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Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Schoolbooks convey not only school-relevant knowledge; they also influence the development of stereotypes about different social groups. Particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, many studies analysed schoolbooks and criticised the overall predominance of male persons and of traditional role allocations. Since that time, women's and men's occupations and social functions have changed considerably. The present research investigated gender portrayals in schoolbooks for German and mathematics that were recently published in Germany. We examined the proportions of female and male persons in pictures and texts and categorized their activities, occupational and parental roles. Going beyond previous studies, we added two criteria: the use of gender-fair language and the spatial arrangements of persons in pictures. Our results show that schoolbooks for German contained almost balanced depictions of girls and boys, whereas women were less frequently shown than men. In mathematics books, males outnumbered females in general. Across both types of books, female and male persons were engaged in many different activities, not only gender-typed ones; however, male persons were more often described via their profession than females. Use of gender-fair language has found its way into schoolbooks but is not used consistently. Books for German were more gender fair in terms of linguistic forms than books for mathematics. For spatial arrangements, we found no indication for gender biases. The results are discussed with a focus on how schoolbooks can be optimized to contribute to gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated effects of the media's portrayal of boys as "scholastic failures" on secondary school students. The negative portrayal induced stereotype threat (boys underperformed in reading), stereotype reactance (boys displayed stronger learning goals towards mathematics but not reading), and stereotype lift (girls performed better in reading but not in mathematics). Apparently, boys were motivated to disconfirm their group's negative depiction, however, while they could successfully apply compensatory strategies when describing their learning goals, this motivation did not enable them to perform better. Overall the media portrayal thus contributes to the maintenance of gender stereotypes, by impairing boys' and strengthening girls' performance in female connoted domains and by prompting boys to align their learning goals to the gender connotation of the domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Children''s occupational interests and their perceptions of the divergent occupational successes of women and men reflect cultural gender norms. Since language is a vehicle for transporting gender cues and gender norms, we tested the premise that children''s perceptions of stereotypically male jobs can be influenced by the linguistic form used to present an occupational title. Three experiments with 809 primary school students suggest that occupations presented in pair form (e.g., Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure, female and male engineers), compared to descriptions using the generic masculine form (e.g., Ingenieure), generally increase the mental accessibility of female jobholders, promote more gender-balanced perceptions of the success of males and females, and strengthen girls'' interest in stereotypically male occupations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Stereotype threat (ST) is a potential explanation for inequalities in language competencies observed between students from different language backgrounds. Language competencies are an important prerequisite for educational success, wherefore the significance for investigation arises. While ST effects on achievement are empirically well documented, little is known about whether ST also impairs learning. Thus, we investigated vocabulary learning in language minority elementary school students, also searching for potential moderators. In a pre-post design, 240 fourth-grade students in Germany who were on average 10 years old (MAge = 9.92, SD = 0.64; 49.8% female) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: implicit ST, explicit ST without threat removal before posttest, explicit ST with threat removal before posttest, and a control group. Results showed that learning difficult vocabulary from reading two narrative texts was unaffected by ST. Neither students' identification with their culture of residence and culture of origin nor stereotyped domain of reading were moderators. The findings are discussed with regard to content and methodological aspects such that a motivation effect might have undermined a possible ST effect. Implications for future research include examining the question at what age children become susceptible to ST and whether students have internalized negative stereotypes about their own group, which could increase the likelihood of ST effects occurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Today, a major goal in higher education is the advancement of students' vocational competences. To assess the extent to which this goal is met, both competences acquired during university studies and later vocational success need to be measured. In our study, we collected self-ratings of competences (t1) and indicators of vocational success (t2) in 210 alumni of the Freie Universitat Berlin. Using structural equation models along with this longitudinal data, we found that self-ratings of competences accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in different measures of vocational success five years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, according to their prior achievement students are tracked into different types of secondary school that provide profoundly different options for their future educational careers. In this paper we suggest that as a result, school tracks clearly differ in their social status or reputation. This should translate into different collective school-type identities for their students, irrespective of the students' personal academic self-concepts. We examine the extent to which collective school-type identity systematically varies as a function of the school track students are enrolled in, and the extent to which students' collective school-type identity makes a unique contribution beyond academic self-concept and school track in predicting scholastic motivation. In two cross-sectional studies a measure of collective school-type identity is established and applied to explain motivational differences between two school tracks in Berlin. In Study 1 (N = 39 students) the content of the collective school-type identity is explored by means of an open format questionnaire. Based on these findings a structured instrument (semantic differential) to measure collective school-type identity is developed. In Study 2 (N = 1278 students) the assumed structure with four subscales (Stereotype Achievement, Stereotype Motivation, Stereotype Social, and Compensation) is proved with confirmatory factor analysis. This measure is used to compare the collective school-type identity across school tracks and predict motivational outcomes. Results show large differences in collective school-type identity between students of different school tracks. Furthermore, these differences can explain motivational differences between school tracks. Collective school-type identity has incremental predictive power for scholastic motivation, over and above the effects of academic self-concept and school track. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors discuss the distinction of the how and what of thinking processes. They say that culture, self-construal, and regulatory focus can affect thinking and mentions the explanatory powers and suggestion of the GLObal versus Local processing Model (GLOMOsys). They also discuss their Semantic-Procedural-Interface (SPI) model of the self and suggested that self-construal may trigger different procedural thinking.

