Gender Differences in Statistics Anxiety with Undergraduate College Students

Abstract

This empirical study examined gender differences in statistics anxiety with 156 undergraduate college students (48 males, 107 females) from a liberal arts college in the United States. Students completed surveys regarding number of prior statistics classes completed and statistics anxiety. Three subscales of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS; Cruise, Cash, and Bolton, 1985) which measures statistics anxiety were used. No gender differences were obtained for the Worth of Statistics and Computation Self-Concept subscales. Females had greater anxiety on the Test and Class Anxiety subscale than males. For males, no significant correlations were obtained between statistics anxiety and course grades. For females, significant correlations were obtained between Worth of Statistics and course grades (r = .230, p < .05) and Computation Self-Concept and course grades (r = .226, p < .05).