33. Gender and Education
Paper
School Effectiveness and Gender Gap in Bilingual Context: the Case of Basque Middle Schools
Veronica Azpillaga, Nahia Intxausti Intxausti, Amaia Lojo-Novo, Eider Oregui-González, Esther Uria-Iriarte, Jon Sarasola-Alvarez
Univ. of the Basque Count, Spain
Presenting Author: Azpillaga, Veronica;
Intxausti Intxausti, Nahia
This research focuses on gender inequities in language achievement in the field of school effectiveness and improvement. The main objective of this research is to analyze school effectiveness with a gender perspective in a context of bilingual education in order to identify if the highly effective middle schools manage to reduce the gender gap in both official languages. At the same time, the most equitable middle schools are examined based on the discourse of the professionals who work in these schools.
The research questions that the research project aims to address are the following: Is school effectiveness linked to gender equity? Are the effective middle schools more equitable than non-effective schools in terms of gender? Do highly effective schools manage to reduce the gender gap in both languages?
The Basque Autonomous Community (B.A.C.) is located in Spain. It has been a bilingual community since 1982 (Law 10/1982) with two official languages, Spanish and the Basque, in a diglossia situation; 14.13% of the population speak Basque at home, and 10.22% use both Euskara and Spanish at home (Eustat, 2016). The education system is bilingual with three linguistic teaching models (Decree 138/1983) in which 77.88% of the Basque students are enrolled in model D, which is taught entirely in Basque with Spanish as a subject (Basque Government, 2019a). However, only 18.6% of the secondary students acquire advanced knowledge, 65.9% acquire intermediate knowledge and 15.5% the initial one (ISEI-IVEI, 2023), far from what the law requires, that is, B2 level at the end of secondary schools.
In recent years, inequalities in educational performance, based on the sex of the student, continue to be the subject of interest in educational research, trying to identify to what extent schools affect the educational performance of girls and boys (Van Hek et al., 2016). Most of the research on school effectiveness and improvement has measured school effectiveness based on the average results of all students (Nachbauer & Kyriakides, 2020). However, it is essential to emphasize the need to address the dimension of equity, studying the differential effects on the effectiveness of schools according to ethnicity, gender, economic level, and social class (Gray et al., 2004; Kyriakides et al ., 2019). The existing gender studies at school indicate some inconsistencies. Some found that there are no differential effects in schools concerning gender (Kyriakides et al., 2019; Strand, 2016), so effective schools managed to be effective for boys and girls. Others found a significant but modest variation in the gender effect across schools (Thomas et al., 1997).
A review of international studies that analyze differences between boys and girls in linguistic competence shows that, in general, girls obtain better results than boys, for example, in terms of reading competence (Reilly et al., 2019; VanHek et al., 2018). Kollmayer et al. (2018) and Retelsdorf et al. (2015) found that teacher gender stereotypes related to reading can benefit girls and negatively affect boys' reading competence perception.
However, few studies have focused on the analysis of the gender gap in minority language proficiency (Olmedo et al. 2020) and less from the perspective of school effectiveness and improvement (Intxausti et al. 2023). Studies in the B.A.C. indicate that the linguistic competence of Basque obtained by girls in Elementary Education is higher than that of boys (Gobierno Vasco et al., 2019) as well as with respect to motivation and attitude (Artola et al., 2017).
Given the specific bilingual situation of the B.A.C., this study fills an existing gap in terms of the effectiveness of Middle schools related to the results obtained in linguistic competence and its intersection with issues of gender disparity.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis exploratory descriptive study uses a mixed methodology. For the quantitative analysis, the data was collected from the census sample of educational centers in the B.A.C, a total of 340 middle schools. Every two years, Diagnostic Evaluations (D.E.) are performed at schools by the Basque Institute for Educational Evaluation and Research (ISEI-IVEI). The DE is a standardized exam, like PISA, that evaluates students in the 8th grade of the middle school on their competence in Spanish and Basque language. In the BAC, Linguistic Communicative Competence (LCC) is viewed as having five different dimensions (Basque Government, 2008): oral comprehension, written comprehension, oral expression, written expression and oral interaction. The D.E. conducted in 2015, 2017, and 2019 served as the study’s database. The SPSS 26 program was used to conduct the statistical analysis.
