Gender Gap in STEM: A Cross-Sectional Study of Primary School Students' Self-Perception and Test Anxiety in Mathematics

Contribution: Significant gender differences are observed on primary school students' perception of self-efficacy and test anxiety in mathematics. Girls perceive themselves to be significantly worse than boys in mathematics and report higher test anxiety toward mathematics exams. Gender differences in self-efficacy become more pronounced as students grow up, and test anxiety increases for all students. However, the present study shows that teachers' do not perceive differences in self-efficacy in mathematics between boys and girls. Background: The low presence of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) might be explained by the attitude of young students toward mathematics. Different studies show that girls are less interested in STEM areas than boys during secondary school. A study on the reasons for this fact pointed out that the early years of education can provide a relevant insight to reverse the situation. Research Questions: Is there any age-dependent gender difference in primary school students in aspects related to mathematics? Are teachers aware of students' perceptions? Methodology: This work presents a study of over 2000 primary school students (6-12 years old) and 200 teachers in Aragón (Spain). The study consists of a survey on aspects that influence the experience of female and male students with mathematics and Spanish language for comparison purposes and teacher's awareness of students' perception. Findings: The present study shows that during primary school, girls are more likely to experiment a negative attitude toward mathematics than boys as they grow up, and teachers may not perceive girls' situation.