Student engagement: Gender differences in senior high school

Rismawati Rismawati; Ziyadi Ali Ikromi; Novi Hidayat

doi:10.55942/pssj.v5i8.515

Authors

Rismawati Rismawati Universitas Sains Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8318-9018
Ziyadi Ali Ikromi Universitas Sains Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5063-9669
Novi Hidayat Universitas Sains Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2450-0660

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55942/pssj.v5i8.515

Keywords:

Student engagement, Behavioral engagement, Cognitive engagement, Emotional engagement, Gender

Abstract

Student engagement is a broad concept that encompasses student commitment, interaction, and connection with academic material, curriculum, and activities that support learning and achievement. Student engagement has been conceptualized as a three-dimensional construct: emotional/affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. There are differences in student engagement levels between male and female students, based on PISA results between 2012 and 2022, with performance in mathematics declining among male students, but remaining stable among female students in Indonesia. This study aimed to identify gender-based differences in student engagement. This research method employed a quantitative approach. Sampling was conducted using non-probability and purposive sampling (N=467). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to test the construct validity of each variable using the Lisrel 8.8 software, and difference tests were conducted using SPSS 23 software. The results of the study indicate that there were differences in variance between male and female groups in the behavioral and cognitive engagement variables, while there were no differences in variance between male and female groups in the emotional engagement variable. Additionally, the categorization of scores for the behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement variables was dominated by the moderate category. Future research should investigate variables related to behavioral and cognitive engagement among female students to foster school engagement. This study aims to develop potential teaching strategies and interventions for both male and female students to enhance student engagement in school.

Author Biographies

Rismawati Rismawati, Universitas Sains Indonesia

Rismawati holds a Master’s degree in educational psychology. She is currently working in the field of education as a lecturer and researcher at Universitas Sains Indonesia. Her expertise and contributions to the field of psychology are invaluable to this research. Her dedication to developing educational psychology and commitment to improving educational psychology outcomes are reflected in her work.

Ziyadi Ali Ikromi, Universitas Sains Indonesia

Ziyadi Ali Ikromi holds a master's degree in educational psychology. With a strong background in educational psychology, Ziyadi actively conducted research on schools and children with special needs. Ziyadi is also a lecturer at the Universitas Sains Indonesia.

Novi Hidayat, Universitas Sains Indonesia

Novi holds a master's degree in educational psychology. Her interest in educational psychology and development led her to actively engage in research on adolescents and education for children with disabilities. Novi is currently affiliated with the Universitas Sains Indonesia as a psychology lecturer.

References

Alalouch, C. (2021). Cognitive styles, gender, and student academic performance in engineering education. Education Sciences, 11(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090502

Casad, B. J., Hale, P., & Wachs, F. L. (2015). Parent-child math anxiety and math-gender stereotypes predict adolescents’ math education outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 6(NOV). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01597

Eccles, J., Wigfield, A., Harold, R. D., & Blumenfeld, P. (1993). Society for Research in Child Development Wiley Age and Gender Differences in Children’s Self-and Task Perceptions during Elementary School. In Source: Child Development (Vol. 64, Issue 3). http://www.jstor.orgURL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1131221http://www.jstor.org/stable/1131221?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence (Vol. 74, Issue 1).

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P., Friedel, J., & Paris, A. (2005). School engagement. In K. A. Moore & L. H. Lippman (Eds.), What Do Children Need to Flourish: Conceptualizing and Measuring Indicators of Positive Development, 305–321. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23823-9_19

Fredricks, J. A., Filsecker, M., & Lawson, M. A. (2016). Student engagement, Context, And adjustment: Addressing definitional, Measurement, And methodological issues. In Learning and Instruction (Vol. 43, pp. 1–4). Elsevier Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.02.002

Fullarton, S. (2002). Student engagement with school: Individual and school-level influences. In Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth.

Furlong, M. J. , & Rebelez-Ernst, J. (2013). Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.), School/Student engagement (Vol. 141, pp. 1077–1079). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_141

Gunderson, E. A., Ramirez, G., Levine, S. C., & Beilock, S. L. (2012). The Role of Parents and Teachers in the Development of Gender-Related Math Attitudes. In Sex Roles (Vol. 66, Issues 3–4, pp. 153–166). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-9996-2

Hartono, F. P. (2018). Tingkat student engagement berdasarkan jenis kelamin dan kelas pada mata pelajaran sejarah peserta didik jenjang SMA Negeri Eks Kotatif Jember. In Universitas Jember.

