Abstract

The current study was conducted to explore gender differences in terms of mathematics self-efficacy, belief about intelligence, and academic achievement. The hypotheses tested in this study were: a) there is no significant difference in mathematics self-efficacy scores of male and female respondents, b) there is no significant gender difference in students’ beliefs about intelligence, and c) there is no significant gender difference in students’ academic achievements. The sample of the study comprised of 450 (302 male and 148 female) students of MSc Mathematics programs and was taken from seven public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Two instruments were used; one was the mathematics self-efficacy scale while the other was the belief about intelligence scale. Participants’ mathematics scores in their previous exams were used as a measure of academic achievement. A comparison of male and female students in mathematics self-efficacy, beliefs about intelligence, and academic achievement scores revealed that male students had significantly higher mathematics self-efficacy, exhibit an incremental ability, and had higher mathematics achievement than their female counterparts.