Ethnic Differences on Students’ Approaches to Learning: Self-Regulatory Cognitive and Motivational Predictors of Academic Achievement for Latino/a and White College Students - New Science of Learning - page 131

from families with low expectations. In fact, the contrary was found, in that immi-
grant families hold high expectations and aspirations for their children's current
and future performance in school. Additionally, these beliefs are influenced by
their children's performance in school, rather than the beliefs influencing perfor-
mance (Goldenberg et al., 2001), and these beliefs later affect students' enrollment
in college (Davis-Kean, Vida, & Eccles, 2001).
Other commonly examined sociocultural factors include gender, ethnic/racial
background, and socioeconomic status (SES). Those variables have been found to
either predict or moderate the prediction of college retention and grade point aver-
age (GPA) (Nettles, Thoeny, &Gosman, 1986; Nguyen, Allen, & Fraccastoro, 2005;
Robbins, Allen, Casillas, Peterson, & Le, 2006; Robbins et al., 2004). We consider
each of these in the following paragraphs.
Gender. There is a significant amount of work on the issue of gender dif-
ferences in academic achievement in general, and math achievement specifically,
spanning several decades (Caplan & Caplan, 1999; Chipman, 1996; Favreau, 1997).
Historically, males generally outperformed girls on measures of math and science
achievement, with the gap increasing in middle and high school (Byrnes, 2001,
2005; Halpern, 2000). Although some more recent large-scale studies have docu-
mented girls performing lower on math and science assessments than their math
peers (Braswell et al., 2001; NCES, 2005; OECD, 2000), other researchers have
found this trend diminished or even reversed (see Baker, Griffin, & Choi, 2008 for
areview).
Women in particular tend to outperform men in terms of many post-secondary
outcomes, with differences particularly evident for African-American and Hispanic
students (Freeman, 2004). For example, females currently have greater success than
males in attaining post-secondary education, have higher aspirations than males
while in high school, are more likely to enroll in college immediately after grad-
uating from high school, and persist and complete degrees at higher rates than
males. Measures of post-secondary academic achievement (e.g., GPA) also tend to
be higher for women than men. More than half of all bachelor's and master's degrees
are awarded to females. Nevertheless, gender differences in majors still exist, with
female bachelor's degree recipients much less likely than their male peers to major
in computer science, engineering, and physical sciences.
One important line of investigation in this area has targeted metacognitive and
motivational variables as contributors to differences in outcomes. For example, as
part of the large-scale PISA (Program in International Student Assessment) study,
Marsh, Hau, Artelt, Baumert, and Peschar (2006) found gender differences in math-
related metacognitive, motivational, and affective factors. Hong, O'Neil, and Feldon
(2005) found no significant gender effects on math achievement; however, they did
identify gender differences in state-based anxiety and self-regulation, which them-
selves predicted math outcomes. Given this background, it is clear that gender is
an important variable in examining group differences in achievement, and it was
included in this study.
Ethnicity . Almost all discussions about the achievement gap in US educa-
tion include ethnic, racial, and cultural aspects. As noted earlier, achievement