Males of all racial and ethnic groups are more likely than females to receive disciplinary sanctions.
- Only 1% of Asian Pacific Islander females were suspended, compared with 11% of Asian Pacific Islander males (KewelRamani et al., 2007).
- White females were half as likely to be expelled as White males (p < .001)
- Black females were half as likely to be expelled as Black males (p < .05)
- Black males are 16 times more likely to be suspended than White females.

Gender Achievement Gap and Discipline Gap

- “‘Matilda effect’”-a matthew effect in science that has historically promoted cumulative male advantage and female disadvantage through the operation of old-boy networks and other discriminatory practices” 
- People argue that the matthew effect has made it much harder for women to advance in the science fields because small injustices in the evaluation of female work lead to larger and larger differences in the advancement of their careers (in comparison to men)

matilda effect (matthew effect in science)

Gender Gap in STEM Education

- Females generally have better study habits than males
- Females prefer highlighting text more than males
- Females trend towards preferring small group teaching more than males
- Females trend towards preferring doing internet research more than males
- Females prefer studying in the morning while males prefer studying during the evening or at night
- Females generally study more than males per day regardless of when the exam is
- Males generally delay starting to study later than females (procrastination)
- Male traits correlate with better study strategies than female traits

Differences in study habits based on gender

Goal-setting interventions decreases the academic achievement gap between male and female students.

The effects of goal-setting on the gender academic achievement gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between male and female students.

San Jose State University

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Increased stress and other negative effects coming from the fear of affirming stereotypes about one's identity. Measures of identity can be, but not limited to:
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Age
- Profession

Individuals affected by Stereotype Threat may face distractions, narrowed attention, anxiety, self-consciousness, usually resulting in a decrease of personal performance.

Stereotype Threat

- Race
- Gender
- Income
- Language
- Disability
- Parent Education Level
- Nationality
- Technology
- Traditional
- Cultural differences
- The Impact of Coronavirus

Types of Achievement Gaps in Education

Achievement Gap Definition (2013, Dec. 19). The Glossary of Education Reform. https://www.edglossary.org/achievement-gap/

Achievement Gap Definition

Steele, Claude M., and Joshua Aronson. "Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans." Journal of personality and social psychology 69.5 (1995): 797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans

Gender Gap in Education

In an experimental setting, Lauer et.al found that the recommended values-affirmation writing task was able to improve female students' learning gains in several introductory science classes (Intro Bio, Biochem, Physics).

- However, survey measures found that the both the control and test populations strongly disagreed with claims that would normally contribute to stereotype threat (e.g "I expect men to generally do better than women in biology"), even among the male sub-population. 

Lauer et.al suggests that the gender-based stereotype threat may not be consistent through institutions, and that previous initiatives focused on hiring female faculty may be "paying off" by inspiring current students as more and more female instructors being teaching introductory courses. In addition, Lauer et.al suggests that there may be a "stereotype reactance" effect, where women may respond to the challenge by overperforming, rather than stress about the stereotype.

Gender Stereotype Threat in Introductory Science Courses

Pygmalion effect- A psychological phenomenon where high expectations lead to increased performance. 

Pygmalion in The Classroom

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. American Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.2307/1162010

Pygmalion in The Classroom (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968)

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between white and minority students.

Race Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between high- and low-income students.

Income Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between non-disabled and disabled students.

Disability Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between students with parents with high educational attainment and students with parents with low educational attainment. 

Parent Education Level Achievement Gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between domestic and international students. 

Nationality Achievement Gap

-  1) Which variables should we use in our analysis? Why?
-  2) What types of achievement gap can we study? Why?
-  3) How should we define each type of achievement gap based on the available data and how it's defined in the literature?
-  4) Why does it matter to study the effect of the pandemic on that achievement gap? and what do you hypothesize of the effect of the pandemic on that achievement gap? Why? Please find and cite supporting literature.

Time to Innovate: Discussion and Ideas for the Achievement Gap Research Question

This paper compares students who are considered traditional against nontraditional students in terms of academic success. The summary and results note that nontraditional students tend to struggle with their GPA and completion of college, especially if they represent more aspects that are considered against the norm of the college student population.  

Traditional vs Nontraditional Students

Difference of students' performances from different culture.

Cultural differences achievement gap

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between native English-speaking students and ESL/ELL students.

Language Gap in Education

- Academics
- Achievement Gap
- Nutritional Health

The Impact of Coronavirus

- Social identity threat is a process that occurs when a person’s view of themselves is at threat due to being a member of a group that is marginalized in the context they find themselves in. The context is key as a group may be marginalized in one context but not in another.
- Demographic composition is especially important for marginalized groups as a low number of members of their group can signal social identity threat.
- Schools are a place where social identity threat is likely to emerge, especially if there is a preconceived notion of race and achievement. 
- Social identity threat has been shown to affect students’ performance as seen through stereotype threat (a subset of social identity threat).

Social Identity Threat in Education

The educational achievement gap among African heritage students refers to the disparities in academic performance observed between African American, Afro-Caribbean, and African students within the United States. Research into this gap frequently examines potential contributing factors, such as cultural differences and varying levels of parental involvement.

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