Heyder, A., Steinmayr, R., & Kessels, U. (2019). Do Teachers’ Beliefs About Math Aptitude and Brilliance Explain Gender Differences in Children’s Math Ability Self-Concept? Frontiers in Education, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2019.00034

King, R. B. (2016). Gender differences in motivation, engagement and achievement are related to students’ perceptions of peer—but not of parent or teacher—attitudes toward school. Learning and Individual Differences, 52, 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.10.006

Korlat, S., Kollmayer, M., Holzer, J., Lüftenegger, M., Pelikan, E. R., Schober, B., & Spiel, C. (2021). Gender Differences in Digital Learning During COVID-19: Competence Beliefs, Intrinsic Value, Learning Engagement, and Perceived Teacher Support. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637776

Lesperance, K., Hofer, S., Retelsdorf, J., & Holzberger, D. (2022). Reducing gender differences in student motivational-affective factors: A meta-analysis of school-based interventions. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 1502–1536. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12512

Li, Y., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). Interrelations of Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive School Engagement in High School Students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9857-5

Lietaert, S., Roorda, D., Laevers, F., Verschueren, K., & De Fraine, B. (2015). The gender gap in student engagement: The role of teachers’ autonomy support, structure, and involvement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(4), 498–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12095

Muntoni, F., & Retelsdorf, J. (2018). Gender-specific teacher expectations in reading—The role of teachers’ gender stereotypes. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 54, 212–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.06.012

Muntoni, F., Wagner, J., & Retelsdorf, J. (2020). Beware of Stereotypes: Are Classmates’ Stereotypes Associated With Students’ Reading Outcomes? Child Development, 92(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13359

Newmann, F. M. (1989). Student Engagement and High School Reform. Educational Leadership, 46, 34–36.

Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development. (2023). PISA 2022 results (Volume I & II) – Country notes: Indonesia. https://oecdch.art/a40de1dbaf/C108.

Pietarinen, J., Soini, T., & Pyhältö, K. (2014). Students’ emotional and cognitive engagement as the determinants of well-being and achievement in school. International Journal of Educational Research, 67, 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2014.05.001

Pyne, J. (2020). Gender Test Score Gaps Under Equal Behavioral Engagement. Educational Researcher, 49(6), 459–464. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20930203

Reeve, J., & Tseng, C. M. (2011). Agency as a fourth aspect of students’ engagement during learning activities. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(4), 257–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2011.05.002

Sahil, S. A. S., & Hashim, R. A. (2017). Gender differences in the Perception of Social Support and Cognitive Engagement. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(3), 426. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v7-i3/2747

Salmela-Aro, K., & Read, S. (2017). Study engagement and burnout profiles among Finnish higher education students. Burnout Research, 7, 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burn.2017.11.001

Santos, A. C., Simões, C., Cefai, C., Freitas, E., & Arriaga, P. (2021). Emotion regulation and student engagement: Age and gender differences during adolescence. International Journal of Educational Research, 109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101830

Tiedemann, J. (2000). Parents’ Gender Stereotypes and Teachers’ Beliefs as Predictors of Children’s Concept of Their Mathematical Ability in Elementary School. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(1), 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.92.U44

Van Houtte, M. (2023). Understanding the gender gap in school (dis)engagement from three gender dimensions: the individual, the interactional and the institutional. Educational Studies, 49(2), 260–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1842722

Wang, M. Te, & Degol, J. (2014). Staying engaged: Knowledge and research needs in student engagement. Child Development Perspectives, 8(3), 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12073

Wang, M. Te, & Eccles, J. S. (2012). Adolescent Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive Engagement Trajectories in School and Their Differential Relations to Educational Success. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00753.x

Wang, M. Te, & Hofkens, T. L. (2020). Beyond Classroom Academics: A School-Wide and Multi-Contextual Perspective on Student Engagement in School. In Adolescent Research Review (Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp. 419–433). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-019-00115-z

Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (1994). Children’s Competence Beliefs, Achievement Values, and General Self-Esteem: Change Across Elementary and Middle School. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 14(2), 107–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/027243169401400203

Willms, J. Douglas. (2003). Student engagement at school : a sense of belonging and participation : results from PISA 2000. OECD.