Table Of ContentADVANCES IN
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
AND BEHAVIOR
Series Editor
JANETTE B. BENSON
Morgridge College of Education,
Department of Psychology,
University of Denver,
Denver, Colorado, USA
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CONTRIBUTORS
OscarA.Barbarin
DepartmentofPsychology,TulaneUniversity,NewOrleans,Louisiana,USA
RebeccaS.Bigler
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA
ChristiaSpearsBrown
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofKentucky,Lexington,Kentucky,USA
RuthButler
SchoolofEducation,HebrewUniversityofJerusalem,Mt.Scopus,Jerusalem,Israel
LisaChinn
DepartmentofPsychology,TulaneUniversity,NewOrleans,Louisiana,USA
EmilyF.Coyle
DepartmentofPsychology,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark,
Pennsylvania,USA
RichardA.Fabes
PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily
Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA
AdrianGale
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA
LauraD.Hanish
PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily
Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA
AmyRobersonHayes
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA
JanetShibleyHyde
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofWisconsin,Madison,Wisconsin,USA
BethKurtz-Costes
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill,
NorthCarolina,USA
CampbellLeaper
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,California,USA
LynnS.Liben
DepartmentofPsychology,ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,UniversityPark,
Pennsylvania,USA
FantasyT.Lozada
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA
ix
x Contributors
CarolLynnMartin
PrograminFamilyandHumanDevelopment,T.DennySanfordSchoolofSocialandFamily
Dynamics,ArizonaStateUniversity,Tempe,Arizona,USA
EthanH.Mereish
DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege,
ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA
JenniferPetersen
DepartmentofEducationalFoundations,UniversityofWisconsin,Whitewater,Wisconsin,
USA
V.PaulPoteat
DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege,
ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA
LatishaRoss
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA
StephanieJ.Rowley
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA
JillianR.Scheer
DepartmentofCounseling,Developmental,andEducationalPsychology,BostonCollege,
ChestnutHill,Massachusetts,USA
MelindaA.Solmon
SchoolofKinesiology,LouisianaStateUniversity,BatonRouge,Louisiana,USA
AmberWilliams
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,Michigan,USA
YamandaF.Wright
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofTexasatAustin,Austin,Texas,USA
PREFACE
Educationalaccomplishmentsvarydramaticallyamongindividualsandpro-
foundly affect lives by facilitating or constraining access to positive out-
comes. Educational achievement is linked, for example, to later physical
health,mentalhealth,careeroptions,income,andlifesatisfaction.Identify-
ingthefactorsthatinfluenceeducationalexperiencesandoutcomesisthere-
fore of great interest in developmental science. Importantly, the
characteristicsthat individualsbringto educationalsettings (e.g.,their eco-
nomic,religious,andculturalbackgrounds)affecttheirexperiences.Among
the most powerful of these characteristics isgender. Gendershapes youths’
understandingandexperienceofeducationacrosstheglobeandacrosshis-
tory. Consider this quote:
Womenarelargerconsumersandbetterdistributorsofknowledgethanmen.
They read more books, and get more satisfaction out of intellectual pursuits
than men. Put boys and girls together in school and college, and if you are
foolishenoughtogivethemtheirrelativerank,andtoofferthemprizes,the
girls will win much more than their proportion. Indeed, many coeducational
institutionshavebeenforcedtoputupsomesortofprotectivebarrierinorder
togivethepoorboyshalfachance(p.202).
Widespread media attention to girls’ and women’s recent educational suc-
cesses or, conversely, boys’ and men’s recent struggles might lead one to
assume this passage was written by a contemporary observer of the U.S.
educationalsystem.ThequotecomesinsteadfromWilliamDeWittHyde,
former President of Bowdoin College, in a 1906 book entitled The College
Man and the College Woman (Boston: Houghton Mifflin) that detailed his
observations of gender differences in relation to education.
The more than 100 years since thepublication ofW. Hyde’s book have
witnessedbothremarkablesimilaritiesanddifferencesinthewaysthatgender
hasbeenrelevantforeducation.Thecurrentvolumewasdesignedtoassemble
papers that discuss important contemporary issues at the intersection of
genderandeducation.Collectively,thechaptersaddressthegender-education
nexusinacademic,occupational,social,andathleticdomainsfromchildhood
through adulthood.
