Gender Differences in Student Performance and Attitudes. A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention. Report No. NCSU-94A.

Many are aware that factors other than academic talent help to determine a student's success or failure in school A 4-year longitudinal study including 87 men and 34 women at North Carolina State University examines gender differences in students' academic performance, persistence in chemical engineering, and attitudes toward their education and themselves. Although the pre-engineering academic credentials of women entering college often exceeded those of men, these women did not score any higher in technical classes than men. Women students also attributed poor performance to their lack of ability, while men usually attributed it to lack of hard work or being treated unfairly. The critical question of why these women earned lower grades in chemical engineering courses and exhibit lower confidence levels of themselves could not be answered with any real degree of certainty; however, the following measures were suggested to help circumvent the disadvantage of women relative to men entering engineering school: (1) provide engineering students with female role models/mentors; (2) strengthen organizations that can provide career guidance and emotional support to women students; (3) use cooperative learning in engineering courses; and (4) educate professors and academic advisors to the problems and needs of women students. (ZWH)