„Jungs sind besser in Mathe“ – Geschlechterstereotype von Grundschullehrkräften und Erwartungseffekte für Mädchen und Jungen in Mathematik

Teacher expectations can have a significant influence on the performance development of schoolchildren. There is also evidence that stereotypes can explain differential patterns for boys and girls. Based on a sample of 796 s graders and their 50 teachers, we examined the relationships between children’s gender, teacher expectations of student mathematics achievement, teachers’ gender stereotypes and children’s mathematics achievement. The focus was on whether teachers’ gender stereotypes are related to their gender-specific expectations. Multilevel analyses revealed firstly that teacher expectations were related to children’s later mathematics performance, controlling for prior expectations. Second, there was an indirect effect of gender on mathematics achievement via teacher expectations. Third, a cross-level interaction was found: stronger gender stereotypes were associated with higher expectations of boys’ mathematics ability. This study contributes to the understanding of gender-specific teacher expectations by explicitly investigating the role of teachers’ gender stereotypes.