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360: ATTITUDES, SELF-EFFICACY AND MATHEMATICS ACADEMIC ACHIEVMENT: ANALYSING PATHWAYS OF (IN) SUCCESS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS

If previous research has evidenced the importance of students’ engagement in school and motivational and affective states for and school success and failure, there are also a growing body of results pointing to the need of considering gender as a mediating factor of influence in this relationship.
This study aims to analyze how gender influences the relationship between attitudes, self-efficacy and Mathematics achievement
The participants were 170 middle school pupils (5th and 6th grade), aged between 10 and 15 years old. The instruments used were a Scale of Attitudes towards Mathematics Review – EARM-R, Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale – MSES and a Socio demographic Questionnaire.
The results show that school performance in mathematics is related to several factors: age, previous retentions, attitudes towards mathematics and perception of self-efficacy. Linear regression analyses also indicate different pattern of predictors for male and female performance in Mathematics. So according to the results, gender isn’t related in a statistically significant way with the school performance in mathematics, but with attitudes and perception of self-efficacy. For boys, self-efficacy in mathematics reveals to have a greater predictive power in school performance that the dimension of attitudes. For girls, the dimensions of attitudes towards mathematics reveal have a greater predictive power in school performance that the perception of self-efficacy.

Author(s):

Graça Bidarra    
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
Portugal

Piedade Vaz-Rebelo    
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
Portugal

Valentim Alferes    
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
Portugal

Carlos Barreira    
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
Portugal

Graciete Franco-Borges    
Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
Portugal

Fernanda Silva    
Agrupamento de Escolas da Zona Urbana da Figueira da Foz
Portugal