The Gender Conflict on Academic Performance and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices

Abstract

The Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) is a ubiquitous general intelligence measure, and many studies have found that on average males perform better than females on the RPM. Some have interpreted this as suggesting males have higher general intelligence. Since measured intelligence is the best predictor of academic performance (AP), the implication is that males will achieve better academically. However, many researches show the opposite: females perform better academically in general. Therefore, this study examined gender differences in intelligence and academic performances from 688 third-year psychology students (530 females and 158 males), with their ages ranging from 18-to-63 years old (M=23.9, SD=6.66 yrs), to explore this paradox. Moreover, we also studied other variables that are related to academic performance such as prior academic performances, emotional intelligence, verbal intelligence, and personality (Openness and Conscientiousness, in particular) in an attempt to resolve this conflict. Results showed that Conscientiousness influenced AP more in females whereas general intelligence affected AP more in males, which could be the two crucial factors in explaining the conflict. However, this is not the only explanation, so future studies are still required to identify other possible variables or reasons to resolve the conflict comprehensively.