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. 2017 Oct 19;12(10):e0186419.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186419. eCollection 2017.

Exams disadvantage women in introductory biology

Cissy J Ballen  1 , Shima Salehi  2 , Sehoya Cotner  1
Affiliations

Exams disadvantage women in introductory biology

Cissy J Ballen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The gender gap in STEM fields has prompted a great deal of discussion, but what factors underlie performance deficits remain poorly understood. We show that female students underperformed on exams compared to their male counterparts across ten large introductory biology course sections in fall 2016 (N > 1500 students). Females also reported higher levels of test anxiety and course-relevant science interest. Results from mediation analyses revealed an intriguing pattern: for female students only, and regardless of their academic standing, test anxiety negatively impacted exam performance, while interest in the course-specific science topics increased exam performance. Thus, instructors seeking equitable classrooms can aim to decrease test anxiety and increase student interest in science course content. We provide strategies for mitigating test anxiety and suggestions for alignment of course content with student interest, with the hope of successfully reimagining the STEM pathway as one that is equally accessible to all.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Contrast partial and full mediation models to test mediation effects on student performance.
The partial model tests the partial mediation effect of science interest or test anxiety on students’ performance. In this model, ACT directly and indirectly via science interest or test anxiety affects students’ performance. The full mediation model tests how incoming preparation (ACT) affects student performance indirectly via science interest or test anxiety of students.
Fig 2
Fig 2
Partial mediation analyses show differences in the significant effects of incoming preparation (ACT) on exam grade and non-exam grade for (A) female and (B) male students. Red arrows depict negative effects and blue arrows show positive effects. ACT has direct, positive effects on exam (left) and non-exam (right) grades for all students. For female students, ACT does not influence affective measures such as science interest and test anxiety, but these affective measures influence exam and non-exam grades. For male students, ACT negatively affects test anxiety, but test anxiety does not in turn influence exam and non-exam grades. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.0001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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