Asian schools have consistently demonstrated higher academic achievement in mathematics compared to Western countries, largely due to cultural factors and the intensity of their educational systems. However, this success often comes with increased stress levels, which contribute to math anxiety (MA) among students. Research in cognitive psychology…

I brought together two strands of literature, one investigating the moderate but persistent underachievement of girls in mathematics in most countries, and the other examining the role of self-efficacy and other self-beliefs in predicting behaviour and achievement. I implemented detailed decompositions of the gender mathematics gap, both at the…