An explanation for the underrepresentation of women in mathematical fields is the communal goal congruity perspective; that women tend to value communal over agentic goals, perceived to not be afforded by mathematical careers. Less is known about how agentic and communal goals may interact to influence mathematical career trajectories. Analysing a…

Although the notion of gender has a biological meaning, the concept of gender refers to a social construction that emerges from a biological basis. This construction includes cultural definitions of masculinity and femininity that are more appropriate for social life. In the definition and distinction of gender roles in social life construction,…

The barriers to education associated with menstruation vary from country to country and within countries. We report on a cross-sectional survey conducted in diverse schools in 2 districts of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Using multi-stage sampling (stratified random sampling of schools, and purposive sampling of Grade 11 female-identified…

How do students draw on texts read in class to explore and make sense of the world? How does role-play open up the possibilities of utilising these resources, remaking them for their own purposes? How does play, as Vygotsky suggests, enable students to achieve more? And how does being in role change the character of social relations in the…

This paper tests if gender-discrimination in grading affects pupils' achievements and course choices. I use a unique dataset containing grades given by teachers, scores obtained anonymously by pupils at different ages, and their course choice during high school. Based on double-differences, the identification of the gender bias in grades suggests…