The volume begins with an examination of one of the most important
foundationsofacademicsuccess:motivation.Specifically,Butler(Chapter1)
examines historical and contemporary models of achievement motivation.
Afterreviewingtheliteratureonyouth’sstrategiesofacademicself-evaluation
xi
xii Preface
and self-regulation, she argues that—at the group level—boys develop a
motivational orientation focused on proving their skills, whereas girls
develop a motivational orientation focused on improving their skills.
Her insightful analyses of the costs and benefits of both approaches shed
needed light on the possible causes of current gender gaps in achievement.
Next, Petersen and Hyde (Chapter 2) examine the processes involved
in the creation of a U.S. workforce characterized by high levels of gender
segregation. The authors review evidence for the roles of sex-differentiated
abilities and interests, gender stereotypes, and gender discrimination in
shapingoccupationalgoals.Theypayspecialattentiontotheroleofsocialcog-
nitions(e.g.,individuals’expectanciesandvalues)inshapingyouths’decisions.
Gender differentiation of academic and occupational interests is also
addressed in the contribution by Liben and Coyle (Chapter 3), but with a
specializedfocusoninterventionsdirectedtoscience,technology,engineer-
ing,andmath(STEM). Theauthorshighlighthistoricalandcontemporary
data on women’s participation in STEM and then review intervention
mechanismsimpliedbyvarioustheoriesofgenderdevelopment.Theyoffer
ataxonomyofinterventiongoalsanduseittoorganizeareviewofillustra-
tive interventions designed to reduce the STEM gender gap.
Movingtoadifferent—yetalsogender-differentiated—domainofachieve-
ment,Solmon(Chapter4)examinesgirls’andboys’interestandinvolvement
insportandphysicalactivities.Shepresentscompellingevidencethatthelower
participationofgirlsintheseactivitiesharmstheirwell-beingandderivesfrom
pedagogical practices that privilege boys. Solmon makes insightful recom-
mendations for improving the experiences of both girls and boys in physical
education with the goal of promoting life-long physical health.
Continuingthefocusongenderedprocessesinarenasthatextendbeyond
the learning of academic content, Martin, Fabes, and Hanish (Chapter 5)
examine the causes and consequences of gender segregation in children’s
peerrelationships.Theirchapterdrawsattentiontowaysinwhicheducators
(oftenunknowingly)undermineversusfacilitatewarm,respectful,andsup-
portivecross-genderrelationshipsthat,respectively,therebydiminishversus
enhance the cohesiveness of classroom communities.
Leaper and Brown (Chapter 6) also focus on gender and relationships,
describinghowyouths’educationalexperiencesmaybenegativelyaffected
bygenderstereotyping,prejudice,anddiscriminationonthepartofparents,
teachers, and peers. Their chapter presents information about an under-
studied form of gender bias—sexual harassment within educational
settings—and argues for the importance of providing youth with strategies
for challenging and coping with sexism and sexual harassment.
Preface xiii
Single-sexschooling—sometimespresentedasasolutiontotheproblems
createdbygenderstereotyping,prejudice,anddiscriminationinschools—is
examinedbyBigler,Hayes,andLiben(Chapter7).Theyanalyzeandeval-
uateeachoffivemajorrationalesthathavebeengivenforthecontroversial
(and increasingly common) use of gender segregation in public schools.
They conclude that evidence fails to demonstrate that the single-sex struc-
ture per se yields better social, emotional, or academic outcomes, but note
thatsomeeducationalpracticesemployedinsuchschoolsmaybeprofitably
implemented in coeducational contexts.
One area that needs more attention in coeducational settings concerns
sexual minority and gender-variant youth. As Poteat, Scheer, and Mereish
(Chapter 8) describe, experiences of victimization in school settings are
common among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and gender
nonconforming youth. The authors posit pathways through which such
experiences negatively impact individuals’ learning processes that, in turn,
affect their academic and occupational interests, goals, and outcomes. The
authorspointtoresourcesandstrategiesavailabletoeducatorsandcommu-
nity members who seek to improve educational outcomes among sexual
minority and gender-variant youth.
