Peers Affect High School Girls' Decisions to Take Mathematics

February 22, 2008

Researchers claim that friends have an impact on whether high school girls study mathematics.

A five-member team from the University of Texas (Austin), the University of Pennsylvania, and Michigan State University questioned more than 6,500 high school students ranging in age from 13-19 who had a variety of relationships with peers. After tracking their mathematics courses, the researchers found that all teenage girls--as well as boys with close friends and those who achieved good grades--took more high-level mathematics courses. But the connection between those relationships and the mathematics classes was strongest for girls.

Social factors, apparently, also mean more for girls in decisions about mathematics coursework, especially when enrollment is optional and when girls are already doing well academically.

"Girls have caught up with boys in math course taking in high school but the reasons for taking math still differ by gender," wrote the researchers. "For all adolescents, math course taking was associated with the achievement of their close friends and, to a lesser extent, their coursemates. These associations tended to be stronger toward the end of high school and weaker among adolescents with a prior record of failure in school. Each of these patterns was somewhat more consistent among girls."

Their article, "Peer Group Contexts of Girl’s and Boy’s Academic Experiences," appeared in the January/February issue of Child Development.

Source: United Press International