ABSTRACT
From this study’s conception in 1976, its goals have been to trace the development of students’ desire to participate in mathematics or to avoid it, and to closely examine the differences between boys’ and girls’ reasons for enrollment or avoidance. The motivation for the study is the conviction that too many students, particularly girls, are dropping mathematics in high school as soon as they can. They do not realize that their lack of mathematical preparation will restrict their job opportunities, keeping them out of many of the higher-paying jobs and seriously limiting their opportunities for growth and advancement in other jobs. We need to know why students decide to quit taking mathematics in order to reverse the process.
