The role of sex role egalitarianism and attitudes towards math in the math achievement of adolescent girls

Despite the fact that boys and girls in the US perform at equal rates on most standardized math exams, girls report lower self-confidence in, positive affect toward, and valuation of this subject. Internationally, the gap between girls’ and boys’ math scores is mostly accounted for by gender socialization and the rights of women in society. The present research uses Eccles’ (Parsons [Eccles] et al., 1983) Expectancy Value framework in considering the importance of math self-confidence, math valuation, and sex role egalitarianism on math achievement. Multiple regression will be used to determine the predictive ability of the independent variables. It is proposed that sex role egalitarianism and attitudes toward math will each significantly predict math achievement scores. Additionally, sex role egalitarianism will add to the prediction of math scores above what attitudes towards math contribute. Implications and future directions are discussed.