| This study was designed to measure gender-related differences in economic achievement at the junior college level. Understanding at a point in time and learning over a period of time were examined. The measurement instrument was the revised Test of Understanding in College Economics (revised TUCE). The subjects were the 128 students who completed Principles of Macroeconomics during the Fall Quarter 1984 at Macon Junior College. Form B of the revised TUCE was given as a pretest and Form A was given as a posttest. Data also were gathered from a questionnaire and from school records.; An analysis of variance showed no significant differences between men and women on either the pretest, the posttest, or the final course grade. An analysis of covariance showed no significant difference between men and women on the gain score. Correlation coefficients were calculated to determine whether there were relationships between achievement and the educational attainment of either the student's father or mother or the number of hours worked. The only significant correlations were between hours worked by men and the posttest, final grade, and gain score. A forward stepwise regression showed the most important predictor of the posttest was the SAT-math score. Other significant variables, in descending order, were age, class status, SAT-verbal, GPA, pretest, and hours worked. The norm group performed significantly better than the study group on both the pretest and the posttest. The .05 level of significance was used for all tests.; When women are given the same amount of instruction in college economics as men, they perform equally to them. If women are to participate equally with men in today's workplace, they should not be encouraged or allowed to avoid the study of economics. Suggestions for further research include an investigation into the differences, if any, between achievement of women at two-year colleges and that of women at four-year colleges and universities. |