This study examines the idea of quality education and gender equity in schools. Multilevel regression modeling methods were used to determine gender equitable middle schools (Lizasoain, 2020). Given that it is widely acknowledged that contextual factors have a significant impact on the academic outcomes achieved by schools, this analysis makes it possible to control the contextual variables such as families’ economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS), the family language, and the percentage of immigrant students. The difference between the score obtained by the school in the D.E. with respect to the expected score, compared to the score obtained by other schools with very similar contexts, was used to calculate three residual values: school effectiveness (quality index), female student effectiveness, and male student effectiveness. The distinction in residual values between girls and boys yields the gender equality index. Equitable schools are those that achieve or come close to having the value 0.
36 schools met the equitable criterion in Basque competency and 48 schools in Spanish. 18 agreed to continue the project, and 3 of those centers achieved equitable outcomes in the Basque language and Spanish, 5 of them in Basque and 10 of those in Spanish.
For the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews have been held with managers of those equitable Basque and Spanish-language schools. 34 professionals participated in total. A common protocol was established for the interviewers: school students’ findings regarding gender equity in Basque/Spanish language were presented to participants, and the professionals’ opinions regarding it were analyzed. Instrument was designed with the aim of collecting data about five different areas.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsResults indicate that only 36 schools, that is, 10.6% achieve equitable results in the Basque language competence and 48 schools (14.1%) achieve it in Spanish. Moreover, those considered effective are not always equitable since only 13 schools of those 36 equitable ones are effective in Basque competence and 24 schools in Spanish. The results do not confirm that the gender balance among students from effective schools is more equal in terms of linguistic competence as it is found in other studies (Kyriakide et al., 2019). Greater confluence of school effectiveness and gender equality implies specific proposals to improve the outcomes of all students, regardless of their gender.
There is a greater equity in the results of Spanish competence than in Basque, which obtains much better results in girls than in boys. A trend among young males from bilingual context to use the more prestigious language in informal social domains might explain it (Altuna, 2017; Price & Tamburelli, 2020). Altuna (2023) observed that boys find it hard to speak in Basque when joking around and in situations of anger or provocation, and that they associate the minority language with the school context, with one way of challenging formal school rules being to speak in Spanish.
The qualitative study have shown that professional have not carried out an exhaustive analysis of gender-based inequalities in students’ performance at schools. In general, the gender equity plan is a priority objective within the schools’ educational projects but the scope of the actions focuses on attitudes and gender stereotypes, and not linguistic competences. Thus, few schools systematically introduce the gender perspective in the curriculum but not in intersection with language competence. The obstacles to improving school equity are the lack of training, awareness, and support for this cause, the job rotation among professionals, and school size.
ReferencesAltuna, J. (2023). Hizkuntzaren funanbulistak. Hizkuntza sozializazioa kirol eremuan adin eta generoak ardaztuta [Tightrope walker of language. Language socialization in sport domain focused on age and gender]. Doctoral Thesis. http://hdl.handle.net/10810/62640
Artola, T., Sastre, S., & Barraca, J. (2017). Diferencias de género en actitudes e intereses lectores. Una investigación con alumnos españoles de Primaria. Bordon, 69(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.13042/Bordon.2016.37925
Basque Government (2019a). Estadísticas del sistema educativo [Statistics of the educational system]. https://www.euskadi.eus/matricula-2019-2020/web01-a2hestat/es/
Basque Government, ISEI-IVEI, & Soziolinguistika Klusterra. (2019). Proyecto Arrue: uso del euskera por el alumnado en el entorno escolar de la C.A.P.V. 2011-2017 [Arrue Project: use of the Basque language by students in the school environment]. Departamento de educación, Política Lingüística y Cultura.
ISEI-IVEI (2023). Evaluación diagnóstica. Informe ejecutivo al final de la etapa [Diagnostic evaluation. Ejecutive report.]. Basque Government.
