Girls' comparative advantage in language arts explains little of the gender gap in math-related fields: A replication and extension.

Women remain underrepresented in most math-intensive fields. [Breda and Napp, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 15435 (2019)] reported that girls' comparative advantage in reading over math (i.e., the intraindividual differences between girls' reading vs. math performance, compared to such differences for boys) could explain up to 80% of the gender gap in students' intentions to pursue math-intensive studies and careers, in conflict with findings from previous research. We conducted a conceptual replication and expanded upon Breda and Napp's study by using new global data (PISA2018, N = 466,165) and a recent US nationally representative longitudinal study (High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, N = 6,560). We coded students' intended majors and careers and their actual college majors. The difference between a student's math vs. reading performance explained only small proportions of the gender gap in students' intentions to pursue math-intensive fields (0.4 to 10.2%) and in their enrollment in math-intensive college majors (12.3%). Consistent with previous studies, our findings suggest girls' comparative advantage in reading explains a minority of the gender gap in math-related majors and occupational intentions and choices. Potential reasons for differences in the estimated effect sizes include differences in the operationalization of math-related choices, the operationalization of math and reading performance, and possibly the timing of measuring intentions and choices. Therefore, it seems premature to conclude that girls' comparative advantage in reading, rather than the cumulative effects of other structural and/or psychological factors, can largely explain the persistent gender gap in math-intensive educational and career choices.

Longitudinal associations between Latine parents' support and their adolescents' science motivation and STEM career expectations.

INTRODUCTION: Parents' science support and adolescents' motivational beliefs are associated with adolescents' expectations for their future occupations; however, these associations have been mostly investigated among White, middle-class samples. Framed by situated expectancy-value theory, the current study investigated: (1) the associations between parents' science support in 9th grade and Latine adolescents' science intrinsic value, utility value, and STEM career expectations in 11th grade, and (2) whether these indicators and the relations among them differed by adolescents' gender and parents' education. METHODS: Study participants included Latine adolescents (n = 3060; Mage = 14.4 years old; 49% female) in the United States from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a significant, positive association between parents' science support and Latine adolescents' science utility value. Additionally, there was a significant, positive association between parents' science support and Latinas' science intrinsic value, but not for Latinos' science intrinsic value. Latine adolescents' science utility value, but not their science intrinsic value, predicted their concurrent STEM career expectations. Though there were no significant mean level differences in adolescents' science utility value or parents' science support based on adolescents' gender, the measure of adolescents' science intrinsic value varied across girls and boys. Finally, adolescents whose parents had a college degree received greater science support from parents compared to adolescents whose parents had less education than a college degree. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest parents' science support and adolescents' intrinsic and utility values have potential associations with Latine adolescents' STEM career expectations near the end of high school.

Developmental changes in students' use of dimensional comparisons to form ability self-concepts in math and verbal domains.

Dimensional comparisons (i.e., comparing own performances across domains) may drive an increasing differentiation in students' math and verbal self-concepts over time, but little longitudinal research has directly tested this assumption. Using cross-sequential data spanning Grades 1-12 (N = 1069, ages 6-18, 92% White, 2% Black, 51% female, collected 1987-1996), this study charted age-related changes in the role of dimensional comparisons in students' ability self-concept formation. It used three types of self-concept measures: peer comparisons, cross-domain comparisons, and no comparisons. Results indicated that the increase in students' use of dimensional comparisons in self-evaluations substantially contributed to the increasing differentiation in students' math and verbal self-concepts over time. Findings highlight the importance of dimensional comparisons in the development of students' ability self-concepts.

Patterns of African American parents' educational involvement: associations with adolescents' academic performance and motivational beliefs.

The current study used survey data from 786 African American mother-adolescent (M = 12.29 years; 48% female) dyads to examine profiles of 7th-grade parental educational involvement and their associations with adolescents' 11th-grade academic performance, academic self-concept, and educational aspirations. Using latent profile analyses, four patterns emerged: (a) Low Involvers; (b) Helpers, Low Providers; (c) Providers, Low Helpers; and (d) More Involved Helpers and Providers. The More Involved Helpers and Providers had adolescents with higher grades than the Helpers, Low Providers and the Low Involvers. The Providers, Low Helpers also had adolescents with higher educational aspirations than other profiles except for the More Involved Helpers and Providers. Findings suggest multiple pathways through which African American parents can enhance adolescents' academic outcomes.

Stress of university students before and after campus closure in response to COVID-19.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities were forced to adopt a remote learning model, which introduced a number of stressors into college students' everyday life and study habits. The current study investigates if students' study-related stress increased after the pandemic's onset and how individual and contextual factors moderate this potential stress increase. Longitudinal survey data about students' stress levels and self-efficacy in self-regulation were collected before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at a public university (N = 274). Regression analysis results show an overall increase in study-related stress levels after the onset of the pandemic. Students with self-efficacy in self-regulation reported lower stress increases; students with higher mental health impairment and limited time for coursework reported larger stress increases. To address students' stress levels and strengthen coping resources, universities should consider providing students with resources to improve their self-regulation and time-management skills.

