Trudel, Geneviève2024-08-272024-08-272024-08-27http://hdl.handle.net/10393/46506https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-30516The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is a well-recognized concern and is often attributed to the importance of mathematics within STEM disciplines. Math anxiety has been suggested to be more prevalent among women which could potentially act as a barrier to their pursuit of STEM careers. This dissertation's primary objective was to gain a better understanding of gender differences in math anxiety. Study 1 aimed to identify whether math anxiety may mediate the relation between gender and math performance in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 389). Results revealed that women reported higher math anxiety and exhibited lower math performance compared to men. Moreover, math anxiety partially mediated the association between gender and math performance. Researchers have also primarily focused on the cognitive interference model to explain the link between math anxiety and math performance. This account posits that intrusive thoughts experienced by individuals with math anxiety disrupt the working memory processes necessary for successful math performance. Thus, Study 2 and Study 3 focused on the gender differences in the frequency and types of intrusive thoughts experienced during math tasks. In Study 2 we found that among a sample of 309 undergraduate students, math anxiety significantly predicted the frequency of intrusive thoughts, while gender was not a predictor. The most common intrusive thoughts were related to making mistakes, previous math experiences, and problem-solving methods. Study 3 (N = 437) aimed to examine whether intrusive thoughts differed based on the working memory demand of the task. Results indicated that women and higher math anxious individuals experienced more intrusive thoughts. Additionally, higher working memory demand tasks elicited more intrusive thoughts. The most common intrusive thoughts were related to making mistakes, previous math experiences, and time pressure. Overall, this dissertation contributes valuable insights into the complex relation between gender differences, math anxiety, math performance, and intrusive thoughts during math tasks. Understanding these factors is essential to finding effective interventions for math anxiety which could potentially help address the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/math anxietyintrusive thoughtseducationgenderThesis