Another student group that has received attention for comparatively
poor outcomes within the U.S. educational system is African American
boys.Rowleyandhercolleagues(Chapter9)acknowledgethatBlackboys’
academicunderperformancerepresentsanurgenteducationalcrisis,butthey
alsoarguethatthepervasivenessofanarrativeoffailureisitselfharmful.In
particular,thisnarrativeunderminesparents’andteachers’academicexpec-
tationsandsimultaneouslyundercutsBlackboys’ownacademicmotivations
and goals. The authors call for the development of counter-narratives that
instead focus on African American boys’ academic talents and successes.
In a related chapter, Barbarin, Chinn, and Wright (Chapter 10) address
the unique barriers to academic success faced by African American boys.
Theyoutlinemanyrealandseriousobstaclesthattheseboysfaceintheirlives
bothinandoutofschool.Theauthorsthenprovidespecificrecommenda-
tions for educational reforms designed to support African American boys,
including the provision of African American male (i.e., in-group) mentors
andtheestablishmentofpositivestudent–teacherrelationships.Theysuggest
thatsuchreformsmaybereadilyimplementedinsingle-sexschools,butnote
that such practices are likely to benefit students in other school settings as
well, irrespective of race and gender.
Insum,thisvolumecoversawiderangeofwaysinwhichgenderhasa
powerfulinfluenceonindividuals’education-relatedexpectancies,interests,
xiv Preface
aptitudes,andoutcomes.Throughoutthevolume,authorshavefocusednot
onlyonhowempiricalfindingshelptotestandextendtheoreticalworkon
genderandeducation,butalsoonhowempiricalworkcaninformpedagog-
ical and curricular changes aimed at increasing gender fairness, justice, and
equality.Suchreformsshouldhelpyouthovercomethegender-,sexuality-,
andrace-relatedconstraintsthatnowoperatebothwithinandbeyondedu-
cational settings.
Anyvolumereachesprintthankstothecollectiveeffortsofmanypeople,
andthisvolumeisnoexception.Wethuscloseourprefacebyexpressingour
deepthankstothemanyindividualswhohelpedtomakethisprojectareal-
ity.WebeginbythankingJanetteBensonforidentifyingthetopicofgender
asripeforathematicvolumeintheseriessheedits,forinvitingustoserveas
guest editors, and for supporting our proposal to focus the volume on
education-related topics. Second, we are grateful to the chapter authors
fortheirstrongcommitmentsandcontributionstothisresearchareaingen-
eral,andfortheirwillingnesstowritechaptersforthisvolumeinparticular.
Theywereapleasuretocollaboratewiththroughouttheprocess,andtheir
contributions will continue to push the field forward in years to come.
Third, we thank the Elsevier staff with whom we have worked along the
way. Although there are too many individuals to name them all, we wish
to single out for special thanks Sarah Lay, Zoe Kruze, and Radhakrishnan
Lakshmanan who have been particularly efficient and responsive in so
many ways.
Duringthefinalstagesoftheproductionofthisbook,thefieldlostoneof
itsearliestandmostcreative,productive,andforesightedcontributorstothe
study of gender development—Sandra Bem. Among the many things that
were remarkable about Sandy were her excellent theoretical and empirical
scholarship and her dogged attention to what that theory and research
impliedaboutchildren’sdevelopmentineverydaysettingsofhome,school,
andcommunity.Sheandherfamilyhavebeenmodelsofresistingthesocietal
genderconstraintsthatfiguresoprominentlyinmanyofthechaptersofthis
volume.Wemissherasafriend,aresearchcolleague,andasamodelofinte-
gratingscholarshipandpractice,anddedicatethisvolumetohermemory.
LYNN S. LIBEN
University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
REBECCA S. BIGLER
Austin, Texas, USA
CHAPTER ONE
Motivation in Educational
Contexts: Does Gender Matter?