Components of engagement in saying-is-believing exercises.

The saying-is-believing effect is an important step for changing students' attitudes and beliefs in a wise intervention. However, most studies have not closely examined the process of the saying-is-believing effect when individuals are engaged in the activity. Using a qualitative approach, the present study uses an engagement framework to investigate (a) components of engagement in the saying-is-believing effect; and (b) how differently students may engage in a saying-is-believing exercise. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 undergraduates in a scholarship program for low-income transfer students from community college. Analysis using inductive and deductive approaches found that students varied on the extent to which they experienced the effectiveness of the saying-is-believing effect through affective, cognitive, and behavioral experiences. The study offers examples of how people can indeed differ in the extent to which they experience the saying-is-believing effect, and the implications for designing more effective interventions. Specifically, students' positive affective experiences from seeing the larger goal of creating videos may be important components for the saying-is-believing effect to work. Behavioral experiences, such as learning soft skills, academic skills learned indirectly from the intervention, and academic skills learned directly from the intervention were accompanied by both positive affective and cognitive experiences. Findings show the importance of students' differential engagement in saying-is-believing exercises both for building more effective wise interventions and interpreting heterogeneity in intervention effectiveness.

Developmental Trajectories of Science Identity Beliefs: Within-Group Differences among Black, Latinx, Asian, and White Students.

Though adolescents' science identity beliefs predict positive STEM outcomes, researchers have yet to examine developmental differences within racial/ethnic groups despite theoretical arguments for such studies. The current study examined science identity trajectories for Black (14%), Latinx (22%), Asian (4%), and White (52%) students (N = 21,170; 50% girls) from 9th grade to three years post-high school and the variability within each racial/ethnic group based on gender and college generational status. Contrary to the literature, students' science identities increased over time, and the increases were larger for potential first- versus continuing-generation White students. Potential continuing-generation boys had stronger 9th grade science identities than potential first-generation girls in all groups except Asians. The findings suggest who might benefit from additional supports within each racial/ethnic group.

Momentary task-values and expectations predict engagement in science among Finnish and Chilean secondary school students.

While expectancy-value-cost theory predicts that students' task values play an important part in academic engagement, these associations have rarely been tested in science education and are even less studied in authentic classroom situations. The present study examined to what extent momentary task-values, expectations and costs are associated with students' momentary academic engagement in science classes. Momentary academic engagement was operationalised as energy (give up), dedication (grit) and absorption (flow) components of engagement. Finnish (N = 5891 beeps, 307 students) and Chilean (N = 1931 beeps, 157 students) secondary school students participated in the study using Experience Sampling Method via smartphones. When signalled, students responded to questions via smartphones concerning their momentary task values, expectations, costs and components of engagement in the current activity. The research questions were analysed with multilevel path modelling. The results showed that, for both samples task-values, expectations and costs were related to energy, dedication and absorption components of engagement in science classes. High momentary task-values were positively associated with momentary flow and grit; high momentary expectations were positively associated with high grit and low giving up in both samples; and high momentary challenge showed as increases in feelings of giving up.

Cross-Domain Trajectories of Students' Ability Self-Concepts and Intrinsic Values in Math and Language Arts.

Different cross-domain trajectories in the development of students' ability self-concepts (ASCs) and their intrinsic valuing of math and language arts were examined in a cross-sequential study spanning Grades 1 through 12 (n = 1,069). Growth mixture modeling analyses identified a Moderate Math Decline/Stable High Language Arts class and a Moderate Math Decline/Strong Language Arts Decline class for students' ASC trajectories. Students' intrinsic value trajectories included a Strong Math Decline/Language Arts Decline Leveling Off, a Moderate Math Decline/Strong Language Arts Decline, and a Stable Math and Language Arts Trajectories class. These classes differed with regard to student characteristics, including gender, family background, and math and reading aptitudes. They also resulted in different high school math course enrollments, career aspirations, and adult careers.

Manifesto for new directions in developmental science.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Stress and executive control: Mechanisms, moderators, and malleability.

Stress pervades everyday life and more importantly, affects prefrontal cortices that support executive control functions, processes that are critical to learning and memory as well as a range of life outcomes. The positive or negative effect of stress on cognition depends on an interaction of factors related to the situation and the individual. Research has shown that psychological characteristics related to self-relevance and the availability of resources may lead individuals to perceive a stressor as a threat or challenge, driving performance outcomes. Given that perception is arguably the key to stress reactivity, positive affect and self-belief constructs are discussed in the context of how they may lead to preserved performance in the face of stress. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of stress perception could inform the development of interventions, a socially important endeavor given the impact of stress on health and cognitive functions.

