A Multilevel Perspective on Gender in Classroom Motivation and Climate: Potential Benefits of Male Teachers for Boys?

Are boys better motivated by male than female teachers in high school math, science, and English classes, and can these differences be explained by classroom climate? Using a cross-classified multilevel model with 5 levels (school, teacher, class, student, subject), the authors found little or no su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of educational psychology 2008-02, Vol.100 (1), p.78-95
Main Authors: Marsh, Herbert W, Martin, Andrew J, Cheng, Jacqueline H. S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement Motivation
Age
Biological and medical sciences
Classroom Environment
Educational psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Differences
Human
Human Sex Differences
Learning Motivation
Male
Males
Motivation
Perceptions
Prediction
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure
Secondary School Mathematics
Secondary school students
Sex Stereotypes
Stereotypes
Student Attitudes
Student Engagement
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Student Relationship
Teachers
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Summary:Are boys better motivated by male than female teachers in high school math, science, and English classes, and can these differences be explained by classroom climate? Using a cross-classified multilevel model with 5 levels (school, teacher, class, student, subject), the authors found little or no support for this contention. In general (except in terms of anxiety and persistence), girls were better motivated than boys, and these differences tended to generalize over student age and school subject in classes taught by both male and female teachers. Student perceptions of classroom climate were more specific to the group of students within a particular class than to the teacher who taught the class and had moderate to large effects on the motivation of individual students. The surprisingly small amounts of variance explained in motivation by student gender and age, teacher gender, school subject, and their interactions support a gender invariance and similarities model but not theoretical predictions based on gender stereotype, gender intensification, and gender matching perspectives.
ISSN:0022-0663
1939-2176
DOI:10.1037/0022-0663.100.1.78