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INT. J. SCI. EDUC., 1999, VOL. 21, NO. 6, 633–643
RESEARCH REPORT
Gender preferences in learning science
Rae Stark, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland and Donald Gray,
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Scotland has been conducting national monitoring exercises in science perfo rmance at three-yearly
intervals since 1987 through the Assess ment of Achievement Programme (AAP). The fourth survey
in 1 996 included a questionnaire designed to elicit pupils’ preferences for some common science topics
as well as their views on the k inds of learning experiences encountered in school. The respons es of a
nationally representative sample of pupils at three stages, two primary (P 4 – 8/9 years and P7 – 11/12
years) and one secondary (S 2 – 13/14 years), were analysed by (st)age and gender. While this element of
the survey was intended primarily as a feasibility study, some clear patterns of preference along age and
gender lines were identified. Conc erns over achievement and attitudes in science have been particularly
sharp in the early secondary years, where pupils have not been meeting expectations. The findings from
this national survey are intended to add to that debate.
Introduction
The Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) is a three-yearly rolling pro-
gramme of national monitoring of achievement in Scotland in three curricular
areas: mathematics, English language and science. The fourth national survey of
standards in science was undertaken by the AAP Science team in 1996 (Stark et al.
1997). The assessment package contained both written and practical (performance)
assessment activities and involved approximately 2000 pupils at each of three
stages in the school system. The main aims of the survey were:
1. to assess what P 4 ( 8/9 years old), P 7 (11/12 years) and S 2 (13/14 years)
children knew and could do in agreed aspects of science;
2. to provide comparisons of the performance of pupils at the three stages P 4,
P7 and S2;
3. where possible, to provide comparisons of the children’ s performance in
1993 and 1996.
Achievement in the AAP Science Surveys
Over the four surveys to date ( 1987, 1990, 1993 and 1996) performance at the
primary stages has been regarded as satisfactory, although not ideal. At the
secondary stage, 13/14 years, performance in each survey has been regarded as
unsatisfactory and giving cause for concern. In particular, the expected benefits of
two years of specialist teaching in the secondary school were not in evidence when
performance levels were compared with those pupils just completing their primary
education (Stark et al. 1997). These findings have added to the concern that
0950–0693/99 $12 0 0 Ñ1999 Taylor & Francis Ltd.
secondary schools are adopting a ’ fresh start’ approach and failing to take account
of pupils’ primary school experience (SOED 1994).
Comparisons of performance in the written components of the two most recent
surveys ( 1993 and 1996) indicate that while there is evidence of some improvement
over time at 8/9 years and little difference at 11/12 years, performance levels at 13/
14 years have declined significantly in a number of aspects of science. Further
analysis by gender indicates that, while the performance levels of both boys and
girls have fallen, this is more evident in the statistics for boys than girls. In the
1996 survey, 20% of the written tasks showed significant differences in the levels of
performance of boys and girls in the P4 sample while at P 7 the figure was 33% and
at S 2, 45%. At each stage, this represent s a slight increase in the number of tasks
where significant differences were observed over the 1993 survey figures, indicat-
ing an increasing gap in the performance levels of boys and girls.
In terms of the aspects of science where differences arose, these tended to be
along traditional lines, echoing the findings of the APU Science surveys in
England & Wales in the 1980s (DES/APU 1988a, 1988b, 1988c). Where boys
showed superior performance levels, this tended to be in the physical sciences
(physics and chemistry) and in tasks which focused on knowledge and understand-
ing. Girls performed at significantly higher levels on tasks where the content/
context was drawn from the biological sciences and in those written tasks assessing
science skills. These patterns of difference were consistent across the three stages
and of increasing strength with age. These findings refer to written tasks only
however, as there were no clear patterns of gender-related differences at any age
in the practical component of the survey (although there were far fewer tasks on
which to base such comp arisons).
Achievement in state examinations
Pupils in Scottish schools sit national examinations at the end of fourth year in
secondary, at approximately 16 years of age (Standard Grade). This is at the end of
compulsory schooling. Those who stay on in school can take the Higher Grade
examinations, which form the basis for entry to tertiary education, at the end of
either fifth or sixth year.
