Chapter 1

Mathematics Self-Concept has been positively associated with

Mathematics achievement and student ratings of their skill, enjoyment

of, and interest in Mathematics. One’s perceived ability to achieve well

and one’s confidence in Mathematics have also been associated with

Mathematics Self-Concept . The Mathematics Self-Concept affects

students’ Mathematics Learning Achievement. Students’ Mathematics

Self-Concepts are conclusions in the form of statements by students in

understanding themselves against each of their activities in the learning

process experienced related to mathematics subject. (Schoon et al.

2015).

It was reported that there is a gender variation of self-concept in

mathematics and mathematics achievement. Boys have a higher self-

concept than girls. Thus, boys have high mathematics achievement.

Whereas Girls that have a lower self-concept in mathematics which

they also have low mathematics achievement. (Lee et al. 2018).

Boys sometimes overestimate their competence whereas girls

tend to underestimate theirs, even though such self-perceptions of

abilities may not match their real ability. However, boys and girls may

exhibit very different levels of competence beliefs in different curriculum

areas. (Yeung et al. 2014).

Another explanation for this difference might be the power of

negative gender stereotypes. It was indicated that negative stereotypes

might carry a strong message that certain groups are less valued or

accepted. Schwartz and Sinicrope (2013) proposed that gender bias

might cause teachers to expect girls to have negative attitudes toward

mathematics and boys to have positive attitudes toward mathematics.

Gender stereotypes in mathematics can cause girls in particular to

have a lower sense of affinity for mathematics. (Schwartz & Sinicrope

2013) .

By contrast Watt et al. (2014) examined gender differences in math

self-concept and reported that gender was not significantly related to

self-concept. Nagy et al. (2014) concluded that gender-related

differences in math self-concept should be questioned. While results

seemed to contradict past research implicating gender stereotypes.

Other evidence suggests either a non-existent or declining

gender gap in performance, with gender patterns differing between

countries. Students’ achievement found no gender difference in

mathematics achievement. In addition, it was also reported no

significant gender differences in achievement in mathematics. Cross-

national studies have suggested that the gender gap in mathematics

performance narrows or even reverses in societies with more gender

equality (Chartouny, 2017)girls’ lower achievement might be a

consequence of their lower self-concept. However, girls also perceived

their mathematics ability more negatively compared to boys in countries

where girls and boys performed equally in mathematics. Remarkably,

this was also the case in Finland, where girls significantly outperformed
boys in mathematics. This indicates that even when girls show a better

math performance, their self-concept may still lag behind the self-

concept of male students. (Rodríguez et al. 2021)

It was observed that mathematics self-concept does not affect the

students Mathematics achievement and also had identified what are

the reasions for gender variation in mathematics self-concept which

can be the stereotypes, culturals beliefs and expectations when it

comes to mathematics. (Schoon et al. 2015).

Research on gender differences in mathematics achievement and

self-concept has reported mixed findings. On the one hand, evidence

seems to indicate that the gender gap is reducing. However, it is

unclear whether the gender differences in the mathematics

achievement depends on student’s self-concept in mathematics. To

address this gap, the present study seek to examine eightieth grade

students’ perspectives on their math self-concept and mathematics

achievement to identify any gender differences.