Gender Differences in Grade 12 Mathematics Performance: Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract This methodological, comparative and quantitative study aimed to compare the mathematics performance of male and female mathematics learners in Gauteng Province. The Umalusi council supplied the dataset used in this study, and it contained (18484 [46.63%] males, 21558 [53.84%] females and 1 [0.00%] undisclosed). The result from Pearson’s chi-square test indicated that male and female learners who enrolled for mathematics had comparable chances of passing Grade 12 (p = 0.061). Unadjusted (β = −2.667, p < 0.001, 95% CI : −3.120 to −2.215) and adjusted (β = −2.649, p < 0.001, 95% CI : −3.099 to −2.198) regression models indicated that males performed significantly better than their female counterparts in mathematics. This study recommended that a mathematics learning intervention be used at an early stage in a learner’s educational career. There is a need to conduct similar studies (using the latest data available) in all other South Africa’s provinces to validate the results presented by this study.