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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Gender (male-female)

Overview

  • Influence: Gender (male-female)
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Physical influences
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a small positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Differences between males and females (in all cases, regardless of the direction in the original meta-analysis, all are converted to male-female effects.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 17
  • Number of studies: 1,320
  • Number of students: 18,474,009
  • Number of effects: 3,218
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.02
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Conference paper Hansford & Hattie Designing and implementing a meta-analysis 1980 Gender and achievement 72 NA 503 -0.02
Child Development Meehan A meta-analysis of sex differences in formal operational thought 1984 Formal operations and gender 53 NA 160 0.14
Journal of Educational Psychology Johnson Sex differences in problem solving 1984 Gender in problem solving 9 NA 9 0.45
Child Development Linn & Peterson Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: A meta-analysis 1985 Spatial achievement and gender 172 NA 263 0.40
Report Tohidi, Steinkamp & Maehr Gender differences in performance on tests of cognitive functioning: a meta-analysis of research findings 1986 Cognitive functioning and gender 70 NA 70 0.32
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology Born, Bleichrodt & Van der Flier Cross-cultural comparison of sex-related differences on intelligence tests: A meta-analysis 1987 Gender in intelligence 17 NA 772 0.08
Perceptual and Motor Skills Stumpf & Klieme Sex-related differences in spatial ability: more evidence for convergence 1989 Spatial achievement and gender 18 171,824 18 0.48
Early Childhood Research Quarterly Magnuson, Kelchen, Duncan, Schindler, Shager, &Yoshikawa Do The Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Academic Outcomes Vary by Gender? A Meta-Analysis 2016 Early childhood programs 21 NA 23 0.10
Psychological Bulletin Hyde, Fennema & Lamon Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis 1990 Gender and cognitive achievement 100 3,217,489 259 0.20
Dissertation DeBaz Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Students' Characteristics and Achievement and Attitudes toward Science. 1994 Gender and achievement 67 7,026 9 0.26
Journal of Educational Psychology Fischer, Schult, & Hell Sex-specific differential prediction of college admission tests: A meta-analysis 2013 Sex on college admission performance 130 493,048 130 -0.24
Psychological Bulletin Voyer & Voyer Gender Differences in Scholastic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis 2014 Gender on achievement 369 1,134,042 502 -0.23
Psychological Bulletin Else-Quest, Hyde, & Linn Cross-national patterns of gender differences in mathematics: a meta-analysis 2010 Gender in PISA and TiMMS 69 493,495 86 -0.01
Journal of Educational Psychology Keller, Preckel, Eccles, & Brunner Top-Performing Math Students in 82 Countries: A Meta-Analysis of Gender Differences in Achievement, Achievement Profiles, and Achievement Motivation. 2020 PISA math, reading, science 82 2,280,502 343 -0.06
Educational Psychology Review Petersen Gender difference in verbal performance: A meta-analysis of United States state performance assessments. 2018 Sex in verbal achievement 16 10,000,000 16 -0.29
International Review of Public Administration Ouma & Nam A meta-analysis of gender gap in student achievement in African countries. 2015 Gender across Africa 35 105,121 35 0.00
Education Sciences Nunes, Oliveira, Santini, Castelli, & Cruz-Jesus A weight and meta-analysis on the academic achievement of high school students. 2022 Gender 20 571,462 20 0.04
TOTAL/AVERAGE 1,320 18,474,009 3,218 0.10
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