The relationship of gender bias and standardized tests to the mathematics competency of university men and women

National attention has been focused on the usefulness of standardized aptitude tests as predictors of college performance. The results of the tests suggest that there is a widening gap between men and women, particularly in mathematics. Several research studies have indicated that this gap is a result of the presence of gender bias in the tests themselves; other studies point toward societal attitudes and/or cultural expectations as the cause. The purpose of this study is to investigate that so-called gender gap in mathematics and, in particular, the mathematics competency of a group of university men and women as measured by their scores on standardized achievement tests in arithmetic, elementary algebra, and intermediate algebra. A further purpose for the study is to consider the influence of other variables in addition to gender that may be related to mathematics competency including college grade point average, Scholastic Aptitude Test score, choice of college major, and U.S. citizenship. Subjects participating in this study were university students during the years 1984-1988 who chose to take a mathematics competency exam rather than a course in mathematics as stipulated by the university as a requirement to graduate. T-tests grouped by gender, citizenship, and major were done on the results of each of three levels of mathematics skills. Multiple regressions were used to identify which of the selected variables impacted most heavily on each achievement test. The results indicate there are no significant differences between men and women in arithmetic skills and elementary algebra skills when all other variables are controlled for. When SAT scores, GPA, gender, citizenship, and major were controlled, women outscored men on the highest level intermediate algebra test. Additional findings suggest that women enter college with significantly lower SAT scores than men, earn significantly higher college GPAs than men, choose majors wherein the mean GPA does not differ significantly from the mean GPA of other majors, and do at least as well as men on standardized tests of mathematics achievement. The widely-held belief in a gender gap in mathematics achievement among university women and men is not supported by this study, at least at the pre-calculus level for this sample. Further, achievement tests show promise of more equitably predicting college performance than aptitude tests for men and women.