UČEŠĆE I POSTIGNUĆA UČENIKA SEDMOG I OSMOG RAZREDA U ODNOSU NA POL NA DRŽAVNOM TAKMIČENJU IZ MATEMATIKE OD 2015. DO 2024. GODINE
Participation and Achievement of Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students by Gender in the National Mathematics Competition from 2015 to 2024

Summary/Abstract: In recent decades, researchers have sought to identify and explain differences in boys’ and girls’ achievement and their interest in mathematics. Given the lack of related research, our aim was to examine the effect of gender on the participation and achievement of seventh- and eighth-grade students in the national competition from 2015 to 2024. To this end, a quantitative secondary data analysis was conducted. The results obtained from a sample of 2,043 students showed that the number of boys was consistently twice as high and that, at the eighth-grade level, differences in achievement were statistically significant in favor of boys. Moreover, among the top 5% of ranked eighth-grade students, the number of boys was three and a half times higher than the number of girls. Of the 100 competition tasks analyzed, boys achieved statistically significantly better results in only five tasks, all of which belong to areas covered within supplementary mathematics instruction. Based on findings from previous research, it can be concluded that gender differences in participation and achievement in mathematics competitions are not the result of differences in students’ cognitive abilities, but rather the outcome of social and psychological factors. In order to further reduce the influence of these factors, specific recommendations were proposed for policymakers and educational stakeholders.

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