Investigating socioscientific decision-making of high school biology students based on gender and area coverage

Introduction: Socioscientific decision-making involves the process of analysing complex problems, seeking relevant information, building arguments, applying critical thinking skills, and integrating diverse perspectives to arrive at a Solution. This study aims to explore the extent to which gender and geographical location affect students' socioscientific reasoning.Research method: it uses a quantitative research approach with a quantitative ex-post facto design. The research population consisted of all tenth-grade students in West Kalimantan Province. The sample for the study consisted of 912 students selected from public and private high schools. in Pontianak Municipality, Teluk Keramat District, and Paloh District, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Participants were recruited using purposive random sampling. Students are then categorized based on gender and regional coverage. Gender criteria are visualized in men and women, while the criteria for regional coverage are urban (Municipal) and rural (District).The results of the study showed that male students significantly outperformed female students in socioscientific decision-making. This difference is evident in the quality of the arguments and explanations provided by male students in their essay responses, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the issue. Conclusion: that there is a gap in socioscientific decision-making ability between students in urban and rural areas. The study revealed that urban students tend to have stronger socioscientific decision-making skills compared to rural students