GSE/RES: Who Likes Math? International Trends Among Eighth-Grade Girls and Boys

智力优势：该项目调查支持科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域性别隔离的态度和文化因素。来自59个国家的调查数据在四个时间点将被用来解决以下问题：如何八年级男孩和女孩的态度对数学在1995年和2007年之间发生了变化？这些态度在各国之间有何不同？工程学位课程的性别构成如何受到青少年的影响？对数学的态度？ 性别平等有时会出现在意想不到的地方。这一点在STEM的性别构成中最为明显，特别是在许多公认的性别传统发展中和转型社会中，妇女在这些领域的代表性很强。在先进的工业劳动力市场和教育系统中，性别隔离程度较高，部分原因是结构性特征，包括其庞大的服务部门和高度多样化的课程。但越来越多的证据表明，现代形式的性别隔离也反映了女孩和妇女有意识地选择避开密集的物理科学和工程领域，而选择被认为更以人为本的追求。本研究将使用描述性趋势分析和多变量多水平模型，调查（1）青少年对数学的态度的国际趋势，（2）女孩和男孩对数学形成更积极态度的条件，以及（3）性别差异化态度转化为工程学位课程性别隔离的过程。三个态度维度将被考虑：对数学的亲和力，数学技能的评价，和自信的数学。态度数据来自国际数学和科学趋势调查（TIMSS）的四个浪潮。中心研究假设是，女孩对数学的态度将是不太积极的，更多的性别差异，在先进的工业国家，对数学的态度将更好地预测妇女的比例在先进的工业比在转型或发展中国家的工程学位。这些假设来自于理论上的争论，即存在安全的重要性下降，以及富裕社会中自我表达的文化使命的兴起。更广泛的影响：STEM人才持续短缺是一个日益严重的问题，可能会破坏国家发展和地球仪的经济竞争力。开发大量潜在的女性科学家和工程师已成为雇主的首要任务，也是各国政府和国际组织的关键政策目标。但是，在工业社会中，招募妇女从事这些活动的大多数努力都没有成功，因为几乎没有采取任何措施来消除导致女孩认为自己不适合从事这种工作的陈规定型观念。除了对整个社会有益之外，这项研究的目的是为妇女服务，查明阻碍她们参与教育投资回报更高、比典型的女性主导领域有更多晋升机会的领域的文化和态度障碍。对数学密集型工作的强烈男性标签限制了子孙后代女孩的选择，并剥夺了所有公民对女性潜在人力资本贡献的权利。通过在广泛的背景下比较态度和结果，这项研究可以帮助确定旨在整合STEM领域的政策努力的适当位置。

Intellectual Merit: This project investigates the attitudinal and cultural factors that support gender segregation of scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields. Survey data from 59 countries at four time points will be used to address the following questions: How have eighth grade boys' and girls' attitudes toward mathematics changed between 1995 and 2007? How do these attitudes vary across countries? And how is the gender composition of engineering degree programs affected by adolescents? attitudes toward mathematics? Gender equality is sometimes found in unexpected places. This is nowhere more evident than in the gender composition of STEM, specifically women's strong representation in these fields in many reputably gender-traditional developing and transitional societies. The higher levels of gender segregation in advanced industrial labor markets and educational systems is partly attributable to structural features, including their large service sectors and highly diversified curricula. But evidence is growing that modern forms of gender segregation also reflect conscious choices by girls and women to avoid mathematically-intensive physical science and engineering fields in favor of pursuits that are regarded as more human centered. Using descriptive trend analyses and multivariate, multilevel modeling, this research will investigate (1) international trends in adolescents' attitudes toward mathematics, (2) the conditions under which girls and boys develop more positive attitudes toward mathematics, and (3) the process by which gender-differentiated attitudes are translated into sex-segregation of engineering degree programs. Three attitudinal dimensions will be considered: affinity toward mathematics, valuation of mathematical skills, and self-confidence in mathematics. Attitudinal data are taken from four waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS). Central research hypotheses are that girls' attitudes toward mathematics will be less positive and more gender-differentiated in advanced industrial countries, and that attitudes toward mathematics will better predict women's share of engineering degrees in advanced industrial than in transitional or developing countries. These hypotheses derive from theoretical arguments about the declining salience of existential security and the rise of cultural mandates for self-expression in affluent societies.Broader Impacts: Persistent shortage of STEM workers is a growing problem that threatens to undermine national development and economic competitiveness around the globe. Tapping the vast pool of potential female scientists and engineers has become a top priority of employers and a key policy goal of diverse national governments and international organizations. But most efforts to recruit women to these activities in industrial societies have been unsuccessful because little has been done to undermine stereotypes that lead girls to see themselves as unsuited for such work. Besides benefits to society as a whole, this research aims to serve women by identifying cultural and attitudinal obstacles to their participation in fields characterized by better payoff to educational investment and greater opportunities for advancement than typical female-dominated fields. The strong male-labeling of mathematically-intensive work limits perceived options of future generations of girls and deprives all citizens of women's potential human capital contributions. By comparing attitudes and outcomes across a broad range of contexts, this research can help identify the appropriate locus for policy efforts aimed at integrating STEM fields.