A Procedure for Predicting Underachievement in Mathematics Among Female College Students

Abstract

This study was designed to identify those females who are predicted to fall substantially below their male counterparts in mathematical participation and performance (female potential underachievers) and who are most in need of intervention procedures early in their college career. The subjects were 457 college graduates. A battery of high school variables was used to predict the students' college experience as measured by two separate variables: (a) the number of college mathematics courses (participation) and (b) the mathematics grade point average with each course weighted by its difficulty (performance). If the levels of mathematical performance of females and males with the same high school background were equal, one would expect the difference in their predicted performance to be close to zero. However, significant differences between the sexes were observed in their regression equations of prediction. Therefore, the differences between the male and female equations of prediction can be considered the vehicles for identifying female potential underachieves. Should colleges institute intervention procedures, this study provides an objective measure of their success.