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Title: Gender Differences in Mathematics: Genetic and Environmental Influences With Special Emphasis on High and Low Ability
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Bjornsdottir, Amalia
Gender Differences in Mathematics: Genetic and Environmental Influences With Special Emphasis on High and Low Ability
Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, 1996
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Cognitive Development; Gender Differences; Genetics; Pairs (also see Siblings); Psychological Effects; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Tests and Testing

The research literature does not agree whether there is a gender difference in mathematics. This study used a national dataset, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and found a gender difference favoring males on Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematical Knowledge, and General Science scales. Females outperformed males on Numerical Operations. The gender difference seems to be driven by the difference in the upper tail of the ability distribution. A DeFries-Fulker (DF) Analysis was done to estimate heritability and shared environmental influences in the whole ability distribution, and in the upper and lower tails of the distribution. The analysis found small to moderate heritability estimates in the whole ability distribution, but small to zero estimates in the tails of the ability distribution, especially in the upper tail. The estimates of the shared environmental influence were high in the overall distribution, low in the top 25% and close to zero in the bottom 25% of the a bility distribution. Measures of gender patterns were also entered into the DF Analysis models, to account for gender differences in genetic and environmental influences. In addition, heritability and shared environmental influences were also estimated separately for female-female pairs, male-male pairs and mixed gender pairs. The heritability for the female-female pairs was higher than for the whole distribution. The h2 estimates for the male-male pairs were similar to those for the whole distribution. The mixed pairs patterns of h2 estimates were inconsistent with respect to those in the whole distribution. The shared environmental influences were similar between the whole ability distribution and the three gender categories. Results are discussed in terms of how genes and the environment interact for the two genders, with attention to specific sources of both shared and nonshared environmental influences.
Bibliography Citation
Bjornsdottir, Amalia. Gender Differences in Mathematics: Genetic and Environmental Influences With Special Emphasis on High and Low Ability. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, 1996.