Threats and Supports to Female Students' Math Beliefs and Achievement.

This study examines how student perceptions of teacher practices contribute to female high school students' math beliefs and achievement. Guided by the expectancy-value framework, we hypothesized that students' motivation beliefs and achievement outcomes in mathematics are fostered by teachers' emphasis on the relevance of mathematics and constrained by gender-based differential treatment. To examine these questions, structural equation modeling was applied to a longitudinal panel of 518 female students from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study. While controlling for prior achievement and race, gendered differential treatment was negatively associated with math beliefs and achievement, whereas relevant math instruction was positively associated with these outcomes. These findings suggest inroads that may foster positive math motivational beliefs and achievement among young women.

A preliminary investigation of attachment style and inflammation in African-American young adults.

Individuals' social experiences are associated with their mental health, physical health, and even mortality. Over the last 30 years, researchers have examined the ways in which these social experiences might be associated with chronic inflammation - a component underlying many of the chronic diseases of aging. Little research, however, has examined the role of adults' attachment style as a specific social component that might be associated with inflammation. In the present study, we utilized data from a sample of 59 African-American adults from the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) to examine the links between attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety and C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin (IL)-6. After controlling for demographic characteristics, body mass index, and depressive symptoms, attachment avoidance and anxiety were associated with IL-6 but not CRP. This study adds to the growing body of research identifying the wide range of social experiences associated with inflammation and further suggests that attachment relationship experiences may have implications for biological processes relevant to many chronic diseases of aging.

The Development of Motivation and Amotivation to Study and Work across Age-Graded Transitions in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

People's motivation to engage in studying and working is an important precursor of participation and attainment. However, little is known about how motivation and the lack of motivation develops normatively across adolescence and young adulthood. Furthermore, there is no comparison of motivation and amotivation development across sequential age-graded transitions such as the mid-schooling transition in adolescence and the school-to-work transition in young adulthood. The current study explored trajectories of motivation and amotivation development in Finland, using piecewise growth curve modelling to analyze five waves of data (age 15-22 years) from a sample of 878 youth (52% male). Indicators of amotivation (disinterest, futility and inertia) decreased, whilst the indicator of motivation (attainment value) increased across both transitions. Reductions in disinterest and inertia were steeper for youth transferring into vocational education at the mid-schooling transition and for youth transferring from an academic track to higher education at the school-to-work transition. Amotivation and motivation shifted most at the school-to-work transition, signaling the importance of this period for motivation development. Overall, the results suggest that young people became more motivated and less amotivated as they aged from adolescence through young adulthood, in line with normative maturational and gradual social changes and transfer into increasingly personalized environments.

Development of Friendship and Task Values in a New School: Friend Selection for the Arts and Physical Education but Socialization for Academic Subjects.

Friends provide important social contexts for student development. Research has shown that adolescent friends are similar to each other in their interest and values for different school subjects. Yet our current understanding does not extend to knowing whether selection, deselection, or socialization processes are responsible for this phenomena. Without this knowledge, it is very difficult for parents, teachers, and schools to know how and when to intervene. This study investigated selection, deselection, and socialization effects on adolescent students' task values for academic (languages, math and science, and social sciences) and non-academic subject areas (the arts and physical education). A social network approach was used to examine two waves of annual data collected from school-based networks of adolescents in the first and second years of high school education in Finland (N = 1419; female = 48.6%; mean age at first measurement point = 16). The results revealed that adolescents tended to select friends with similar levels of task values (friend selection) for the arts and physical education, but friends did not become more similar in these areas over time (friend socialization). In contrast, there was evidence of friend socialization, but not friend selection, for the academic school subjects. Across all subjects, differences in task values did not predict friendship dissolution (friend deselection). These findings suggest that to a significant extent, students make agentic choices in developing friendship with schoolmates based on their task values in non-academic subjects. The resultant friend contexts that individuals created, in turn, affected their task values in academic subject areas. These results shed light on the complexity of friend effect mechanisms on task values at the subject domain-specific level.

I. INTRODUCTION: MOVING THROUGH ADOLESCENCE: DEVELOPMENTAL TRAJECTORIES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICAN YOUTH.