This study explores the impact of relative size on the intra- and intergroup attitudes of groups who either share a language or have a different language. For that purpose, we examined international attitudes, comparing a small nation, Switzerland, and two larger nations, Germany and France. We found support for the assumption that large neighbouring nations pose a threat to the smaller nation's identity, especially when they are linguistically similar. Consequently, in line with Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (1978 ), the smaller nation's inhabitants evaluate those of the larger nation less positively, liking them less and perceiving them to be more arrogant than vice versa. By investigating the special case of the French-speaking and the German-speaking Swiss as linguistic groups within their own nation we were able to demonstrate that these groups seek support with the larger—linguistically—similar nation to defend themselves against the more direct in-country threat to their identity. They acknowledge the similarity with the larger nation, yet keep defending their social identity by expressing a dislike for this perceived similarity. Cette étude analyse l’impact de la taille relative de groupes partageant ou non un même langage sur les attitudes intra et inter groupes. Pour ce faire, nous avons étudié des attitudes internationales en comparant une petite nation, la Suisse, à deux grandes nations, l’Allemagne et la France. Nous avons confirmé l’hypothèse selon laquelle les grandes nations constituent une menace pour l’identité des plus petites nations voisines, particulièrement quand elles partagent une même langue. En conséquence, dans la lignée de la théorie de l’identité sociale de Tajfel (1978 ), les habitants de petites nations évaluent leurs homologues des plus grandes nations moins positivement, les apprécient moins et les percoivent comme étant plus arrogants que l’inverse. En enquêtant sur le cas particulier des Suisses francophones et germanophones comme groupes linguisitiques au sein de leur propre nation, nous démontrons qu’ils recherchent l’appui d’une plus grande nation similaire à eux linguistiquement pour se défendre d’une menace intérieure plus directe envers leur identité. Cependant, s’ils reconnaissent la similitude avec des plus grandes nations, ils n’en continuent pas moins à défendre leur identité sociale en exprimant une aversion pour cette similitude perçue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Establishing or preserving single-sex schooling has been widely discussed as a way of bringing more girls into the natural sciences. Aims. We test the assumption that the beneficial effects of single-sex education on girls' self-concept of ability in masculine subjects such as physics are due to the lower accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge in single-sex classes. Sample. N = 401 eighth-graders (mean age 14.0 years) from coeducational comprehensive schools. Methods. Random assignment of students to single-sex vs. coeducational physics classes throughout the eighth grade. At the end of the year, students' physics-related self-concept of ability was measured using a questionnaire. In a subsample of N = 134 students, the accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge during physics classes was assessed by measuring latencies and endorsement of sex-typed trait adjectives. Results. Girls from single-sex physics classes reported a better physics-related self-concept of ability than girls from coeducational classes, while boys' self-concept of ability did not vary according to class composition. For both boys and girls, gender-related self-knowledge was less accessible in single-sex classes than in mixed-sex classes. To the extent that girls' feminine self-knowledge was relatively less accessible than their masculine self-knowledge, their physics-related self-concept of ability improved at the end of the school year. Conclusions. By revealing the importance of the differential accessibility of gender-related self-knowledge in single- and mixed-sex settings, our study clarifies why single-sex schooling helps adolescents to gain a better self-concept of ability in school subjects that are considered inappropriate for their own sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents commentary on the connectionist model of the self as demonstrated in the synthesis of Imitative and Sequence Learning Function (I-SELF) computer simulations developed by Yoshihisa Kashima. The authors elaborate on how the I-SELF version of the Mead-James dynamic self serves as a learning tool for the elegance of flexibly reconstructed self knowledge and how it is activated by temporal, cultural and psychosocial contexts.

