Gender differences in mathematics anxiety and achievement: grades 4-8

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in mathematics anxiety as it is related to mathematics achievement. It was expected that there would not be a gender difference in mathematics achievement, but that there would be a gender difference in math anxiety. Specifically, it was expected that females would have a higher math anxiety than males, and that this difference would magnify in the higher grades. The participants were 250 students in grades 4-8 from a Catholic elementary school in a middle-class suburb in Southern New Jersey. Prior to their mathematics midterm examination, the participants completed the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC), a 22-question Likert-response survey. The anxiety scale was coded to match each participant\u27s mathematics midterm score, which was provided by the student\u27s teacher. The results were analyzed using a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results of the study were unexpected. First, there was no gender difference in math anxiety. Second, there was a gender difference in math achievement, that, as a group, the females performed significantly better than the males