Diferencias de género y de rendimiento en los auto-conceptos de los alumnos de Secundaria

más allá de la comparación bivariable

verfasst von: Günter Faber
Abstract: Introduction. Against the background of contradictory research findings in the field the present study aimed at unraveling the structural complexities of gender differences in secondary students' verbal self-concepts and, thus, analyzing possible gender × achievement interaction effects in the L1 German and L2 English language subject. According to an internal distress perspective significantly depressed self-concept scores for the female learners, in particular, at the low achievement level were assumed. Method. Data were gathered in a sample of 256 ninth grade students from German inner-city grammar schools. For measuring students' L1 and L2 self-concept two subject-specific scales were administered. For measuring their achievement in each language subject teacher competence ratings as well as (self-reported) marks were used. Results. With respect to the L1 German language subject, only a significant main effect of the achievement variable was found. Neither a gender effect nor an achievement × gender interaction could be demonstrated. Therefore, interindividually existing self-concept differences in favor of the female learners appeared to largely reflect their better achievement in the native language subject. With respect to the L2 language subject, likewise a significant main effect of the achievement variable but also a significant gender × achievement interaction effect occurred. Within the low achieving subgroup the female learners displayed substantially lower self-concept scores than their male counterparts - at least concerning the latest mark criterion. Hence, they more strongly suffered from internal distress. Discussion. Especially, in the L2 English language subject a gender × achievement interaction effect could significantly explain differences in the learners' self-concept. Consequently, these differences cannot merely ascribed to a gendered view of language subjects - which commonly favors the female learners. Gender stereotyping effects will operate in a more complex manner. In particular, they appear to affect the students' self-concept not primarily as a matter of subject rather as a matter of cognitive- motivational processing in the case of individually cumulated failure experiences - thus evidently unfavoring the female learners. However, the findings considerably differed across both the L1 and the L2 language subject and, thus, still need further clarification
Organisationseinheit(en): Institut für Psychologie
Typ: Artikel
Journal: Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology
Band: 11
Seiten: 665-692
Anzahl der Seiten: 28
ISSN: 1699-5880
Publikationsdatum: 01.12.2013
Publikationsstatus: Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Ausbildung bzw. Denomination, Pädagogische und Entwicklungspsychologie
Elektronische Version(en): https://doi.org/10.14204/ejrep.31.13066 (Zugang: Offen)

BibTeX

@article{72e56da431314993b424519493098d84,
title = "Diferencias de g{\'e}nero y de rendimiento en los auto-conceptos de los alumnos de Secundaria: m{\'a}s all{\'a} de la comparaci{\'o}n bivariable",
abstract = "Introduction. Against the background of contradictory research findings in the field the present study aimed at unraveling the structural complexities of gender differences in secondary students' verbal self-concepts and, thus, analyzing possible gender × achievement interaction effects in the L1 German and L2 English language subject. According to an internal distress perspective significantly depressed self-concept scores for the female learners, in particular, at the low achievement level were assumed. Method. Data were gathered in a sample of 256 ninth grade students from German inner-city grammar schools. For measuring students' L1 and L2 self-concept two subject-specific scales were administered. For measuring their achievement in each language subject teacher competence ratings as well as (self-reported) marks were used. Results. With respect to the L1 German language subject, only a significant main effect of the achievement variable was found. Neither a gender effect nor an achievement × gender interaction could be demonstrated. Therefore, interindividually existing self-concept differences in favor of the female learners appeared to largely reflect their better achievement in the native language subject. With respect to the L2 language subject, likewise a significant main effect of the achievement variable but also a significant gender × achievement interaction effect occurred. Within the low achieving subgroup the female learners displayed substantially lower self-concept scores than their male counterparts - at least concerning the latest mark criterion. Hence, they more strongly suffered from internal distress. Discussion. Especially, in the L2 English language subject a gender × achievement interaction effect could significantly explain differences in the learners' self-concept. Consequently, these differences cannot merely ascribed to a gendered view of language subjects - which commonly favors the female learners. Gender stereotyping effects will operate in a more complex manner. In particular, they appear to affect the students' self-concept not primarily as a matter of subject rather as a matter of cognitive- motivational processing in the case of individually cumulated failure experiences - thus evidently unfavoring the female learners. However, the findings considerably differed across both the L1 and the L2 language subject and, thus, still need further clarification",
keywords = "Foreign language learning, Gender differences, Internal distress, Language proficiency, Verbal self-concepts",
author = "G{\"u}nter Faber",
year = "2013",
month = dec,
day = "1",
doi = "10.14204/ejrep.31.13066",
language = "Spanish",
volume = "11",
pages = "665--692",
journal = "Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology",
issn = "1699-5880",
publisher = "Universidad de Almeria",
number = "31",
}