Can Gender and Major Explain College Students’ Performance in Business Statistics?

Abstract

Recent discussions in education, industry, and government have focused on the need for growth and diversity in STEM fields. STEM education and practice directly contribute to the economic vitality of a nation and benefit its citizens. Yet, STEM education and employment growth seem lopsided concerning both gender and diversity. While researchers have studied various dimensions of this phenomenon, this paper seeks to add to the knowledge base by analyzing the effects of gender and college major on performance and attitudes in statistics-related courses. T-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression were used to investigate the effects of gender, major, and attitude on performance in business statistics courses. Results indicate that, in the business statistics course, there were no significant differences between the average score of male students and female students in 2 of 3 semesters. In the marketing research course, where similar statistical concepts as taught in the business statistics course were adopted, results were similar. However, there were differences in the students’ scores when their academic majors were considered. Findings from this study can contribute to developing effective and innovative pedagogical methodologies to teach statistics and related subjects.