Unpacking the gender gap in mathematics standardised assessments: analysis of problem-solving processes as an interpretative lens

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of the gender gap measured by standardised mathematics assessments, shifting the focus from performance outcomes to students’ solution processes. At the theoretical level, it offers a critical reconstruction of the literature on gender differences in mathematics, integrating contributions from mathematics education research with sociological, post-structuralist, feminist, and gender studies perspectives. Gender is conceptualised as a situated and discursive process that takes shape through educational practices, social expectations, and forms of participation. At the methodological level, a quantitative item-level analysis of national INVALSI data guided the selection of 19 items, which were experimentally administered with the additional request to explain the reasoning followed. This made it possible to move from a measurement-oriented perspective to an interpretative one. The analysis of a large sample of solution protocols, conducted through a socio-constructivist Grounded Theory approach, shows that the observed differences cannot be reduced solely to differences in mathematical competence. Rather, they seem to emerge in situated ways of interpreting task demands, mobilising contextual knowledge, and positioning oneself in relation to mathematical and classroom norms. Exploratory in nature and without claims to statistical significance or causal explanation, the thesis contributes to problematising the gender gap discourse by making visible the intertwining between gender performativity and mathematical practices.