Academic field, not gender, moderates the association between math gender stereotype endorsement and arithmetic performance

Gender differences in mathematics-related outcomes and attitudes, such as math anxiety (MA) and math self-concept (MSC), have been extensively studied among school samples, particularly in relation to the math achievement gap. Much less attention has been paid to the math-related differences among students who have already selected an academic field, and to the role played by endorsing the stereotype that mathematics is a male domain (math gender stereotype, MGS). This study investigates how MA, MSC, and MGS endorsement relate to arithmetic performance, and whether these associations vary by gender and academic field. 183 Italian undergraduate students enrolled in psychology programs (n = 125, 73 women) and selected science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, including engineering, informatics, physics, and statistics (n = 58, 30 women), participated in the study. Participants completed an online survey assessing MA, MSC, MGS endorsement, and arithmetic fluency. Students in the selected STEM programs outperformed psychology students in arithmetic and reported higher MSC and lower MA. Men endorsed the MGS more strongly than women. Across the entire sample, MSC was positively associated with arithmetic performance. The association between MGS endorsement and arithmetic performance differed across the sampled academic-program groups, whereas the corresponding gender interaction was not statistically significant: among the selected STEM-program group, stronger MGS endorsement correlated with better arithmetic performance, whereas a marginal trend for the opposite association emerged among the Psychology group. These findings underscore the robust association between MSC and arithmetic performance and suggest that the association between MGS endorsement and arithmetic performance may vary more by academic context than by gender per se.