Background. In view of the shortage of students majoring in science, we examined the image of physics in terms of students' implicit, automatic associations with physics. Aims. To describe the specific image of physics that might alienate students (difficulty, masculinity, heteronomy) and test an intervention for altering the image. Samples. In Study 1 the sample consisted of 63 school students (11th grade) and in Study 2 the sample consisted of 71 undergraduates. Methods. Study 1 measured participants' implicit associations between physics (relative to English) and the image dimensions of difficulty, masculinity and heteronomy, implicit attitudes towards and identification with physics using latency data (Implicit Association Test; IAT) and explicit attitudes using a questionnaire. Study 2 was an experimental treatment that required reading a text (treatment group) that emphasized the importance of discourse and creativity for science versus a school textbook for physics (control group). Dependent variables: implicit attitudes (IAT). Results. Students in Study 1 associated physics (relative to English) more easily with words referring to difficulty (than to ease), to males (than to females), to heteronomy (than to self-realization), to unpleasantness (relative to pleasant words) and to others (relative to words referring to self). The three image aspects of difficulty, masculinity and heteronomy predicted explicit attitudes. Participants in the treatment group in Study 2 showed a significant reduction of the IAT effects compared to the control group. Conclusions. The findings indicate that students' negative explicit attitudes towards physics coincide with negative implicit associations about physics. An intervention addressing the alteration of implicit associations proved to be fruitful. Implications for science education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The percentage of school students specializing in math and science is particularly low. The current research suggests that this is due to prototypes about math and science being highly dissimilar from self-prototypes students have or want to have of themselves. Going beyond previous studies on self-to-prototype matching, we assumed that students compare their self-views to both a prototypical student liking a certain subject (favourite-subject-prototype) and a prototypical student disapproving of it (least liked subject-prototype). Results show that for humanities (German and English language), favourite-subject-prototypes were judged more positively than least-liked-subject-prototypes, whereas for science (math and physics), least-liked-subject-prototypes were perceived as more positive than favourite-subject-prototypes. As expected, only if a student’s self-prototype was quite clear (high self-clarity) was it used as a standard against which school-subject prototypes were compared with respect to their degree of overlap. Our results showed that the better the match between self and favourite-subject-prototype, the stronger were the subject preferences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study tested the hypothesis that different clothing styles can influence self-descriptions by priming certain trait categories. We used a cover story to tell our participants to appear for the experiment dressed in either formal or casual wear. When participants arrived for the experiment, they were asked to describe themselves as quickly as possible by endorsing or rejecting trait adjectives. These adjectives were selected in a pilot study as either a trait typically ascribed to a formally dressed person (cultivated, accurate) or a trait typically ascribed to a casually dressed person (easygoing, tolerant). Results show that participants who were dressed formally used more formal adjectives than casual ones to describe themselves. The opposite was true in participants wearing casual clothes. In addition, for really dressed participants responded faster to formal than to casual adjectives, while this difference was reversed in casually dressed participants. Implications for applied settings (e.g., achievement vs. social situations) are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines cross-cultural differences in field dependence between individualist and collectivist cultures using the Embedded-Figures Test (EFT). EFT version used in measuring field dependence; Field dependence among Malaysian and Russians and Germans and Americans; Impact of culture on individual perception.

