Journal of the Institute for Second Language Development

Gender and Academic Performance in English Communication Courses
in a Japanese University

March, 2006

By

John C. Westby, (Bachelor of Arts, Doctor of Jurisprudence)

Associate Professor

Meijo University, Faculty of Human Studies

Nagoya, Japan

Introduction

On January 14, 2005, Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University, made the following comment while addressing a conference on diversifying the academic workforce, ÀIt does appear that on many, many different human attributes-height, weight, propensity for criminality, overall IQ, mathematical ability, scientific ability-there is relatively clear evidence that whatever the difference in means-which can be debated-there is a difference in the standard deviation, and variability of a male and a female population.” His remarks relating to mathematical and scientific ability among females provoked a firestorm of controversy and criticism in the United States. In fact, several studies have shown that males do better than females on tests of mathematical ability, but that conversely, females do better than males at tests involving verbal ability. My curiosity as to the truth of this theory was raised. In this paper, I compare the performance of male and female university students at a Japanese university in English communication classes. If previous research results can be relied upon, then female students can be expected to outperform their male counterparts.

Method

I examined the performance of both first and second year students of the Department of Human Studies at Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan. 39 first year female students and 21 first year male students were compared. Also, 47 second year female students and 22 second year male students were compared. I compared their performance on assignments, rates of attendance, test scores, and overall performance. I applied a statistical analysis to the data.

Performance on Assignments

The first area for analysis was the performance of male and female students on assignments. First and second year females outperformed their male counterparts. First year females averaged 1.26% higher scores on their assignments. This difference is small, however, and accounts for only about one-twelfth (0.08) of a standard deviation. Second year female students also outperformed their male counterparts. They did it by a larger margin, 3.26%. This difference accounts for nearly three-tenths (0.29) of a standard deviation. See figures 1 and 2

Figure 1

Performance on Assignments

Figure 2

Rates of Attendance

The second area of analysis was rates of attendance for male and female students. First year female students attended more regularly than their male counterparts. This difference amounted to 5.53% and accounted for more than one-half (0.53) of a standard deviation. Surprisingly, second year males slightly outperformed their female counterparts. They did so by a very slim margin (0.35%), and this accounted for only about one-twenty fifth (0.038) of a standard deviation. See figures 3 and 4

Figure 3

Rates of Attendance

Figure 4

Test Scores

The third area of analysis was the test scores earned by male and female students. First year and second year females outscored their male counterparts. First year females outscored their male counterparts by an average of 2.72%, which accounted for about one-fifth (0.19) of a standard deviation. Second year females outscored their male counterparts by a more impressive 6.67%, accounting for nearly three-fifths (0.56) of a standard deviation. See figures 5 and 6

Figure 5

Test Scores

Figure 6

Overall Performance

The final area of analysis was overall performance, a calculation which included performance on assignments (20%), rates of attendance (20%), and test scores (60%). Both first and second year female students outperformed their male counterparts. First year female students scored nearly 3 percent (2.99) higher on average than their male counterparts, which accounted for slightly more than one-fourth (0.26) of a standard deviation. Second year female students outperformed their male counterparts by a more impressive 4.5%, which accounted for more than one-half (0.54) of a standard deviation. See figures 7 and 8.

Figure 7

Overall Performance

Figure 8

Conclusions

As previous studies have suggested, females outperform their male counterparts in relation to their respective verbal abilities. This analysis tends to support that hypothesis. First and second year female students statistically outperformed their male counterparts in university level English communication courses. A further statistical analysis of the significance of these numbers using independent t-testing confirms the significance of the statistical advantage in three areas: attendance by first year females, test scores by second year females, and overall performance by second year females. In all other areas analyzed, with the exception of attendance by second year students where there was a virtual tie, female students emerged with a statistical advantage.

Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/18/education/18harvard.html

Nowell, Amy & Hedges, Larry V., À Trends in gender differences in academic achievement from 1960 to 1994: an analysis of differences in mean, variance, and extreme scores”, Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, July 1998