GENDER-RELATED DIFFERENCES ON THE COLLEGE-BOARDS ADVANCED-PLACEMENT-TEST AND ACHIEVEMENT-TEST, 1982-1992

This study explored gender-related differences in participation in and scores on the College Board's Advanced Placement Program and Achievem ent examinations. In both sets of tests, the numbers of male and femal e high school students were unequal for several subject areas. The Fre nch, Spanish, and Modern Hebrew examinations attracted many more femal e than male students, whereas many more male than female students took the Physics, Chemistry, and Computer Science examinations. There was little change in most of the patterns of enrollment from 1982 through 1992. Male students had moderately higher scores on the Physics, Chemi stry, and Computer Science tests, whereas female students had a slight advantage on some of the language examinations. Although the patterns of gender-related score differences were stable, there were some indi cations that gender differences are narrowing, especially in the areas of American history and computer science.