We extended existing research about self-construal activation to the study of social comparisons, specifically to self–other similarity ratings. Independent self-knowledge substantiates the notion of dissimilarity, whereas interdependent self-knowledge implies similarity with others. Therefore, perceived self–other similarity was predicted to decrease after independent and increase after interdependent self-knowledge priming. However, we expected such assimilation effects to occur only if the priming was subtle, but contrast effects if it was overt. In order to test this hypothesis, we developed a scrambled sentences test for priming the respective self-knowledge. The unscrambled sentences described the self either in terms of independence or interdependence. The subtlety of this priming was manipulated by having participants write down either the full sentences (overt priming) or only the remaining word in each item (subtle priming). Results confirmed the predictions. Underlying cognitive processes of the effects are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we investigated adaptive academic helpseeking in mathematics, i.e., asking better performing peers for help, and the factors facilitating or undermining it. We measured adolescents' sociometric friendship and mathematics help-seeking nominations in 50 classrooms of the 9th grade. Based on friendship nominations, we identified cliques and compared mathematics help-seeking within and beyond cliques. Multilevel analyses accounting for individual and classroom characteristics, as well as similarity on the pair level, showed that students, overall, were more likely to nominate better performing helpers who shared their gender, migration background status, and religious affiliation. Further, students were more likely to nominate helpers from within their own friendship cliques. When students outside the clique were nominated as helpers, they performed much better than nominated within-clique helpers. Low-achieving students were less likely to nominate helpers. We discuss how factors undermining adolescents' adaptive help-seeking can be overcome in the classroom. • Measured adolescents' sociometric friendship and math help-seeking nominations. • Identified friendship cliques, compared math help-seeking within and beyond cliques. • Students with better mathematics test performance more likely nominated math helpers. • Students preferred clique members of the same gender, migration background status, and religious affiliation as helpers. • Selected out-of clique helpers outperformed within-clique helpers in mathematics test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intellectual talent is commonly regarded as an important factor for success – i.e., "what it takes to succeed" in Western educational contexts. Yet, the differential experiences individuals have may not allow everyone to think of themselves as talented - i.e., as having "what it takes to succeed" - to the same degree. In five studies with 3584 students in Western countries, we show i) that first-generation students see themselves as less intellectually talented than continuing-generation students, ii) that this bias in self-concept contributes to disadvantages in their academic experience and engagement, and iii) how this disadvantage may be reduced. Quasi-experiments 1a and b (N = 694; 316) show that first-generation students view themselves as relatively less talented, but not less diligent, above and beyond prior performance-levels. Field and experimental Studies 2a-b (N = 1881; 362) show that this bias in students' talent self-concept contributes to disadvantage in first-generation students' academic experience and engagement. Experiment 3 (N = 331) suggests that talent self-concept bias is most consequential in talent-focused environments. If, however, environments emphasize effort, disadvantages connected to talent self-concepts are mitigated. The experiences first-generation students have in current Western environments seem to make them see themselves as relatively less talented, contributing to disadvantage. Creating effort-focused environments can reduce this disadvantage and promote equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions face the challenge to promote diversity competence. We suggest a procedure which can help raise awareness for diversity issues amongst staff and students and thereby foster diversity competence and facilitate the implementation of diversity strategies within higher education institutions: to include a self-assessment tool regarding diversity competence in the regular teaching evaluation. In this research we complemented a well-established course evaluation tool that is widely used in Germany, the HEsaCom, by a new subscale measuring subjective gains in diversity competence. As part of regular teaching evaluations, 8700 questionnaires comprising the HEsaCom-scales and the new scale on diversity competence were collected in 1396 different seminars of a large university in Germany. Results show good reliabilities for all scales. From factor analysis, the new scale emerged as an additional subscale of the HEsaCom, with the established factor structure remaining unchanged. Students attending a cross-study course in which diversity had been a topic and students attending courses in which no participant had experienced social discrimination reported significantly higher diversity competence gains than students from the remaining courses. We discuss how higher education institutions can apply the questionnaire used in our study for their diversity management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining complete social networks and structural equation modeling, we investigate how two learning-related cognitions, academic self-efficacy and growth mindsets, relate to integration in support networks of 580 university students in 30 seminar groups. We assessed integration as popularity in academic support networks (being an academic helper and collaborator) and in social support networks (being a friend and resource for sharing personal difficulties). Perceived integration in both networks was measured with self-reports, whereas actual integration in both networks was measured with sociometric peer-reports. Structural equation modeling showed that students who were initially more integrated in academic support networks became more integrated in social support networks over time, but not vice versa. Students with higher academic self-efficacy perceived themselves to be an academic resource for others, which in turn enhanced peer-reported academic integration. Academic self-efficacy was related to growth mindsets and growth mindsets were related to actual integration in academic support networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]