Kollmayer, M., Schober, B., & Spiel, C. (2018). Gender Stereotypes in Education: Development, Consequences, and Interventions. European Journal of Developmental Psycholy, 15(4), 361–377. http://doi.org/ 10.1080/17405629.2016.1193483
Kyriakides, L., Creemers, B.P.M. & Charalambous, E. (2019). Searching for differential teacher and school effectiveness in terms of student socioeconomic status and geneder: implications for promoting equity. School Effectiviness and School improvement, 30(3), 286-308. http://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2018.1511603
Lizasoain, L. (2020). Criterios y modelos estadísticos de eficacia escolar [Criteria and statistical models of school effectiveness]. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 38(2), 311–327. https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.417881
Nachbauer, M. & Kyriakides, L. (2020). A review and evaluation of approaches to measure equity in educational outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 31(2), 306-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2019.1672757
Price, A. R., & Tamburelli, M. (2020). Welsh-language prestige in adolescents: Attitudes in the heartlands. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 30(2), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12274
Reilly, D., Neumann, D.L., & Andrews, G. (2019). Gender Differences in Reading and Writing Achievement: Evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). American Psychologist, 74(4), 445–458. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000356
Strand, S. (2016). Do some schools narrow the gap? Differential school effectiveness revisites. Review of Education, 4(2), 107-144. http://doi.org/10.1080/09243451003732651
Van Hek, M., Kraaykamp, G., & Pelzer, B. (2018) Do schools affect girls’ and boys’ reading performance differently? A multilevel study on the gendered effects of school resources and school practices. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 29(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2017.1382540
Van Hek, M., Kraaykamp, G., & Wolbers, M. H. J. (2016). Comparing the gender gap in educational attainment: The impact of emancipatory contexts in 33 cohorts across 33 countries. Educational Research and Evaluation, 22, 260–282. http://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2016.1256222
33. Gender and Education
Paper
Tracing the Origins of Gender Bias in Teacher Grading
Konstantina Maragkou
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Maragkou, Konstantina
This paper uses new administrative records to assess the role of general ability in explaining gender gaps in teacher-assigned grades across ten “university-preferred” STEM and non-STEM subject areas. The evidence comes from England, where A-level students apply to university using teacher predictions rather than exam results. We find that, conditional on exam grades, boys receive less favourable predictions from their teachers. However, this differential grading is substantially reduced when accounting for gender differences in general ability. In STEM, the gap is rather reversed, with a grade penalty identified against girls with similar general ability and achieved grades at A-level. Our findings provide evidence that teachers are not neutral to students’ attributes captured in our measure of general ability, underscoring the serious implications of relying on predicted grades for university applications instead of exam results.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe analysis is based on newly linked administrative data that include all university applicants, providing comprehensive details on their applications, exam results, and key socio-demographic characteristics. Our empirical strategy follows two main steps. First, we investigate whether there are systematic differences between predicted grades and exam results by student gender across fields of study. Second, we examine whether these differences can be explained by variations in boys' and girls' general ability, extending beyond subject-specific proficiency. To gain a deeper understanding of what drives these disparities, we investigate a range of factors potentially linked to general ability, as well as the predicted-achieved grade gap, including individual student characteristics and aspects of the application process.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsWe find substantial gender gaps in predicted grades, conditional on achieved grades. Consistent with previous research, these gaps favour girls and are evident across all levels of the achieved grade distribution. Similar to Lavy (2023), we observe more pronounced gender differences in non-STEM subjects, with less pronounced gaps in STEM. The results remain consistent across alternative specifications and robust against a range of potential issues, including measurement error in exam scores, statistical discrimination, and sample selection biases. After adjusting for gender differences in general ability, the gender gap in predicted grades against boys is substantially reduced in non-STEM. In STEM, the gap is rather reversed, in favour of boys.
ReferencesLavy, V. (2008). Do gender stereotypes reduce girls’ or boys’ human capital outcomes? Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Public Economics, 92(10):2083–2105.
Lavy, V. and Sand, E. (2018). On the origins of gender human capital gaps: Short and long term consequences of teachers’ stereotypical biases. Journal of Public Economics.
Lavy, V. and Megalokonomou, R., 2023. The Short-and the Long-Run Impact of Gender-Biased Teachers. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Breda, T., Ly, S.T., (2015). “Professors in core science fields are not always biased against women: Evidence from France.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 7 (4), 53 75
Burgess, S., & Greaves, E. (2013). Test scores, subjective assessment, and stereotyping of ethnic minorities. Journal of Labor Economics, 31(3), 535–576.
