Gender Equity in Mathematics Achievement in East African Primary Schools: Context Counts

Although primary school enrollment is gradually on the increase in the developing world, differences in mathematics achievement between girls and boys persist. A complex combination of factors that is related to issues of the home environment, the school context, and national policy influences the performance of female students when compared to their male peers. We focus on three countries in East Africa with a female disadvantage in mathematics achievement and use data from 8,795 primary school students in 529 schools. We explore the influence of contextual factors and organizational processes that are associated with better overall performance and with the improved gender distribution of achievement.