The effect of gender and math self-concept on math achievement in eighth grade

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which gender and math self-concept relate to math achievement in eighth grade. This was a secondary analysis of data collected by the Third International Math and Science Study-Repeat.;Educational psychology literature has reported that subject-specific self-concept is related to achievement in the same subject area. Some researchers suggest that the relationship is strongest in the area of math. This study found a significant interaction between gender and math self-concept on math achievement in eighth grade. At the low, medium and high levels of math self-concept the math achievement scores of boys were higher than the scores of girls. The differences by gender at each level of math self-concept were statistically significant. However, the magnitude of the difference varied by level of math self-concept. This suggests that the practical significance of the findings may differ by level of math self-concept.