Sustainable development: Exploring gender differences in the Swedish national test in geography for grade 9

Figures & data

Table 1. The four abilities in the geography curriculum.

The student should develop the ability to:	Ability name
…analyze how nature’s own processes and human activities shape and reshape living environments in different parts of the world	Geographical processes
…explore and analyze the interplay between humans, society and nature in different parts of the world	Interplay human-nature
…make geographical analyses of the world around us and assess results with the aid of maps and other geographical sources, theories, methods and techniques	Geographical analysis
…assess solutions for various environmental and developmental issues from the basis of considerations of ethics and SD	Assess solutions

Source: Skolverket [Swedish National Agency for Education] (2011).

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of national assessment items in geography, 2014-2019.

	N	%
Students mean N	1636
Total items N	172
Subject ability
Geographical processes	52	30%
Interplay human-nature	28	16%
Geographical analysis	63	37%
Assess solutions	29	17%
DIF
DIF girls	27	16%
DIF boys	40	23%
SD
SD total	70	41%
SD climate	10	6%
SD environment	19	11%
SD economic	10	6%
SD social	31	18%
Subject content
Concepts	20	12%
Energy	10	6%
Field studies	10	6%
Trade	14	8%
Climate	36	21%
Environment	15	9%
Place names	16	9%
Social	51	30%
Item types
MC items total	84	49%
Dual choice (MC)	27	16%
Multiple-choice (MC)	21	12%
Short written (MC)	5	3%
Match (MC)	31	18%
CR items total	88	51%
Explain (CR)	19	11%
Reasoning (CR)	69	40%
Stimuli/resources
Concepts	30	17%
Pictures	91	53%
Graphs	39	23%
Maps	101	59%
Models	12	7%
Perspectives	33	19%

Source: Authors’ calculations using the NP-GEO database, Uppsala University.

Table 3. Results from DIF analysis. All 2014-2019 items are from national assessments in geography, grade 9, Sweden.

		Type of DIF
		No DIF	DIF favors girls	DIF favors boys
Subject Ability	Geographical processes	38	2	12
	Human-nature interplay	23	5	0
	Geographical analysis	33	2	28
	Assess solutions	11	18	0
Format	CR	60	27	1
	MC	45	0	39
Sustainable Development	Yes	44	25	1
	No	61	2	39
Type of SD	Social	17	14	0
	Economic	5	5	0
	Environmental	15	4	0
	Climate	7	2	1

Source: Authors’ calculations, NP-Geo database.

Table 4. Mean total points achieved on items, by category 2014-2019.

	Mean (SD) N
	Girls	Boys
Non-ESD	1.32(0.45)102	1.32(0.45)102
SD total	1.60(0.20)70	1.36(0.19)70
SD social	1.58(0.21)31	1.32(0.20)31
SD economic	1.56(0.14)10	1.31(0.16)10
SD environmental	1.58(0.24)19	1.38(0.18)19
SD climate	1.72(0.09)10	1.52(0.13)10
Concepts	1.37(0.53)20	1.42(0.53)20
Energy	1.39(0.34)10	1.31(0.27)10
Field studies	1.44(0.39)10	1.36(0.36)10
Trade	1.44(0.27)14	1.24(0.20)14
Climate	1.37(0.45)36	1.32(0.43)36
Environment	1.54(0.31)15	1.32(0.22)15
Place names	1.57(0.34)16	1.63(0.37)16
Social	1.44(0.36)51	1.27(0.30)51

Notes: Total items 172, 70 SD items. The scoring scale has been altered from the F, E, C, A scale to a 0-3 point scale.

Source: Authors’ calculations, NP-Geo database.

Table 5. Odds ratios from logistic regression. Dependent variable: Item displays DIF in favor of girls. All items (N = 172) from national assessments in geography, Sweden, grade 9, 2014-2019.

		Model 1	Model 2
Variable type	Variable	Exp(B)(S.E.)Sig.	Exp(B)(S.E.)Sig.
	Year	Yes	Yes
Item controls	Item number	1.006(0.071)	1.047(0.076)
	Share (%) fail	0.981(0.043)	0.951(0.048)
Stimuli/resources	Pictures	1.181(0.586)	1.31(0.611)
	Maps	1.226(0.550)	0.84(0.623)
	Graphs	1.665(0.696)	1.174(0.744)
	Reasoning	8.341(1.002)*	12.793(1.082)*
SD	About SD	7.603(1.024)*
SD dimension	Climate		2.727(1.333)
	Environment		1.551(1.294)
	Economic		6.579(1.274)
	Social		9.535(1.04)*
	Constant	0.015(1.406)**	0.02(1.437)**
Nagelkerke R Square		0.431	0.476
−2 Log likelihood		99.917	93.849

Notes: Sig. p > 0.001 = ***, p > 0.01 = **, p > 0.05 = *

Source: Authors' calculations, NP-Geo database.

Table 6. Odds ratios from logistic regression. Dependent variable: Item displays DIF in favor of boys. All items (N = 172) from national assessments in geography, Sweden, grade 9, 2014-2019.

		Model 1	Model 2
Variable type	Variable	Exp(B)(S.E.)Sig.	Exp(B)(S.E.)Sig.
	Year	Yes	Yes()
Item controls	Item number	1.006(0.057)	1.009(0.059)
	Share (%) fail	0.99(0.024)	1.014(0.028)
Stimuli/resources	Pictures	1.573(0.528)	1.412(0.545)
	Maps	2.488(0.731)	2.14(0.758)
	Graphs	1.974(0.661)	1.228(0.736)
Content type	About SD	0.055(1.109)**	0.383(1.43)
	Social (ref.)
	Concepts	11.493(0.973)*	5.489(1.029)
	Energy	5.258(1.260)	3.366(1.331)
	Field study	0.646(1.110)	1.022(1.156)
	Trade	2.523(1.389)	4.159(1.504)
	Climate	3.607(0.829)	3.222(0.856)
	Environment	0.000(9243.16)	0(9255.439)
	Place names	76.856(1.089)***	48.538(1.095)***
	MC (CR = ref.)		19.821(1.339)*
	Constant	0.016(1.253)**	0.002(1.769)***
Nagelkerke R Square		0.553	0.596
−2 Log likelihood		108.042	100.089

Notes: Sig. ***= p > 0.001, **= p > 0.01, *= p > 0.05.

Source: Authors' calculations, NP-Geo database.

Table 7. OLS regression. Dependent variable difference in boys and girls item score. All items (N = 172) from national assessments in geography, Sweden, grade 9, 2014-2019.

Variable type	Variable	B(S.E.)Sig.
	Year	Yes
Item controls	Item number	−0.003(0.003)
	Share (%) fail	0.001(0.001)
Stimuli/resources	Pictures	0.022(0.022)
	Maps	0.03(0.03)
	Graphs	0.039(0.025)
Content type	About SD (yes = 1)	−0.068(0.035)
	Social (ref.)
	Concepts	0.062(0.044)
	Energy	0.058(0.048)
	Field study	−0.087(0.052)
	Trade	0.051(0.042)
	Climate	0.062(0.031)*
	Environment	−0.004(0.041)
	Place names	0.099(0.044)*
	MC (CR = ref.)	0.094(0.035)**
	Constant	−0.251(0.054)***
R2		0.512

Notes: Sig. ***= p > 0.001, **= p > 0.01, *= p > 0.05. Source: Authors' calculations, NP-Geo database.