Gender Differences in Science Achievement: Differential Effect of Ability, Response Format, and Strands of Learning Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to determine patterns of gender differences in science achievement of fifth graders, taking into account the role of ethnicity, ability, response format, and strands of learning outcomes. The results indicated that the gender differences in science achievement did not depend on ethnicity. However, response format, ability, and strands of learning outcomes had differential effects on student performance. In particular, at the high ability level boys did better than girls on the open‐ended format in physical sciences, but there were no gender differences in nature of science, earth and space sciences, and life sciences. There were no gender differences in science achievement for the low and medium ability students. Regardless of gender, the largest achievement gaps between the low, medium, and high ability students were on the open‐ended format in physical sciences.