Much earlier, at the end of second year, pupils select the subjects they wish to
study for the Standard Grade examinations. Since 1984 all pupils have been
required to study science, eith er as general science or at least one of the three
main disciplines, until fourth year. In 1994, in an overview of science provision
and practice, Her Majesty’ s Inspectors for Schools (HMI) reported that, while
Standard Grade courses had been designed to be equally attractive to both sexes,
the traditional bias along gender lines was still in evidence (SOED 1994). In the
decade preceding the report, candidates for Standard Grade examinations had
been 2 to 1 in favour of girls for biology, 2 to 1 in favour of boys for physics,
with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls in chemistry.
They reported a slight increase in girls sitting physics (3–4%) and in boys
sitting biology (1–2%) over the 10 years, but remained concerned and advised
principal teachers of science subjects to try to address this issue within their
own schools. Quite how they were supposed to do so was not specified although
they also recommended that researchers should seek ways of making all science
courses ’ equally attractive to boys and girls’ (SOED 1994: 69).
634 R. STARK AND D. GRAY
The 1996 examination statistics for Scotland (SEB 1997) do not show that this
advice has made an impact. The pattern of presentation for Standard Grade exam-
inations in 1996 was still around 1 to 2 in favour of girls in biology, 1 to 2 in favour
of boys for physics and with approximately even numbers of boys and girls in
chemistry, at the end of fourth year. For the main science disciplines in the Higher
Grade examinations, combining the figures for those presented for examination at
the end of either fifth or sixth year, the ratios were again in the order of 1 to 2 in
favour of girls in biology, 1 to 2 in favour of boys in physics and slightly in favour
of boys in chemistry.
In both Standard and Higher Grade examinations, the total figures for boys
and girls presented for science were very similar, with only marginally more boys
than girls. In terms of achievement, the patterns of success were roughly in line
with participation rates. These figures paint a picture of gender-related differences
in preference for subject and achievement in national assessment which persist s
from 8 to 9 years until the end of schooling. Appeals by HMI to make secondary
courses ’ equally attractive to both boys and girls’ are unlikely to make much head-
way against such a weight of evidence.
Achievement and attitude
Much of the debate on standards and achievement in science has focused on the
cognitive domain. The relationship between the cognitive and effective compon-
ents of learning is not a clear one (Torney-Purta 1994) and achieving cognitive
change may depend on ensuring that the affective aspects are considered. Watts
and Alsop (1997) also focus on affective aspects of learning, highlighting the need
for learning opportunities to be salient, palatable and germane. They argue that
such features are more likely to engage the learner and challenge existing beliefs
and understandings. They also, however, acknowledge the tension between draw-
ing on individual interests and the pressures of the school curriculum with its
time-tables and examinations.
There is less such pressure in the primary school where engendering a more
positive, enquiring attitude to science and scientific issues might well pay off in the
longer term. The AAP evidence, from response rates to assessment tasks and from
the anecdotal reports of assessors, indicates that primary children, particularly the
11 and 12 year olds were more motivated, would ’ have a go’ at almost anything put
in front of them, and would tackle questions which they were unlikely to have met
in a formal school setting. The 13 and 14 year olds were less motivated and more
likely to fail to complete questions which looked unfamiliar or challenging. In
order to explore further pupils’ attitudes to learning science, a questionnaire was
included in the survey for those pupils who participated in the assessment exercise.
The questionnaires
The questionnaires were designed to reflect the ES 5-14 Guidelines and developed
from a consideration of a number of other studies (White and Richardson 1993,
Davies and Brember 1994, Mortimore et al. undated). Two of the three sections of
the questionnaire are discussed here and full details of the survey, including the
questionn aire, can be found in the project report by Stark et al. (1997).
GENDER PREFERENCES I N LEARNING SCIENCE 635
One set of questions attempted to get a pupils’ preferences for topics in
science. Pupils were presented with an array of nine rows of pictorial representa-
tions of three topics (figure 1). Each of the topics was derived from one of three
Attainment Outcomes (AOs) for science set out in the Scottish curricular guide-
lines. These are: AO1 Living Things and the Processes of Life, AO2 Energy and
Forces and AO3 Earth and Space. In traditional terms, they correspond closely to
biology, physics and chemistry, respectively. The pupils were asked to tick one box
in each row to indicate which of the three topics they would prefer to do.
In this example, the first topic, ’ living things’ , reflects statements in AO 1, the
second to pic ’ sound’ can be fo und in AO 2 and the thir d, ’ metals’ , is from AO 3.
The order in which the AOs were arranged varied from row to row.
