Gender Differences in Motivational Orientations Toward Achievement in School Science: A Quantitative Synthesis

Abstract

In a comprehensive review of the literature containing comparisons between boys and girls on some measure of motivation in science and/or some measure of achievement in science, findings were transformed into a common metric—an effect size—and analyzed meta-analytically. Drawn from articles and reports, large-scale national and international studies, and standardized testing procedures, the data base provided a total of 207 effect sizes for motivation and 406 effect sizes for achievement in science. It was found that sex differences in both motivation and achievement are smaller than is generally assumed, but they do occur, and, with few exceptions, they tend to favor males. The literature sources contained information on 25 variables suspected of impinging on motivation in science. These were analyzed in depth and related to the direction and magnitude of sex differences in motivational orientation.