Relationship Between Gender Disparities in Academic Performance

Problem Statement:

This statistical study involves the integration and analysis of two assessments to examine the relationship between self-identified gender and final exam scores of a student population.

Solution:

Demographic Statistics

The archival database used for this study contained demographic variables describing the sample including identified gender, ethnicity, and year in school. The majority of the sample identified as female (n = 58, 55.24%) or male (n = 37, 35.24%) while a minority identified as transgender (n = 3, 2.86%), and non-binary or non-conforming (n = 4, 3.81%). However, some respondents preferred not to disclose (n = 3, 2.86%). In terms of ethnicity, the majority of the sample identified as white (n = 45, 42.86%), while a minority identified as Black (n = 24, 22.86%), Asian (n = 20, 19.05%), Hispanic (n = 11, 10.48%), and Native (n = 5, 4.76%). Lastly, in terms of years, the majority of the sample identified as Junior year (n = 64, 60.95%), while a minority identified as Sophomore (n = 19, 18.10%), Senior (n = 19, 18.10%), and Freshman (n = 3, 2.86%).

Statistical Measures Used for this Study

This study selected students who identified as female or male to provide group comparisons of their final scores. The hypothesis of this study is ‘students who identify as female will have final scores than students who identify as male’. T-tests were utilized to examine the hypothesis.

Statistical Findings

The average final scores of students who identified as female (M = 62.93, SD = 0.97) were higher than those who identified as male (M = 60.03, SD = 1.34). To determine if this difference was significant, an independent sample t-test was performed. The findings of this analysis demonstrated that there was not a significant difference between the self-identified genders (t (93) = 1.80; p = 0.076). Cohen’s d estimated the effect size between female and male student groups as 0.37, indicating that the self-identified genders have a small effect on final scores.

INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

This study found that both female and male students achieved the same score on final exams. Hence, it can be inferred that female and male students can perform equally best and have shown the same competency in their final exams.

STATISTICS

Pivot Table

Row labels	Count of gender identity	Count of gender identity
1	58	55.24%
2	37	35.24%
3	3	2.86%
4	4	3.81%
5	3	2.86%
Grand Total	105	100.00%

Row labels	Count of ethnicity	Count of ethnicity2
1	5	4.76%
2	20	19.05%
3	24	22.86%
4	45	42.86%
5	11	10.48%
Grand Total	105	100.00%

Row labels	Count of year	Count of year2
1	3	2.86%
2	19	18.10%
3	64	60.9S%
4	19	18.10%
Grand Total	105	100.00%

Descriptive Statistics

Female		Male
Mean	62.93	Mean	60.03
Standard Error	0.97	Standard Error	1.34
Median	63	Median	61
Mode	68	Mode	60
Standard Deviation	7.3553	Standard Deviation	8.1666
Sample Variance	54.1004	Sample Variance	66.6937
Kurtosis	-0.3222	Kurtosis	-0.1345
Skewness	-0.3935	Skewness	-0.2243
Range	33	Range	35
Minimum	42	Minimum	40
Maximum	75	Maximum	75
Sum	3650	Sum	2221
Count	58	Count	37

Homogeneity of Variances (Testing for Equality of Variances)

	Female	Male
Mean 62.93 60.03
Variance	54.10	66.69
Observations	58	37
df	57	36
F	0.8112
P{F<=f) one-tail	0.2361
F Critica lone-tail	0.6160

Independent Samples T-test

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances

	Female	Male
Mean	62.93	60.03
Variance	54.10	66.69
Observations	58	37
Pooled Variance	58.98
Hypothesized Mean Difference	0
df	93
t Stat	1.7973
P{T<=t) one-tail	0.0378
t Critica lone-tail	1.6614
P{T<=t) two-tail	0.0755
t Critica ltwo-tail	1.9858

Calculation of Cohen’s d for Effect Size

Statistical Examination of Gender Disparities in Academic Performance