The second set of questions was presented to the two older groups only ( 11/12
years and 13/14 years) as it was judged that the language demands were excessive
for the 8/9 year olds (using ’ big’ words, technical terms, etc.) and that ’science’ , as
an area of the curriculum, would not be a familiar term for these pupils. (In
Scottish primary schools, science is traditionally integrated into ’ environmental
studies’ together with subjects such as history, geography and social studies, and
has tended to be taught through general topic studies.)
As figure 2 indicates, each question had two parts, the first of which asked
pupils to rate how often they participated in a particular science activity, using a
three point scale. The second part asked them how much they enjoyed the activity,
when and if it occurred. Enjoyment was rated on a five point scale.
636 R. STARK AND D. GRAY
Figure 1. Example from ’favourite topics’ section of questionnaire.
Figure 2. Questionnaire format on frequency of activity and level of
enjoyment.
The findings
Preferences for topics
A total of 27 topics, nine from each AO were used. Responses were grouped by AO
and gender, and the mean percentages were calculated (figure 3(a) and 3(b)).
Examination of these figures reveals some interesting trends.
At all three stages, approximately 50% of the girls’ choices were for topics from
AO1 Living Things and the Processes of Life. The figures for the other two out-
comes were much lower, at around 20% and 30% respectively, for each stage. Thus
there was a fairly strong bias in favour of the biological sciences at all three stages.
In contrast, the boys’ choices were more evenly distributed across the outcomes,
ranging from 27% at the lowest to 37% at the highest point, with no clear prefer-
ences.
GENDER PREFERENCES I N LEARNING SCIENCE 637
Figure 3(b). Boys’ preferences for topics by attainment outcome by stage.
Figure 3(a). Girls’ preferences for topics by attainment outcome by stage.
A second pattern is discernible in the data. The mean percentages for girls
show considerable consistency in choices by AO across the year groups (figure
3(a)), with a slight increase in the selection of AO1 topics from P4 to S2 (2.5%).
Selection of AO2 topics fluctuated only slightly, although not by more than 5%
between any two stages and for AO 3 there was a 2% difference between any two
stages, with an overall increase of less than 1% from the youngest to the eldest.
In contrast, boys were less likely to select AO 1 topics with age (almost 9%
decrease from P4–S2), with figures for AO 2 topics rising by the same amount
(figure 3(b)). Selection of AO3 topics remained fairly steady. Generally, boys’
preferences appear to have shifted from biologically oriented topics to physics as
the age of the pupils in the samples increased.
Learning activities
At both national and international levels, much of the debate on standards has been
concerned with the methods used in teaching science in schools and the extent to
which school science lessons draw on, and encourage pupils to apply and use,
science knowledge gained outwith the classroom. This section seeks to explore
the types of activities used and pupils’ responses to them.
A total of 12 activities were included in the questions for 11/12 and 13/14
pupils. Table 1 sho ws the percentages of all pupils respond ing ’ often’ , ’ sometimes’
and ’ never’ to each activity. (The figures for boys and girls were very similar.)
The most frequently reported activity at both stages was ’ Teacher explains
science to the class’ . ’Working with apparatus and materials’ happened often in
two-thirds of the classes of 13/14 pupils and one third of the 11/12 pupils. ’Writing
about science’ was another of the more frequently experienced activities in both
age groups although more so in the secondary than primary school.
Generally, the 11/12 pupils were less likely to engage in doing science in any
form than their older counterparts. Significant numbers never did workcards, used
a computer or learned about famous scientists. Nor did they get many opportu-
nities to follow up their own questions in science. The patterns was similar if less
sharp for the older pupils, although even fewer used computers during science
lessons.
Enjoyment of learning activities in science
The second part of the question asked pupils to rate their enjoyment of each
learning activity on a 5-point scale. For this paper, the five-point scale has been
collapsed to give three categories: positive, neutral and negative. The figures for
the positive and negative attitudes to the various learning activities are shown in
tables 2 and 3. (At each stage, ’all’ gives the combined data for boys and girls.)
The patterns of responses for boys and girls were, in the main, quite similar.
’ Working with apparatus and materials’ and ’Watching television/videos’ were the
only activities which exceeded 50% across all pupil groups. ’ Discussing scienc e in
groups’ and ’ Teache r explain s’ were fairly highly rated , as was ’ Solving a prob-
lem’ .
