Gender identity and educational achievement: Correlations of children's self perception with educational achievement

Abstract

The Children's Self-Perception Scale (CSPS), an instrument to measure self-perceived gender identity in school age children, was developed based on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974). The children's scores on the CSPS were correlated with two measures of educational achievement, grade point average (GPA) and Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS; Hieronymus, et al., 1986) to determine the relationship between femininity and masculinity in males and females and educational achievement. The subjects were 950 third, fourth, and seventh grade students from two school districts. The majority of students was Hispanic. The CSPS was not able to differentiate reliably between masculinity and femininity; reliabilities for the CSPS ranged from .17-.78. Although results were inconsistent across grades, significant (p<.05) positive correlations were found between femininity and GPA, .25, and masculinity and achievement (.23-.31) for seventh graders in only one district. Several possible explanations for the non-significance and inconsistencies are explored.