Tardomodernos, mutantes, pangeicos

The role of gender in the formation of epistemological beliefs is considered an important factor and has, therefore, been studied widely in the research (Hofer, 2000; Mason et al., 2006; Marzooghi et al., 2008; Ozkal et al., 2011; Özkan and Tekkaya, 2011; Ismail et al., 2012; Tümkaya, 2012; Kessels, 2013). The studies give different results showing the impact of gender on the epistemological beliefs of individuals. The influence of gender on epistemological beliefs can be classified as either significant or not significance in the differences found between male and female.

For examples, Schommer (1993) carried out a study which claimed that boys were more likely to believe in fixed ability and quick learning than girls. However, Chen and Pajares (2010) found that girls may have more of an innate view of ability than do boys. Similarly, Wood and Kardash (2002) also noted that there were significant differences in gender. They found that female undergraduates believe more in the dimensions of speed of knowledge acquisition and the characteristics of successful students whereas male undergraduates believed - more than females- in the dimension of structure of knowledge and knowledge construction and modification (Wood and Kardash, 2002). Unlike the above studies, Chen and Pajares (2010) claimed that other findings have shown no significant differences between the genders in terms of the formation of their epistemological beliefs. Hofer (2000) argued that overall it appears that there is no clear proof regarding the role of gender on epistemological beliefs. The following will show in more detail some of the literature and their findings covering the relationship between gender and epistemological beliefs.

Many claim that whenever gender is significant sophisticated beliefs will be held by females rather than males (Schommer and Dunnell, 1994; Paulsen and Wells, 1998; Hofer, 2000; Cano, 2005; Lodewyk, 2007; Marzooghi et al., 2008; Oguz, 2008; Cana and Arabacioglu, 2009; King

and Magun-Jackson, 2009; Belet and Güven, 2011; Ozkal et al. 2011; Ismail et al., 2012; Terzi et al., 2012; Muis and Gierus, 2014). King and Magun-Jackson (2009) carried out a study on engineering undergraduates and graduates from two universities in Western Tennessee. The findings showed that females hold higher levels of belief in the dimensions of fixed ability and

speed of learning than males. Two different studies conducted on undergraduates of colleges of

education in Turkey and Malaysia found that there is a significant difference in males only in the dimension of the ability to learn (Belet and Güven, 2011; Ismail et al. 2012). Muis and Gierus, (2014) also found in their study that females hold more constructive beliefs (sophisticated) than males toward knowledge in physic.

On the other hand, few studies found significant differences in gender in one or more dimension of epistemological beliefs (Paulsen and Wells, 1998; Terzi et al., 2012). Males and females, in fact, both hold more sophisticated beliefs but in different dimensions. Paulsen and Wells’s (1998) findings indicate that females hold more sophisticated beliefs than males in the dimensions of fixed ability and speed of learning whereas males hold higher level of beliefs only in the dimension of structure of knowledge. Similarly, another study carried out in Turkey testing the epistemological beliefs of undergraduates from different schools of education and engineering, the results confirmed that the epistemological beliefs of males have more sophisticated beliefs in dimension of stability of knowledge whereas females have more mature level of belief than males in the dimension of ability to learn (Terzi et al., 2012).

With regards to non-significant studies in gender, many studies have shown that there are no significant differences between the genders on epistemological beliefs at all (Chan, 2003; Schommer-Aikinsa and Easter, 2006; Erdem, 2007; Trautwein and Lüdtke, 2007; Tanriverdi, 2012; Tümkaya, 2012). Some studies have shown that gender has no significant impact on epistemological beliefs which means that males and females hold similar beliefs toward knowing and knowledge, gender is not considered a factor and has no influence on shaping an individual’s epistemological beliefs. Schommer-Aikins and Easter (2006) used Kardash’s epistemological beliefs scale (Kardash and Wood, 2000) to examine the epistemological beliefs of business school undergraduates from California State University. The findings showed no significant differences between males and females. Another research measured the level of epistemological

beliefs for undergraduates attending a general chemistry course in Turkey these results indicated that there were no gender differences between males and females (Erdem 2007).

Furthermore, a study to measure the gender differences of the epistemological beliefs for the students from Hong Kong. The findings show that there are also no differences in gender (Chan, 2003). Tümkaya (2012) examined the epistemological beliefs of undergraduates from Turkey and the findings show that there are not any meaningful differences between males and females. Another study conducted on undergraduates in Germany, examining the epistemological beliefs of the undergraduates in stability of knowledge only. The findings suggested that there is no gender correlation between the epistemological beliefs of the undergraduates related to the dimension of stability of knowledge.

Gender was found to be an affecting factor in shaping the beliefs of learners in some studies and yet have no significant effects in others. The absence of gender effect in the results does not mean that there is no role of gender in epistemological beliefs. It may simply refer to the particular situation of the study at the time it was conducted; other factors may have influenced the impact of gender, for example the educational system where males and females receive the same learning opportunities which could influence their beliefs in a similar manner. To clarify this contradiction and to explore the role of gender in epistemological beliefs, more studies and investigations are needed with more identification and controlling of other factors which may affect the real impact of gender.