Role of Intelligence and Gender in Mathematical Performance at Primary Level

Mathematical items are found to be an integral part of a number of intelligence tests. Although, genetically no gender differences exist in cognitive ability, gender differences in mathematics have been reported to surface with increase in age, which have been attributed to gender stereotype and experiences. The present study aims to examine whether mathematical performance is influenced by intelligence and gender in children. Samples of 140 students (70 boys & 70 girls) from 1 st, 3rd and 5th class (age range of 5-11 years) were taken for the study. Mathematical performance and intelligence tests were administered to all the students. Two way analysis of variance revealed that gender had no significant effect on mathematical performance of primary level students while intelligence played an important role. However, this difference was observed only in the extreme groups, i.e. low and high intelligence groups, while no differences were observed when mathematical performance of these groups were compared to the moderate intelligence group.