Ruth Butler1
SchoolofEducation,HebrewUniversityofJerusalem,Mt.Scopus,Jerusalem,Israel
1Correspondingauthor:e-mailaddress:[email protected]
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. TheoreticalFrameworks:EarlyandContemporaryApproaches 4
2.1 Beginnings 4
2.2 Expectancy-ValueTheory 6
2.3 AttributionTheory 7
2.4 AchievementGoalTheory 7
3. AQuestionofConfidence?GenderandPerceptionsofCompetenceandControl 8
3.1 PerceptionsofCompetence 8
3.2 DoSexDifferencesinPerceivedCompetenceChangewithAge? 11
3.3 PerceptionsofCausalityandControl 12
4. ProvingandImproving:GenderandMotivesforEvaluation 15
4.1 ApproachestoEvaluation 15
4.2 DevelopmentofProvingandImprovingApproachestoSelf-Evaluation 16
5. AchievementGoals 20
5.1 GenderandAchievementGoals 20
5.2 GenderandAchievementGoalsinContext 21
6. AchievementandSocialGoals,Values,andInterests 23
6.1 GenderandRelationships 23
6.2 GoodGirls,BrainyBoys:PerformingAcademicallyandPerformingGender 24
6.3 Interests,Values,andIdentity 27
7. SocialInfluences 29
7.1 Parents 29
7.2 Teachers 30
8. Conclusions 32
8.1 Improving,Proving,andAcademicMotivationAmongBoysandGirls 32
8.2 ImplicationsforTheoryandResearch 33
8.3 ImplicationsforEducation 34
References 35
TheRoleofGenderinEducationalContextsandOutcomes(L.S.Liben&R.S.Bigler,Eds.) #2014ElsevierInc. 1
AdvancesinChildDevelopmentandBehavior(J.B.Benson,SeriesEd.),Vol.47 Allrightsreserved.
ISSN0065-2407 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2014.05.001
2 RuthButler
Abstract
Girlsandwomennowoutperformboysandmenonmanyindicesofacademicachieve-
ment. Gender differences in motivation may underlie these trends. In this chapter,
Ireviewandintegrateresearchongenderdifferencesinself-evaluation,self-regulation,
and achievement goals. I argue forthe existence ofgendered tendencies “to prove”
versus “to try and to improve,” whereby males tend to orient to demonstrating and
defending their abilities, and females to working hard and addressing deficiencies.
Idiscusshowthesemotivationsdevelopwithinsocialandeducationalcontextsoflearn-
ing,andintersectwithgenderedpatternsofsocialization,values,andbehaviorsinother
arenas,especiallyrelationalones.Recurringthemesincludethecostsandbenefitsof
differentialemphasesoncompetitionandself-promotionversusaffiliationandconsid-
erationofothersinthefamily,peergroup,andclassroom.Iconcludewithsomerec-
ommendations for creating classroom environments that might promote optimal
motivationamongallstudents,regardlessofgender.
1. INTRODUCTION
For me, as for many women who went to college in the 1970s, dis-
covering gender was a formative and transformative experience. Feminist
analyses provided us with a new way of understanding ourselves and the
world that had a profound influence on the ways we lived, or at least tried
toliveourlives,onourcareerchoices,onourrelationships,andalsoonhow
weunderstoodanddidtheoryandresearch.Thefollowingdecadesbrought
excitingadvancesinunderstandinggenderandmoregenerallyinconceptu-
alizingtheintersectionsofthepersonalandsocialinhumanpsychology.But
from being an important focus also of theory and research on motivation,
gender has again become a somewhat neglected topic (albeit with some
notableexceptions).Icontinuetobesurprisedbythenumberofmanuscripts
Icomeacross—publishedpapers,submissions,grantproposals—inwhichit
doesnotseemtohaveoccurredtotheauthorsthatgendermightberelevant.
Theydidnotaddressgenderintheliteraturereview,didnotconductevena
preliminary examination of possible gender effects, and at most provided a
mention when describing the sample (e.g., 52% female).
Onepossibilityisthatgendernolongermatters,inthesenseofmeaning-
fullyimpactingmotivationandmotivationaloutcomesineducationalcon-
texts,atleastintheWesternpopulationsthatstillmakeupmostofthesamples
in published studies.Another is that the studyof gender is no longer intel-
lectuallyengaging,becausewealreadyunderstandhowandwhyitimpacts
motivationandachievement.So,thisisagoodtimetoaskwhethergender