Carlana, Michela. (2019). “Implicit Stereotypes: Evidence from Teachers’ Gender Bias.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 134(3): 1163–1224.
Cavaglia, C., Machin, S., McNally, S., & Ruiz-Valenzuela, J. (2020). “Gender, Achievement and Subject Choice in English Education, Paper” Prepared for Oxford Review of Economic Policy issue on Gender
33. Gender and Education
Paper
Is Technology for Boys Only? Stereotypical Perceptions of Gender among Preservice Teachers: An Experimental Mixed-methods Study
Johanne Grøndahl Glavind1, Ida Gran Andersen2, Anne Kroeger1
1VIA University College, Denmark; 2University of Aarhus, Denmark
Presenting Author: Grøndahl Glavind, Johanne;
Kroeger, Anne
Research documents significant differences in the representation of women in various STEM fields (Cheryan, Ziegler, Montoya & Jiang, 2017; Faber et al. 2020). Women are well-represented in fields such as medicine and biology, while extraordinarily few women pursue mathematics and technology-intensive programs, such as computer science and engineering programs (Bøe, Henriksen, Lyons & Schreiner, 2011; Faber et al., 2020; McNally, 2020).
Research indicates that teachers often rely on stereotypes in assessing students, particularly in STEM. Notably, pervasive stereotypes perpetuate the notion that girls lack interest in mathematics, while boys excel in science and technology (Riegle-Crumb & Humphries, 2012; Steffens & Jelenec, 2011). The far-reaching consequences of such stereotypes are evident in teachers' expectations (Muntoni & Retelsdorf, 2018), interactions with students (Lavy, 2008), and students' achievements, confidence, and educational choices (Carlana, 2019; Retelsdorf, Schwarts and Asbrock, 2015).
The purpose of this paper is to investigate pre-service teachers' gender stereotypical beliefs and whether these beliefs result in bias in the recommendation of technological study tracks for elementary school students. The study also explores the causal mechanisms behind gender stereotypes and biases, considering the influence of teachers' background characteristics.
We focus on pre-service teachers rather than practicing teachers for three reasons. Firstly, pre-service teachers are more accessible than experienced educators, providing an opportunity to ensure higher data quality, such as achieving a higher response rate. Secondly, research indicates that pre-service teachers also hold stereotypical beliefs about students, and these beliefs exist even before they begin on their teaching careers (Holder & Kessels, 2017). Thirdly, pre-service teachers serve as crucial norm-setters for new generations of children and adolescents. Examining gender stereotypes among pre-service teachers creates an opportunity to integrate the knowledge generated by the project into elements of teacher education.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedTo this aim, we employ an embedded experimental mixed methods design using vignettes. The content of the vignettes is varied to discern the influence of gender on pre-service teachers' assessments of young students' educational choices.
The quantitative part of the study incorporates a factorial survey (FS), a common method in research on discrimination and social judgments (Jasso, 2006; Wallander, 2009). Respondents are presented with a series of vignettes describing a hypothetical elementary school student with variations in gender, ethnicity, parents' occupations, favorite subjects, grades in Danish and mathematics, belief in their own abilities in mathematics, and social profile. The characteristics of the vignettes are experimentally varied, allowing for an examination of the significance of different attributes on the respondents' evaluations (Auspurg & Hinz, 2015). Based on the information presented, respondents are asked to recommend a study track for the student, choosing from natural science, technology, linguistics, or social science. A total of 441 students completed the questionnaire, resulting in 1764 vignette responses.
The qualitative part of the study consists of a qualitative vignette experiment embedded in semi-structured interviews. This approach retains interpretative elements while introducing a quantitative, experimental logic using vignettes. Thus, participants are presented with identical vignettes that only vary on the independent variable (gender). This allows for both the introduction of controlled variation in information about the independent variable and in-depth interpretation of how this information is received and interpreted by the interviewees (Harrits & Møller, 2020). A total of 30 students have been interviewed.
