Attitude Towards Mathematics and the Dimensions of Mathematics Anxiety: Do These Variables Differ Across Levels of Gender of Students, Family Income and Parent’s Educational Level

Authors: Ashoka Choudhury , Dr. Vinod Kumar Murti

Pages: 22-30

Abstract:

Mathematics anxiety has warranted a great deal of research in the context of learning processes, classroom behavior andmathematics achievement, as well as exploration of possible effects of variable- attitude towards mathematics on mathematicsanxiety Empirical studies are necessitated to explore how determinants like gender, family income and parent’s educationallevel of students in higher education in India differ. The objective of this paper is to find whether there are significant differencesof the determinants such as gender, family income and parent’s educational level of the college students in India to attitudetowards mathematics and bi-dimensional nature of mathematics anxiety. Two hundred forty students of higher educationinstitutes in India (male-120, female-120) from diverse socio-economic background were randomly selected. The levels of thedependent variables – attitude towards mathematics, cognitive dimension of mathematics anxiety and the affective dimension ofmathematics anxiety were determined. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine whethermultiple levels of the independent variables (gender, family income, and parent’s educational level) on its own or in conjunctionwith one another influenced the dependent variables (attitude towards mathematics, cognitive dimension and affectivedimension of mathematics anxiety).Data was collected (online) by using a survey form. The participants were selected byrandom sampling method from the students in higher education in India. The findings revealed that the independent variables familyincome, parental educational qualifications and gender have non- significant difference to attitude towards mathematics,affective mathematics anxiety and cognitive mathematics anxiety.