Explaining gender differences on SAT-math items.

Abstract

This study used a cognitive process approach to explain gender differences on the math subtest of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). This approach specifies that gender differences exist because male students may carry out certain cognitive operations (e.g., knowledge access, strategy assembly) more effectively than female students. High school students were given SAT items and measures of their prior knowledge and strategies. Results showed that male students performed better than female students on the SAT items. Regression analyses, however, showed that whereas prior knowledge and strategies explained nearly 50% of the variance in SAT scores, gender explained no unique variance