Based on the evidence and theory that sex-role differentiation increases in salience during those later high school years as students prepare for their imminent transition into young adulthood, it was anticipated that there would be a lower orientation toward achievement among grade 12 girls than grade 10 girls, and, possibly, the opposite for…

In recent years there has been an international backlash against the status of girls as learners, with many people asserting that boys are suffering from new forms of educational disadvantage as girls achieve academically. This paper develops the notion of the space-between, a heuristic device to analyze and explain girls' experiences of…

Studied the relationship between academic motivation and occupational aspiration in 560 Nigerian secondary school students. Data from the Academic Motivation Questionnaire and the Employment Aspiration Questionnaire suggested that academic motivation and occupational aspiration seemed to complement each other. Both motivation and aspiration were…

Used path analysis to study the educational aspirations of secondary school students in Costa Rica (N=346) and a second combined sample of students and dropouts (N=202). Results showed that preference for the Educational Mobility Channel mainly affects academic aspirations for males. Females' aspirations appear related to sex role socialization.…

Some findings from a large study designed to investigate retentivity at age 16 in Australia, and to examine characteristics differentiating those who left school from those who remained are presented. A path diagram for the causal model of the school termination decision is included. (Author/RL)

A study of the relationship between student perceptions and learning behaviors attempted to answer the questions: (1) What are the perceptions of academic responsibility of the students? (2) How different are their perceptions when school, class, level of performance, and gender are different? and (3) To what extent is their perception of…

This study compared the areas of talent and career aspirations of boys and girls in Year 7 (n=398) and Year 11 (n=240) samples in a middle class metropolitan area in Australia. Students nominated the high school subject in which they saw themselves as being most talented, and current perceptions of talent in relation to each of their high school…

Tested a four-step model involving family background parental support and demandingness, educational aspirations, and academic achievement. Data came from Israeli eighth graders within two cultural settings: transition to modernity (Arabs) and Western (Jews). Family background directly and indirectly affected academic achievement among Arabs but…

Academic achievement at age 16 was influenced more by achievement at age 14 than by affective variables. Affective variables included academic and occupational aspiration, parent expectations, school attitudes, sex, socioeconomic status, parents' education, and migrancy. (CP)

Provides a brief overview of the Finnish educational system and examines the effects of family educational and socioeconomic background on access to and success in higher education. Data on 1985 and 1990 secondary school graduates and young adults indicated that children tended to aim at the same sort of education and jobs as their parents. (MDM)

Five scales measuring self-esteem, social isolation, locus of control, alienation, and anxiety were used along with personal interviews to test the relationship between gender and adjustment in 88 gifted adolescents in Singapore. Gifted girls were found to have difficulty reconciling their giftedness with societal notions of femininity. (78…

A study examined gender differences in values in relation to ongoing educational changes in Russia. Surveys of 53 male and 64 female university students in Yakutia (northeast Russia) indicated persistent traditional gender stereotypes, except that females appreciated education more than males. This could result in family conflicts, since women do…

The Zuckerman Affect Adjective Check List (AACL) is used to measure trait anxiety and situation-specific trait anxiety relating to peer interaction, vocational aspiration, and the learning of English, mathematics, science and social studies. The subjects were 262 grade 10 students attending an Australian metropolitan high school. Additional…

Reports differences in Asian and American children in grades two through five in achievement behavior in academic and social domains. Focuses on students' self-reported interest in academic subjects and their perceived competence in those subjects. Conducts comparisons by country, gender, and age. (MMU)

In order to advance our understanding of the mechanisms through which women come to be underrepresented in mathematics and science, factors associated with the academic choices of students in three grade ll classes were studied. Information was gathered through questionnaires, interviews with students and with their mathematics teachers, classroom…