The lowest rated activities were ’ Doing a scie nce workcard ’ , ’ Reading b ooks
about scien ce’ an d, perhaps more surprising ly, ’ Following up own que stions’ .
638 R. STARK AND D. GRAY
GENDER PREFERENCES I N LEARNING SCIENCE 639
Table 1. Percentages of P 7 and S 2 pupils responding to each activity.
Primary 7 Secondary 7
Never Sometimes Often Never Sometimes Often
You discuss science in groups 10 73 17 9 64 27
The teacher explains to class 7 60 33 1 25 74
Work with apparatus & materials 16 62 23 1 30 69
The teacher demonstrates to class 23 60 16 3 60 37
You do a science workcard 56 35 8 46 33 20
You solve a problem in science 13 65 23 4 65 31
You follow up your own science
questions
40 52 8 26 58 14
The class watches T.V or video about
science
21 57 22 6 77 17
You read books about science in class 26 59 16 16 65 19
You use a computer during science 53 39 8 80 19 1
You write about something you have
done in science
17 54 30 10 37 53
You learn about famous scientists 40 51 9 51 45 5
’ Learning about famous scientists’ was not universally enjoyed either. The mean
rating across the activities was remarkably similar for all four sub-samples.
At 11/12 years, the main differences between boys and girls were ’ Discussing
science in groups’ where boys enjoyed this more than the girls. Girls preferred
’ Teacher demonstrates’ and were also more favourably disposed towards writing
about their science activities than were the boys at this stage. At 13/14 years, boys
were generally more positive than girls, particularly towards problem-solving,
watching television and learning about famous scientists.
640 R. STARK AND D. GRAY
Table 3. Negative attitudes to learning activities by gender (% of sample).
Primary 7 Secondary 2
Boys All Girls Boys All Girls
You discuss science in groups 21 20 18 17 17 16
The teacher explains to class 25 23 22 17 18 19
Work with apparatus & materials 18 16 14 4 5 5
The teacher demonstrates to class 29 26 22 16 17 17
You do a science workcard 53 50 46 45 44 43
You solve a problem in science 29 28 27 17 21 24
You follow up your own science
questions
39 39 38 30 30 31
The class watches T.V or video about
science
25 24 23 18 19 21
You read books about science in class 34 34 33 37 37 38
You use a computer during science 36 35 34 51 52 52
You write about something you have
done in science
40 37 34 33 30 28
You learn about famous scientists 44 43 41 43 46 49
Mean 33 31 29 27 28 29
Table 2. Positive attitudes to learning activities by gender (% of sample).
Primary 7 Secondary 2
Boys All Girls Boys All Girls
You discuss science in groups 50 47 44 47 46 44
The teacher explains to class 42 40 38 51 49 47
Work with apparatus & materials 63 64 65 84 83 81
The teacher demonstrates to class 43 46 49 53 51 49
You do a science workcard 25 25 25 25 25 25
You solve a problem in science 44 42 40 50 44 38
You follow up your own science
questions
31 30 29 32 30 28
The class watches T.V or video about
science
55 53 51 61 58 54
You read books about science in class 36 34 33 27 25 23
You use a computer during science 49 47 44 35 32 30
You write about something you have
done in science
29 32 35 33 34 35
You learn about famous scientists 32 31 30 27 24 21
Mean 42 41 40 44 42 40
On average, just under one third of pupils did not enjoy the science activities
listed. Particular dislikes included ’ Doing a science workcard’ (at both stages), with
11/12-year-old boys showing a stronger aversion to this. Boys of this age also
disliked ’ Teache r demonstrates’ and ’ Writi ng about science’ .
At 13/14 years, patterns of dislike were quite similar for boys and girls, with
only ’ Learning about scientists’ showing a significant difference in ratings. At both
stages, activities which involved reading and/or writing were rated low. While
there were more positive responses than negative responses from both boys and
girls in both groups, about 60% of pupils display neutral or negative attitudes to
science activities in general, although there was a marginal, but not significant,
shift away from negative attitudes with the older group.
At 11/12 years, there was some evidence that boys tended to be more polarized
in their likes and dislikes, with girls more neutral in their responses. Where differ-
ences existed they were small and fairly evenly distributed across the twelve activ-
ities with only a few minor variations in the pattern. For example, girls were
marginally more positive than boys towards teacher demonstrations and writing
about science.
