Gender differences at mathematics competitions in the Republic of Serbia

Global research has indicated that there are differences in mathematics achievement among students relative to their gender. The differences have decreased in the last couple of decades, but they have not completely disappeared. Mathematics competitions play an important role in increasing students' motivation, interest, and self-confidence, as well as in identifying and supporting mathematically gifted students. For this reason, the question is whether and to what extent there are differences in achievement at mathematics competitions relative to gender. The aim of this paper is to analyse the continuity of interest and students' achievement, and to investigate the trends at regional mathematics competitions relative to gender in the 2014-2023 period. The research sample consists of 53490 primary school students, from fourth to eighth grade. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied. The results indicate that there are differences in participation and achievement relative to students' gender. In the observed period, there was a trend of an increased male representation. A slight decrease in the representation of boys was identified during the transition from earlier grades to subject teaching, and this difference becomes greater in the eighth grade. When it comes to achievement, there is a statistically significant difference, usually to the benefit of the boys, in 60% of cases. There are more boys among the 5% of the students with the highest achievement. The findings indicate that more attention should be paid to this issue and that the cause of the gender differences regarding participation and achievement at competitions should be identified and ways should be found for overcoming it.