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Males, more than females, elect advanced mathematics courses. This differential in the number of mathematics courses elected has been cited as a major explanation of sex-related differences in adults' mathematics performance and in their participation in mathematics-related careers. Knowledge about some of the variables that enter into the decision to persist in the study of mathematics is essential for those who are interested in encouraging females, as well as males, to adequately prepare themselves in mathematics. This study identified some attitudinal and attributional variables that relate to the election of mathematics courses by females and males. A small set of variables was found to explain some of the variance in female and male mathematics plans. These results might help in understanding why females do not continue in as large a proportion as males to elect mathematics and/or to enter mathematics-related careers.
Pedro et al. (Sun,) studied this question.