The placement of high school students in their course of study in general and in science studies in particular is attributed to many factors. Studies which try to predict students’ outcomes are usually cross-sectional rather than longitudinal and focus on the relationships among a variety of variables such as those in the “educational productivity model” (Fraser, Welch, & Welberg, 1986; Welch, Welberg, & Fraser, 1986). Among the variables in this model are ability, motivation, quality of instruction, attitudes toward teachers, quantity of instruction, class and home environment, race, and gender. Interestingly, gender is an important predictor of students’ achievement in science learning.
School subject choice (science in particular), can be thought of as an expression of gender stereotypes that exist in society at large. These stereotypes portray the male as the dominant person, the one who works outside the home in often prestigious occupations, while the female is usually portrayed as being subordinate and confined to the home (Tracy, 1987; Steitmatter, 1985). Moreover, these stereotypes reinforce the fact that females predominantly choose the humanities and domestic sciences, while males choose science- and technology-related fields (Clarricoates, 1978).
It is claimed that schools, teachers, and the school curriculum, encourage girls to adopt passive and dependent behavior, and males to adopt aggressive and independent behavior. Moreover, gender stereotypes in textbooks have been well documented (Sarrio, Jacklin, & Title, 1973; Simpson, 1974). Further, “the activities, experiences, interests, achievements, and modes of thinking of girls have been accorded lower status and have been judged deficient” (Manicom, 1984, p. 79).
For example, in Israel 19.1% of grade 12 males examined for matriculation major in physics, while only 5.2% of the females do so. In other studies different attitudes toward school subjects were found; for example, in a cross-cultural study, both Canadian and Chinese students manifested gender differences in their attitudes toward computers and mathematics (Coilis & Williams, 1987). In both grades 8 and 12, boys had significantly more positive attitudes toward these subjects than did girls. In a study in Sweden of grades 3, 4, 7, 8, & 9 in 1970 and 1983 “boys performed better than girls” in science (Engstrom & Noonan, 1990, p. 450). However, the findings indicated by students’ responses to “science subjects in school are interesting” is more complicated: “In grades 3 and 4 the attitudes are almost the same for boys and girls. Then from grade 7, while boys steadily get a little bit more negative year by year, girls vary much over the years up to grade 9. In grade 9, boys and girls tend to yield the same negative attitude. In a study conducted of 28,000 students in Maryland, Virginia, analysis of the data “confirms findings from other surveys concerning gender differences in achievement in mathematics. Boys and girls perform evenly well through the first years of high school, but in the final years, fewer girls than boys opt for more advanced mathematics courses and male students tend to score higher than females on the mathematics sections of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)” (Norman, 1988, p. 408).
Differences in Israel are also manifested in a study by Tamir (1990). Boys in grades 9 and 12 were found to have more positive attitudes toward science subjects than did girls, and they scored higher. A significant difference was found between boys and girls in physics in grades 9 and 12 (boys scoring higher), whereas in biology and chemistry there was no such difference.
The present longitudinal study probes the attitudes of grade 6 students concerning subjects of studies and professions, and then follows them up five years later in grade 11. In Israel the course of study is relatively rigid, and high school students have to decide which subjects they will be examined on at the national matriculation examinations. The students choose their course of study based on their preference and their academic evaluations. This study examines only the students’ preferences since the academic data are not available. The availability of various courses in the high schools that were studied are the same as those in any other average high school in Israel, and the students have a large selection.
The data gathered from grade 6 students reflects their attitudes, while the courses of study in grade 11 is their actual behavior. The difference between attitudes and behavior is sometimes neglected in the literature. Frequently, changes in attitudes are generalized to a change in behavior. For instance, in the case of educational interventions, girls are encouraged to take science courses, but the attitude change does not mean actual behavioral change (Mason & Kahle, 1989; Kelly, 1985). Similarly, change in gender stereotypes does not mean behavioral change (Richer, 1988). Moreover, this phenomenon is true in other intervention programs, such as substance abuse prevention and sex education (Shamai & Coambs, 1992).
Hypotheses
1. Grade 6 male and female students who have more positive attitudes toward “scientific” school subjects will be placed in those classes in high school.
2. Grade 6 male and female students who have more positive attitudes toward prestigious scientific occupations will be placed in such classes in high school.
3. Grade 6 male and female students who have more positive attitudes toward prestigious scientific occupations will be placed in “academic” classes in high school.
4. Students’ gender is important to their course of study placement.
Research Setting and Sample
The first phase of the study was conducted with 195 grade 6 students. At age 12 boys and girls were surveyed in the 1987/88 academic year in all five secular public schools in the same region (Golan): one town school, two Moshavim schools (semi-cooperative settlements), and two Kibbutz schools (cooperative settlements). Thus, all grade 6 secular students in the region were included. Age 12 is considered a pre-adolescent stage in which gender stereotypes have already been shaped. The second phase was conducted with students from high schools in the same geographic area. Of the 195 grade 6 students surveyed in the first phase, 143 (73.3%) were located in grade 11 in the 1992/93 academic year. Golan is located in northeast Israel, near the Syrian border. The region had been resettled by Jews after the 1967 war, mainly by middle-class, Israeli-born Jews. Thus, it is a socioeconomically homogeneous area, with an average Israeli ethnic mix of Sefardy and Askenazy Jews (Farago, 1990; Davidovitz-Merton, 1988).
The questionnaire deals with attitudes toward school subjects and occupations. The twelve school subjects that were taught in all five schools sampled were selected for inquiry: English, art, geography, history, mathematics, sport, biology, grammar, computer, literature, Arabic, and Bible studies.
The adult occupations were compiled from “trial” lists since the number of occupations in Israel are too numerous for students of this age to evaluate and include many with which they are not likely to relate. Thus, a list of occupations were selected from an instruction booklet used by elementary school advisors (Curriculum Research and Development Unit, 1983), and used in a pilot study of 20 grade 6 students in April 1988. These students helped produce a list of 30 occupations.