A study of gender effects in the science and mathematics course‐taking behavior of a group of students who graduated from college in the late 1970s

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the high school and collegiate science and mathematics participation and performance of a group of students who graduated from a single highly selective liberal arts college in the late 1970s. It was found that women took fewer science and mathematics courses than men but performed at a higher level both in high school and college. It was also found that students took fewer mathematics and science courses in college than in high school and that college performance and participation were related to performance and participation in high school.