Gender Differences Of Value-added In Critical Thinking Capacity Of Undergraduates

Since the 20 th century,countries around the world have attached great importance to the research on critical thinking capacity,and plan to promote the deep transformation of higher education talent training mode through research.However,relevant studies focus on the definition,teaching methods,measurement tools,and performance of critical thinking capacity,and there are few studies on the gender differences of critical thinking capacity,especially studies on the gender differences of in critical thinking capacity in college.Research on the gender differences of value-added in undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity during college will help to scientifically explain the characteristics of male and female students in the development of critical thinking capacity,provide empirical evidence for the reform of higher education.For the study of the problem,this research is based on the social gender theory,college students’ cognitive development theory and college influence theory,construct the analysis framework of gender differences of value-added in undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity during college,using the NACC(National Assessment of Collegiate Capacity)as the data foundation,which is collected from 16 provinces(city/area),78 schools,5359 senior undergraduates,analyze the value-added in critical thinking capacity under the "reverse measure method ".Through descriptive statistics,it is found that more than half of the undergraduates in the fourth year of college have positive value-added in critical thinking capacity during the college years.The value-added in critical thinking capacity of male students is higher than the females when their initial mean score of critical thinking capacity was significantly higher than that of female students,the gender differences in critical thinking capacity of undergraduate students showed a widening trend.So,what factors during college change the gender differences in the undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity? In this paper,the value-added in undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity in college was taken as the explanatory variable,and the family capital,characteristics of higher education and students’ learning engagement were taken as the explanatory variables.Using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis and other quantitative research methods,the factors affecting the value-added in critical thinking capacity of different gender undergraduates were analyzed.After controlling for related variables,the value-added in critical thinking capacity regression analysis of male and female samples found that for both genders,most of the family capital,higher education characteristics and students’ learning engagement variables of the regression coefficient estimate is positive and some of them are significant.The significance test of gender difference in the estimated regression coefficient between male and female students found that the value-added in critical thinking capacity of male students with urban household registration status,studying in high-level universities and "traditional male subjects" was significantly higher than that of female students,and the above factors would widen the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking capacity.The value-added in critical thinking capacity of male students with high family economic level,high professional level of parents and active participation in student associations and scientific research activities is significantly lower than that of female students.These factors can narrow the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking capacity.But with parents of higher education degree,frequently interact with teachers and students,high academic expectations,high learning initiative,high involvement in course,and active participation in entrepreneurship and internship activities of male and female’s value-added in critical thinking capacity show no significant gender differences,some of the regression coefficients are negative and insignificant.The results of the above regression analysis indicate that there exist gender differences in the impact of family capital,college education characteristics and students’ learning engagement variables on the value-added in critical thinking capacity of undergraduates.In this case,how much does each factor contribute to the gender differences of valueadded in critical thinking capacity,and to what extent does it widen(or narrow)the gender differences? In this paper,Oaxaca Blinder decomposition method is used to decompose the gender differences of each factor in value-added of undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity into two parts: characteristic differences and effect differences,that is,the gender differences of the value-added in critical thinking capacity is caused by the differences of each factor’s own differences and the differences in the effect of each factor on the valueadded of undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity.It was found that the family capital variable explained 59.79% of the gender differences of value-added in senior undergraduates’ critical thinking capacity(the characteristic differences explained 0.62%,and the effect differences explained 59.17%).Female students are not worse than male students in terms of family capital.High family economic level,high education of mother,high professional level of parents and rural female students attending university are all conducive to narrowing the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking capacity,while urban household registration and the father’s high level education have a widening effect.The university education characteristic variable explained 105.07% of the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking capacity,the girls’ low proportion in the "985 Project" Universities expanded 22.77% of the gender differences,high-level universities and traditional “male subjects” have expanded effect on critical thinking capacity of the gender differences(contribution rate were 59.79% and 59.79% respectively),while in low-level universities and the "female subjects ",the opposite is true.Students’ learning input variables explained-169.5% of the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking capacity,(the characteristic differences explained 0.24%,and the effect differences explained 169.62%),the degree of girls’ engagement is higher than that of boys in school,and the gender differences of learning engagement effect narrow the gender differences,such as active participation in community activities and scientific research are more conductive to the girl’s value-added in critical thinking capacity,which become the important factors of value-added gender differences in critical thinking capacity.To sum up,the value-added in critical thinking capacity of male students is higher than that of female students.Some adequate family capital,attending higher education and high learning engagement will narrow the gender differences.The effect differences of the various explanatory variables on the value-added in critical thinking capacity between genders are the main factors affecting the gender differences of value-added in critical thinking ability among undergraduates.The results of this paper will enrich the college students’ development theory,and provide empirical evidence for people to promote the quality and fairness of higher education,improve the pertinence of educational practice from the perspective of "gender".