Achievement 207that competence beliefs are more strongly
linked to performance, and values are more
strongly linked to what we pursue (Wigfield &
Eccles, 2002). In fact, Wigfield and Eccles argue
that the reason there are fewer women in math
and sciences has more to do with values than
competence. Between the ages of 8 and 17, girls
show less intrinsic interest in STEM fields than
boys (Hill et al., 2010). One study showed that
girls were less interested in math than boys,
despite receiving the same grades—and the
sex difference was even larger among gifted
students (Preckel et al., 2008). This could ex-
plain why there are fewer women entering the
fields of math and engineering. A recent review
of the literature concluded that the number
one reason why women are underrepresented
in STEM fields is female preference (Ceci
et al., 2009). Among those who are proficient
in math, women are more likely than men to
prefer careers in nonmath intensive fields. In
a 20-year follow-up study of gifted math stu-
dents, women and men were equally likely to
have obtained advanced degrees but women
were more likely to have pursued other fields
besides math, such as law, medicine, admin-
istration, and social sciences (Lubinski &
Benbow, 2006). Women who are proficient
in math are more likely than men toalsobe
proficient in verbal skills, providing women
with greater flexibility in choosing a profession.
Thus, achievement differences between women
and men have decreased over time, but the dif-
ferences in the activities that women and men
value have not changed to the same degree.
Girls and boys have also had different
interests in sports and athletics, but the size of
that difference has been reduced dramatically
with the passage of Title IX. See Sidebar 6.2 for
a discussion of recent challenges to Title IX.
In the next sections, I will discuss how
the social environment can shape females’
and males’ expectancies and values.One of the features of the expectancy/
value model is that achievement-related behav-
ior is understood as a choice between at least
two behaviors (Eccles et al., 1999). In other
words, a boy who has equally good grades in all
subject areas knows he will pursue a career in
only one area. Even if the boy’s grades in math
and English are the same and he equally val-
ues math and English in elementary school, at
some point he is likely to choose between the
two areas and value one more than the other.
Gender-role socialization may lead him to
value math over English. Parents, teachers, and
counselors all have the opportunity to encour-
age or discourage pursuits in a given area.
Plenty of research suggests that women
and men continue to value different pursuits.
In terms of overall career choices, females
value whether a job will make the world a
better place and are interested in people-
oriented jobs, whereas males value the status
and money associated with a job (Eccles et al.,
1999; Lupart et al., 2004). These divergent in-
terests may explain why girls are underrepre-
sented in computer science. Girls are likely to
be attracted to occupations that involve inter-
actions with other people, and the computer
scientist often is depicted as a nerd who works
in isolation from others. In a series of focus
groups with middle school and high school
girls from 70 different schools, girls expressed
a lack of interest in computer science—not be-
cause they lacked the ability but because they
lacked the desire (American Association of
University Women, 2000). The investigators
summarized girls’ responses with the phrase
“We can, but I don’t want to.” Girls perceived
the computer scientist to be male and antiso-
cial; the career simply did not appeal to them.
Today, girls are still less interested in comput-
ers than boys (Sainz & Lopez-Saez, 2010).
When comparing the effects of compe-
tence beliefs and values on outcomes, it appearsM06_HELG0185_04_SE_C06.indd 207 6/21/11 8:10 AM