The Effects of Mentor Gender on Mentee Attitudes towards Mathematics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of Algebra I students who were being mentored to see if there was a difference between the attitude of students with a gender concordant (n = 18) or discordant (n = 18) mentor pairing. This is important because if a way can be found to improve student attitudes toward mathematics through the structuring of mentoring programs, then students will be better prepared for success in mathematics. The students’ scores on the questionnaire were used to evaluate each student’s attitude towards math and their personal math capabilities. There was also a total math attitude score. The mean Attitude Toward Math score of the Gender Concordant group (Mean = 27.28, SD = 2.95) did not differ significantly from that of the Gender Discordant group (Mean = 28.94, SD = 4.80) [t (34) = 1.23, p = .22]. The mean Attitude Toward Personal Math Capabilities score of the Gender Concordant group (Mean = 27.06, SD = 3.26) did not differ significantly from that of the Gender Discordant group (Mean = 26.67, SD = 5.67) [t(34) = .25, p = .80]. The mean Total Math Attitude score of the Gender Concordant group (Mean = 54.33, SD = 5.14) did not differ significantly from that of the Gender Discordant group (Mean = 55.61, SD = 9.70) [t(34) = .49, p = .63]. Results did not indicate that adjusting mentor and mentee pairings based on gender will impact math attitudes. Implications of the findings and ideas for future research are discussed.