川本 哲也・日高 一郎・梅原 章太郎
Age and gender differences of academic interest in Japanese adolescents:
Data from a baseline survey in a secondary school in Tokyo metropolitan area
Tetsuya Kawamoto and Ichiro Hidaka
(Center for Advanced School Education and Evidence-based Research)
Shotaro Umehara
(Secondary School attached to the Faculty of Education, the University of Tokyo)
March, 2019
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine age and gender differences in academic interest during adolescent years. The participants were students who enrolled in a secondary school in Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. The survey was conducted in fiscal year 2016. A total of 627 students (305 male students, 322 female students) completed the questionnaire online. Exploratory factor analysis on the scale of academic interest revealed three factors that appear to relate to culture, nature, and mathematics. After adjusting for confounding variables, hierarchical multiple regression analysis on each academic interest factor score showed that age was positively associated with interest to culture and nature. In addition, significant gender differences in interest to culture and mathematics were also observed. The present results of positive age effect on academic interest were not consistent with some related previous findings. This finding might due to specific learning experiences in school.
