Understanding students’ academic preparation in math and science is critical to ensuring success in STEM subjects. Scores from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) allow analysis of the performance of boys and girls across various grades in Turkey’s educational system. The PISA is a series of reports comparing 15-year-olds academic performance across subjects and countries. The TIMSS measures 4th and 8th grades math and science achievement across 64 countries.
2023
TIMSS
In 2023, 4th grade girls scored lower math and science scores than boys in Turkey. The gender gap, in favor of boys, in math was 14 points in 4th grade and reversed in 8th grade, where girls scored 1 point ahead of boys. In science, 4th grade girls scored 4 points lower than boys in science. However, girls outperformed boys by 7 points in 8th grade science.
2012-2022
PISA
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD), math scores experienced slight changes in Turkey for boys and girls in the last decade. The gender gap has slightly opened up, in favor of boys, from 2012 (17 point difference) to 2022 (19 points) in 90th percentile scores. In mean scores, the gender difference (calculated as boys-girls) was 8 points in 2012 and 6 points in 2022. However, the gender gap has reversed since 2012 (3 points in favor of boys) in 10th percentile scores, with girls (342) scoring 3 points higher than boys (339) by 2022.
The mean, 90th, and 10th percentile scores in science have experienced increases in Turkey in the last decade, except for girls 10th percentile scores. Mean and 90th percentile scores have increased 9-25 points from 2012 to 2022. A couple of the greatest changes are found in 90th percentile scores, with girls experiencing an increase of 19 points from 2012 (572) to 2022 (591) and boys experiencing a bigger increase of 25 points from 2012 (574) to 2022 (599). The gender gap has opened up in favor of boys in 90th percentile scores from 2012 (2 point difference) to 2022 (8 points). However, girls outperformed boys in mean and 10th percentile scores from 2012 to 2022, with the gender gap slightly closing in the last decade.
The gender differences (calculated as boys-girls) in 90th percentile scores in math and science was between 2 points to 18 points in favor of boys from 2012 to 2022, except for science in 2015 (6 point difference in favor of girls). The gender difference in 90th percentile scores in science was 2 points in favor of boys in 2012 and widened to 7 points in 2022. The gender gap, in favor of boys, has opened up slightly in math from 2012 (17 points) to 2022, where boys scored 18 points ahead of girls.
*Gender differences calculated as boys-girls
In Turkey, more boys than girls performed above a level 5 proficiency level (considered top performers) in math in the last decade. In 2022, 4.2% of girls were considered top performers compared to 6.7% of boys in Turkey.
2022
PISA
In Turkey in 2022, boys (456) scored 6 points higher in mean scores than girls (450) in math. In science, girls (478) scored 5 points higher than boys (473).
In 2022, a higher share of girls (39.4%) than boys (38.0%) performed below a level 2 proficiency level (considered low performers) in math. More boys (6.7%) than girls (4.2%) scored at or above a level 5 proficiency level (considered top performers) in math. In science, 22.8% of girls and 26.5% of boys were considered low performers. A higher share boys (4.6%) than girls (3.3%) scored at the top performance level.
*Low Performance in Math (less than 420.07 score points)
*Top Performance in Math (at or above 606.99 score points)
*Low Performance in Science (less than 409.54 score points)
*Top Performance in Science (at or above 633.33 score points)
In 2022, girls scored lower math scores than boys across the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS). The gender difference (calculated as boys-girls) in math scores is bigger in the top quarter (12 points) of ESCS when compared to the bottom quarter (9 points) of ESCS. Girls (520) scored lower in science than boys (522) in the top quarter (2 point difference). However, girls (447) in the bottom quarter of ESCS outperformed boys (444) by 3 points in science.
In 2022, a slightly higher share of girls (56.2%) were categorized as low performers from the bottom quarter of ESCS when compared to boys (51.3%) in math. A higher share of boys (15.8%) were categorized as top performers in math from the top quarter of ESCS when compared to the girls (10.0%) in the same group. In science, girls and boys who belonged to the bottom quarter of ESCS and were considered low performers comprised approximately one-third of students. The gender difference among top performers and students who belonged to the top quarter of ESCS was 3.1 percent in favor of boys.
*Low Performance in Math (less than 420.07 score points)
*Top Performance in Math (at or above 606.99 score points)
*Low Performance in Science (less than 409.54 score points)
*Top Performance in Science (at or above 633.33 score points)
Resources
- IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – TIMSS 2023.Retrieved from https://timss2023.org/results
- PISA 2022 Results. Retrieved from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa_19963777
