Summary

Abstract

What does it all mean? The short answer is that we have a better understanding of the barriers and affordances that affect whether girls and women will participate in science. My own contributions have included intensive examination of the role of cognitive variables (mathematics, spatial and verbal ability, Piagetian tasks) psychological variables (role-specific self-concept, sex-role identity, personality, interviewer effects), classroom variables and interventions (teacher/student interactions, informal programs, single-sex classrooms) affective variables (attitude), and summaries of research that examined gender equity in science internationally, as well as effective instructional strategies to promote achievement and interest in science.