Proposal Title
Who does better in person or online, males or females? Gender differences in academic performance of undergraduate sciences students at the University of Ottawa.
Session Type
Presentation
Room
Somerville House, room 3315
Start Date
12-7-2023 1:30 PM
End Date
12-7-2023 1:50 PM
Keywords
gender differences, online teaching, gender performance
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
From secondary school, females tend do to do less well in maths than males (Statistics Canada). Do these differences in academic performance between the genders carry on in higher education and influence their performance in other science disciplines? To study whether gender played a role in academic performance at the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, two datasets were collected for in-person (2014-2019) and online courses (2020-2022). Data included gender (student self-identified as male or female at registration) admission average, cGPA, and the final grade in each course of a student’s degree. Non-binary genders were not included because of the lack of representation for statistical analysis. Analysis of covariance and multi-covariance were used to determine whether performance differed between males and females in individual courses, disciplines, year of study, class size and language of study. Surprising results were obtained, some who may warrant some serious further investigation, and may encourage strategic changes to teaching some subjects. Want to know more? Bring your mobile device to the presentation and test your assumptions on gender gaps in science!
Elements of Engagement
Using Wooclap as a polling tool, the audience will test their assumption on gender gaps, predict the study results and will be invited to reflect on the impact of gender disparities in academic performance and how it could be addressed.
Who does better in person or online, males or females? Gender differences in academic performance of undergraduate sciences students at the University of Ottawa.
Somerville House, room 3315
From secondary school, females tend do to do less well in maths than males (Statistics Canada). Do these differences in academic performance between the genders carry on in higher education and influence their performance in other science disciplines? To study whether gender played a role in academic performance at the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa, two datasets were collected for in-person (2014-2019) and online courses (2020-2022). Data included gender (student self-identified as male or female at registration) admission average, cGPA, and the final grade in each course of a student’s degree. Non-binary genders were not included because of the lack of representation for statistical analysis. Analysis of covariance and multi-covariance were used to determine whether performance differed between males and females in individual courses, disciplines, year of study, class size and language of study. Surprising results were obtained, some who may warrant some serious further investigation, and may encourage strategic changes to teaching some subjects. Want to know more? Bring your mobile device to the presentation and test your assumptions on gender gaps in science!