Discussion
This was essentially a feasibility exercise and, as such, it produced some very
interesting findings. While the data, obtained from a survey and therefore essen-
tially descriptive, do not allow cause and effect relationships to be explored, it is in
line with some of the findings of others looking at gender differences in science.
Favourite topics
The polarization of choices, with girls having a stronger preference for the biolo-
gical sciences than boys, indicates a split along traditional gender lines, which was
also evident in the performance data. It is also in line with the relatively smaller
numbers of girls choosing the physical sciences in later secondary years.
Whitelegg ( 1996) reported that, in a study of 12-year-olds, boys preferred
more science topics than did girls, who tended to select non-science topics, and
that the topics selected tended to follow the girls-and-biology/boys-and-physics
pattern. Gender-biased patterns of preference along similar lines were reported by
Sjùberg and Imsen (1988) who found that girls were attracted to topics where the
content had an aesthetic element and/or was set in an everyday or societal context.
What is interesting about the Scottish data is that this preference appears at an
early age and remains in evidence throughout the secondary years.
Learning science
The general impression from the data is that much of what goes on in science
classrooms is not particularly attractive to either boys or girls. The reliability of
pupil self-report s might be questioned but when their responses are set against the
findings from AAP questionnaires to schools on science policy and provision, they
correspond well. In particular, teachers involved in the 1996 AAP Science survey
appeared to put greater emphasis on whole-class teaching in the secondary than in
the primary school (Stark et al. 1997).
GENDER PREFERENCES I N LEARNING SCIENCE 641
The low incidence of upper primary teachers allowing pupils to follow up their
own questions in science lessons may reflect a lack of teacher confidence in helping
them to frame questions or in handling the wide variety of open-ended enquiries
that might result. Alternatively, it may reflect curriculum planning strategies that
generate lessons which focus on science content rather than process. The latter
explanation is partially supported by the information from schools which indicates
an increased emphasis on content and a decreased emphasis on the skills in plan-
ning investigations since the introduction of the national guidelines in 1993. In
planning their teaching, primary teachers were increasingly focusing on specific
content areas for develop ment, whereas secondary teachers appear to have been
more concerned with prioritising other aspects, including assessment and, to a
lesser extent, investigative skills.
There is a mis-match in the data gathered from schools and pupils on the use
of computers in S2. Eighty percent of 13/14-year-olds reported that they never
used computers whereas 51% of their teachers claimed to use them in class work
(Stark et al. 1997). That more of the primary pupils claimed to use computers
(sometimes or often) could indicate that primarily pupils have easier access to
computers; that primary teachers use computers more resourcefully for a greater
number of tasks; or that much of the available software is targeted at the primary
curriculum and less appropriate for the secondary curriculum. The low use of
computers in secondary science reported by pupils is interesting given the recent
Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS) report which
indicated that, of the 35 countries involved, Scotland had the highest number of
computers per school (SOEID, 1996).
The strong similarities in patterns of positive, neutral and negative responses
to the various learning tasks in the upper primary and early secondary stages are
surprising in the light of the differential exposure given to the various types of task.
Differences between boys and girls were not great. Generally girls tended to be
more neutral in their responses, and more tolerant of ’seat-bound’ activities than
boys.
Hofstein and Rosenfeld ( 1996) argue that there is a strong relationship
between a pupil’s motivational characteristics and the kinds of learning activities
and styles of teaching which s/he prefers. It follows that experiencing instructional
approaches which are not preferred is likely to have a de-motivating effect.
Conclusion
While gender-related preferences for topics and disciplines have been explored by
science educators in different countries, there is lack of research on preferences for
styles of teaching and forms of learning activities acros s the years of compulsory
schooling. In addition, much of the research which does exist tends to focus on the
secondary sector and participation and success rates in state examinations. The
data presented here indicates that as some preferences for specific content are
already in place at 8/9 years of age in Scottish schools, research into strategies
for addressing science education at this stage, is long overdue.
That gender preferences (and achievement differences) across disciplines are
in evidence at 8/9 cannot be ignored in considering disparities in the uptake of
science subjects at later stages. The case for addressing gender-related differences
in science is well made by Sjùberg and Imsen (1988) who argue that girls need
642 R. STARK AND D. GRAY
science and science needs girls. This is not solely a ’ girl’ problem however, as the
evidence shows that a significant proportion of boys are not positively disposed to
much of what is on offer in school science lessons either.
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