INFLUENTIAL FACTORS IN THE DECISION TO ENROLL IN ADVANCED HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS COURSES

Previous research has indicated that high school girls do not elect as many advanced mathematics courses as do boys, and that this has been a cause of the lack of female participation in the sciences and in technology. This study was conducted to investigate those factors that affect the decision to enroll in high school mathematics courses and to determine if certain variables are more important to girls than to boys.;The results of the study indicated that, contrary to the results of earlier studies, there was no sex difference in the amount of mathematics elected. The factors most salient to the decision to elect mathematics in high school were different for girls and boys. Girls who saw mathematics as useful for college and preferred college majors requiring mathematics preparation took more mathematics courses; boys who had more confidence in themselves as learners of mathematics took more mathematics. The degree to which students enjoyed mathematics was also somewhat important to all students.;There was also a sex difference in the influence of others' attitudes. For girls their teachers' encouragement was more important, for boys their fathers' encouragement and his belief that mathematics would be useful for college were more important. Their mothers' encouragement was not an important factor to girls or to boys; their peers' attitudes were somewhat important.;The results also revealed that although the girls enjoyed mathematics as much as the boys, performed as well in it, and were equally prepared in mathematics for college majors requiring mathematics, they still reported that they preferred female-dominated college majors that did not require mathematics. Thus to encourage women to pursue scientific or technological careers, maintaining equal participation rates of high school girls and boys in advanced mathematics courses will not be enough.;Ninth- and twelfth-grade students were surveyed in a set of questionnaires about their reasons for taking mathematics in high school. The relationship between several attitudinal variables and the decision to enroll in advanced mathematics courses was examined using a series of multiple regression equations.