GENDER AND MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING

The relationship between gender and mathematical problem-solving among high ability students depends on the attributes of the problem solvin g questions. This was evident in the present study of 12-year-olds. Th e children were from predominately White families. Eighty-three males and 76 females were tested in both the fall and the spring on the Fenn ema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales and on the Canadian Test of B asic Skills (CTBS). In the Spring, students were also tested on the GA USS. Both the CTBS and the GAUSS measure mathematical problem solving. Among high ability students, there were gender differences on the pro blem-solving scale of the CTBS but not on the GAUSS, even though the G AUSS was independently rated as the more abstract and difficult of the two tests. The present study describes the implications of this for t he question of the origin of gender differences in mathematics, and al so looked at the relationship between attitudes toward mathematics and mathematical problem-solving performance.