Research Synthesis of Gender Differences in Korean Science Education Journals

This study analyzed all of the research articles published in six of the Korean science education journals in the past three decades. The purpose of this research synthesis was to identify gender differences in hundreds of research articles accomplished at the personal, local, and national level that have repeatedly been reported in several international comparative studies. There were few of articles that focused on gender issues, but 279 articles presented a result of gender issues separately. Of the 279 articles, we fmally analyzed 225 research articles for a statistical significance. The articles were divided into two types of research method: test-based studies and experiment-based studies. The results of research synthesis in test-based studies were as follows: The largest number of studies reported male superiority in science knowledge and science-related attitude, which is similar to the results of recent international studies. In particular, gender differences were the biggest in science-related attitudes and the least in scientific process skills. The result of research synthesis in experimental studies was that the largest number of articles did not show significant gender differences in the effect of the applied program. It is noteworthy that the applied science education programs tend to be more effective in improving female students' scientific attitude and male students' science knowledge. It is necessary to develop more gender-inclusive science programs for female students to feel science more positively.