In this monograph, we investigate the developmental trajectories of a predominantly middle-class, community-based sample of European American and African American adolescents growing up in urban, suburban, and rural areas in Maryland, United States. Within risk-protection and positive youth development frameworks, we selected developmental measures based on the normative tasks of adolescence and the most widely studied indicators in the three major contexts of development: families, peer groups, and schools. Using hierarchical linear growth models, we estimated adolescents' growth trajectories from ages 12 to 20 with variation accounted for by socioeconomic status (SES), gender, race/ethnicity, and the gender by race/ethnicity interaction. In general, the results indicate that: (a) periods of greatest risk and positive development depended on the time frame and outcome being examined and (b) on average, these adolescents demonstrated much stronger evidence of positive than problematic development, even at their most vulnerable times. Absolute levels of their engagement in healthy behaviors, supportive relationships with parents and friends, and positive self-perceptions and psychological well-being were much higher than their reported angry and depressive feelings, engagement in risky behaviors, and negative relationships with parents and peers. We did not find evidence to support the idea that adolescence is a time of heightened risk. Rather, on average, these adolescents experienced relatively stable and developmentally healthy trajectories for a wide range of characteristics, behaviors, and relationships, with slight increases or decreases at different points in development that varied according to domain. Developmental trajectories differed minimally by SES but in some expected ways by gender and race/ethnicity, although these latter differences were not very marked. Overall, most of the young people navigated through their adolescence and arrived at young adulthood with good mental and physical health, positive relationships with their parents and peers, and high aspirations and expectations for what their future lives might hold.

Passionate Experiences in Adolescence: Situational Variability and Long-Term Stability.

This study investigates adolescents' situational passionate experiences, defined as states of strong commitment and intense affect. We examine the extent to which experiencing passion was specific to situations versus individual differences, and explore which activities are likely to elicit adolescents' passion. Using longitudinal experience sampling method (ESM) data from a representative sample of 996 adolescents (54.6% females) in three cohorts (6th, 8th, and 10th grade at baseline), we examine whether adolescents' frequency of passionate experiences remained stable across 2 years. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that situational determinants accounted for 80% of variance in passion, while 20% were due to characteristics of the person that remained stable across 1 week of ESM assessment. An adolescent's percentage of passionate experiences among all observed experiences remained stable across 2 years in rank order and mean level.

Does Everyone's Motivational Beliefs about Physical Science Decline in Secondary School?: Heterogeneity of Adolescents' Achievement Motivation Trajectories in Physics and Chemistry.

Students' motivational beliefs about learning physical science are critical for achieving positive educational outcomes. In this study, we incorporated expectancy-value theory to capture the heterogeneity of adolescents' motivational trajectories in physics and chemistry from seventh to twelfth grade and linked these trajectories to science-related outcomes. We used a cross-sequential design based on three different cohorts of adolescents (N = 699; 51.5 % female; 95 % European American; M ages for youngest, middle, and oldest cohorts at the first wave = 13.2, 14.1, and 15.3 years) coming from ten public secondary schools. Although many studies claim that physical science motivation declines on average over time, we identified seven differential motivational trajectories of ability self-concept and task values, and found associations of these trajectories with science achievement, advanced science course taking, and science career aspirations. Adolescents' ability self-concept and task values in physics and chemistry were also positively related and interlinked over time. Examining how students' motivational beliefs about physical science develop in secondary school offers insight into the capacity of different groups of students to successfully adapt to their changing educational environments.

Perceptions of parental secure base support in African American adolescents and young adults: A preliminary study of predictive links to adult C-reactive protein.

Within the field of relationship science there is increasing interest in the connections between close relationships and physical health. In the present study, we examined whether adolescents' (~12 years old) and young adults' (~20 years old) perceptions of their parents as a secure base prospectively predict C-reactive protein (CRP), a commonly used marker of inflammatory activity, at age 32 in a well-characterized sample of African Americans. We utilized existing data collected as part of the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS) to construct measures of perceptions of parental secure base support (SBS), general parental support, and peer support in early adolescence and early adulthood. In the present study, SBS was operationalized as the perceived ability to depend on parents in times of need. Fifty-nine African American MADICS participants who reported on perceived support in early adolescence and early adulthood participated in a follow-up home visit at age 32 during which serum CRP was measured via a blood draw. After controlling for inflammation-related confounds (e.g., tobacco use, body mass index), adolescents' perceptions of parental SBS, but not peer support or general parental support, predicted lower CRP values at age 32 (b = -.92, SE = .34, p < .05). None of the support variables in early adulthood predicted CRP at 32 years. This study adds to a growing literature on relationships and health-related outcomes and provides the first evidence for a link between parental SBS in adolescence and a marker of inflammatory activity in adulthood.

Retracted: Multilevel Predictors of Math Classroom Climate: A Comparison Study of Student and Teacher Perceptions.

The above article, published online on June 23, 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor-in-Chief, Nancy Guerra, and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed upon following the discovery that this article contained inaccurate data. It came to the author's attention that the names of some of the items reported in the Measures section of the paper could not be correct because such items did not exist in the surveys. The authors tried to identify exactly which items had been used in the data analyses but they could not establish without some doubt exactly which items had actually been used. Reference Wang, M.-T. and Eccles, J. S. (2014), Multilevel Predictors of Math Classroom Climate: A Comparison Study of Student and Teacher Perceptions. Journal of Research on Adolescence. doi: 10.1111/jora.12153.