Gender Difference in Mathematics Achievement of Total, Low-, and High-Achieving Students: Evidence from East Asian Countries’ TIMSS 2015 Mathematics Achievement = 전체 및 저성취, 고성취 학생들의 수학 성취도 성차 분석: 동아시아권 국가의 TIMSS 2015 수학 성취도를 중심으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Gender difference in mathematics achievement has been one of the most controversial issues in the academic area of mathematics over the last few decades. Recent studies suggested that the gender gap tends to decrease over the years, but the difference is much more apparent in higher mathematical ability levels. This paper examined on the gender gap in TIMSS 2015 mathematics achievement of total, low-, and high-achieving students using mutlilevel modeling. Also, this study focused on the gender gap in East Asian countries which outperformed in TIMSS 2015. The results suggest that the gender gap can vary depending on the level of mathematics achievement. For total students, the gender gap was detected in all of the countries except Hong Kong SAR. For low-achieving students, the gender difference was significant in Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore. For high-achieving students, the gender gap was not present in all countries, which suggests that the gender gap in these countries differs from that of the Western area. This study showed that the gender gap in mathematics achievement of East Asian countries could be different according to mathematical ability. Also, this study demonstrated the impact of controlling influential variables on mathematics achievement in studying gender differences by suggesting that the results of the simple comparison of the mean achievement scores were different from the results obtained from the multilevel model controlling important variables on mathematics achievement.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

성별에 따른 수학 성취도 차이는 수십 년간 학계에서 논란의 중심이 되어왔다. 최근 연구에 따르면 남학생과 여학생의 수학 성취도 차이는 전반적으로는 점차 감소해왔으나, 수학 성취도가 높은 학생들의 경우 그 차이가 확연히 드러나는 양상을 취하는 것으로 나타났다. 이 연구에서는 TIMSS 2015 자료를 활용하여 전체 학생 및 저성취, 고성취 학생을 대상으로 성별에 따른 수학 성취도 차이를 분석하였다. 또한, 수학 성취도와 관련 있는 학교 및 학생 변인을 통제하기 위해 다층모형을 사용하였다. 분석 대상 국가는 TIMSS 2015 수학 성취도 평가에서 최상위권을 차지한 동아시아권의 5개 국가(대만, 홍콩, 일본, 한국, 싱가포르)로 한정하였다. 연구 결과, 동아시아권 국가의 수학 성취도 성차는 성취도 수준에 따라 다르게 나타났다. 구체적으로, 전체 학생을 대상으로 했을 때 홍콩을 제외한 4개국에서 유의한 성차가 나타났다. 저성취 학생의 경우 대만, 홍콩, 싱가포르에서 유의한 성차가 나타났다. 고성취 학생의 경우 어느 나라에서도 유의한 성차가 나타나지 않았으며, 이는 동아시아권 국가의 수학 성취도 성차가 서구권 국가의 수학 성취도 성차와는 다른 양상을 나타낸다는 점을 시사한다. 이 연구는 동아시아권 국가의 수학 성취도 성차가 수학 능력 수준에 따라 달리 나타날 수 있음을 보였다. 또한, 단순 평균을 비교한 결과와 다층모형에서 얻어진 결과의 차이점을 제시함으로써 성차를 연구함에 있어 주요 변수의 통제가 미치는 영향을 실증하였다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Gender Difference in Mathematics Achievement
• of Total, Low-, and High-Achieving Students:
• Evidence from East Asian Countries’
• TIMSS 2015 Mathematics Achievement
• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Literature Review
• 1. Gender Gap in Mathematics
• 2. Characteristics of Mathematics Education in East Asian Countries
• Ⅲ. Methods
• 1. Data Sources
• 2. Measures
• 3. Participants
• 4. Analysis Procedure
• Ⅳ. Results
• 1. Descriptive Statistics
• 2. Gender Difference in Mathematics Achievement
• Ⅴ. Conclusion
• References
• 국문요약

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