CONFIDENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN FAST TRACK MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS
North Carolina State University
njhelms@unity.ncsu.edu
North Carolina State University
brsolazz@unity.ncsu.edu
The American Association of University Women
(1992) found that confidence plays a role in the achievement of young girls’ in
mathematics. As a result of declining
self-confidence throughout middle school, young women tend to enroll in less
challenging mathematics courses as their education continues (Boswell, 1985).
The purpose of this study was to analyze a set of statements made by fast track middle school girls in order to determine a set of criteria for confident and non-confident statements. The study was split into two parts. The 14 subjects for part 1 were randomly selected for a videotaped interview from a group of 40 middle school girls who attended the Girls on Track summer camp. The 3 subjects involved in part 2 were selected from among the girls interviewed for a case study. The participants in both parts were interviewed during the summer before they entered Algebra I. Three questions from the videotaped interviews were selected for an analysis of confidence in part 1. Each girl’s response to the three questions was coded as either confident or non-confident based on the level of empowerment shown in her response. In part 2, the interview responses were used in an analysis of the effect of confidence on achievement for these three middle school girls. Interview responses gave information about the confidence of each girl.
References
American Association of University Women. (1992). How schools shortchange girls: A study of major findings on girls and education . Washington, DC: American Association of University Women.
Boswell, S. L. (1985). The influence of sex-role stereotyping on women's attitudes and achievement in mathematics. In S. F. Chipman, L. R. Brush, & D. M. Wilson (Eds.), Women and mathematics: Balancing the equation (pp. 175-197). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.