrelationships,andalsoonhow weunderstoodanddidtheoryandresearch.Thefollowingdecadesbrought excitingadvancesinunderstandinggenderandmoregenerallyinconceptu- alizingtheintersectionsofthepersonalandsocialinhumanpsychology.But from being an important focus also of theory and research on motivation, gender has again become a somewhat neglected topic (albeit with some notableexceptions).Icontinuetobesurprisedbythenumberofmanuscripts Icomeacross—publishedpapers,submissions,grantproposals—inwhichit doesnotseemtohaveoccurredtotheauthorsthatgendermightberelevant. Theydidnotaddressgenderintheliteraturereview,didnotconductevena preliminary examination of possible gender effects, and at most provided a mention when describing the sample (e.g., 52% female). Onepossibilityisthatgendernolongermatters,inthesenseofmeaning- fullyimpactingmotivationandmotivationaloutcomesineducationalcon- texts,atleastintheWesternpopulationsthatstillmakeupmostofthesamples in published studies.Another is that the studyof gender is no longer intel- lectuallyengaging,becausewealreadyunderstandhowandwhyitimpacts motivationandachievement.So,thisisagoodtimetoaskwhethergender
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