The data is analyzed using multinomial logistic regression models to estimate the effect of gender on pre-service teachers’ track recommendation as well as qualitative content analysis of interviews to shed light on the causal mechanisms underlying gender stereotypes in technology.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsPreliminary results show a notable gender difference in the recommendation of study tracks in general, particularly in technology. Results from the multinomial logit model reveal a 9.7 percentage point lower probability for girls to be recommended a technological study track compared to boys. Simultaneously, the study identifies an inverse gender difference in recommending a natural science study track, where girls have a 4.6 percentage point higher probability than boys. While various student characteristics influence the recommendation of study tracks—such as parents' occupations, favorite subjects, grades, confidence in mathematics, and social profile—these characteristics only marginally reduce gender differences and thus fail to provide a comprehensive explanation of the gender gap.
The qualitative analyses offer deeper insights into the reasons behind these gender biases. Technology is strongly associated with boys, computers, and gaming, leading to automatic exclusion of recommending a technological study track for girls who are not perceived as interested in technology. Furthermore, the qualitative analyses underscore the presence of socially conditioned gender considerations, particularly among female students who caution against choosing a technological study track due to perceived challenges in integrating into the male-dominated social community.
In conclusion, this research unveils gender bias in pre-service teachers' assessments, contributing valuable insights for addressing and mitigating gender stereotypes in educational settings. Awareness of these biases is crucial for addressing gender inequality in educational settings and fostering an environment that encourages all students to pursue STEM fields based on their interests and capabilities.
ReferencesAuspurg, K., & Hinz, T. (2015). Series: Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage.
Bøe, M. V., Henriksen, E. K., Lyons, T., & Schreiner, C. (2011). Participation in science and technology: young people’s achievement‐related choices in late‐modern societies. Studies in Science Education, 47(1), 37-72.
Carlana, M. (2019). Implicit stereotypes: Evidence from teachers’ gender bias. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(3), 1163-1224.
Cheryan, S., Ziegler, S. A., Montoya, A. K., & Jiang, L. (2017). Why are some STEM fields more gender balanced than others?. Psychological bulletin, 143(1), 1.
Faber, S. T., Nissen, A., & Orvik, A. E. (2020). Rekruttering og fastholdelse af kvinder inden for STEM: Indsatser og erfaringer på universiteterne. Aalborg Universitet.
Harrits, G. S., & Møller, M. Ø. (2020). Qualitative Vignette Experiments: A Mixed Methods Design. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1558689820977607.
Holder, K., & Kessels, U. (2017). Gender and ethnic stereotypes in student teachers’ judgments: A new look from a shifting standards perspective. Social Psychology of Education, 20(3), 471-490.
Jacobs, J. E., & Eccles, J. S. (1992). The impact of mothers' gender-role stereotypic beliefs on mothers' and children's ability perceptions. Journal of personality and social psychology, 63(6), 932.
Jasso, G. (2006). Factorial survey methods for studying beliefs and judgments. Sociological Methods & Research, 34(3), 334-423.
Lavy, V. (2008). Do gender stereotypes reduce girls' or boys' human capital outcomes? Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of public Economics, 92(10-11), 2083-2105.
McNally, S. (2020). Gender Differences in Tertiary Education: What Explains STEM Participation? CEP Discussion Paper No. 1721. Centre for Economic Performance.
Muntoni, F., & Retelsdorf, J. (2018). Gender-specific teacher expectations in reading—The role of teachers’ gender stereotypes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 54, 212-220.
Retelsdorf, J., Schwartz, K., & Asbrock, F. (2015). “Michael can’t read!” Teachers’ gender stereotypes and boys’ reading self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(1), 186.
Riegle-Crumb, C., & Humphries, M. (2012). Exploring bias in math teachers’ perceptions of students’ ability by gender and race/ethnicity. Gender & Society, 26(2), 290-322.
Steffens, M. C., & Jelenec, P. (2011). Separating implicit gender stereotypes regarding math and language: Implicit ability stereotypes are self-serving for boys and men, but not for girls and women. Sex Roles, 64(5-6), 324-335.
Wallander, L. (2009). 25 years of factorial surveys in sociology: A review. Social Science Research, 38(3), 505–52
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