International Journal of Secondary Education 2017; 5(5): 56-69 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijsedu doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170505.11 ISSN:2376-7464 (Print); ISSN: 2376-7472 (Online) Assessing the Influence of Attitude Towards Mathematics on Achievement of Grade 10 and 12 Female Students in Comparison with Their Male Counterparts: Wolkite, Ethiopia Engida Melese Simegn 1 , Zeytu Gashaw Asfaw 2 1 Yaberus Wolkite General Secondary and Preparatory School, Wolkite, Ethiopia 2 School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia Email address: engidumelese@yahoo.com (E. M. Simegn), zeytugashaw@yahoo.com (Z. G. Asfaw) To cite this article: Engida Melese Simegn, Zeytu Gashaw Asfaw. Assessing the Influence of Attitude Towards Mathematics on Achievement of Grade 10 and 12 Female Students in Comparison with Their Male Counterparts: Wolkite, Ethiopia. International Journal of Secondary Education. Vol. 5, No. 5, 2017, pp. 56-69. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170505.11 Received: November 21, 2017; Accepted: December 6, 2017; Published: January 10, 2018 Abstract: Exploring why more males achieve more than females in mathematics at secondary school level when there appear to be no gender differences in the achievement at earlier years is worthy of investigation. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of attitude towards mathematics on the achievement of female students in comparison with their male counterparts and also to examine the relationship between attitudes and mathematics achievement. The participants of the study were 240 grade ten and 127 grade twelve students of General Secondary and Preparatory School in Wolkite Town. These students were selected using stratified random sampling technique. Attitude towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) was used to measure students’ attitude, whereas their achievement was measured by the score obtained from Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). Descriptive Statistics, Multiple Linear Regression Models, Independent – samples t – test, and Pearson Correlation Coefficient were employed to analyze the collected data by using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The results, in both grade levels, unveiled that students had positive attitude towards mathematics but at medium level, however, the level of female students was less than males. The regression models were fit in predicting the contribution of components of attitude towards mathematics scales on students’ achievement. In this regard, 42.8% (Grade 10) and 55.4% (Grade 12) of the variation in the achievement of students were jointly accounted for by the three variables – the enjoyment, the motivation, and the confidence attitude scales. In both grade levels, no significant gender differences were shown in attitudes towards mathematics but females showed greater decline in attitudes in terms of grade level. However, significant gender differences were specified on achievement. Attitude towards mathematics and students’ achievement were significantly correlated (r =.660; p <.001 (Grade 10) and r =.735; p <.001 (Grade 12)). Therefore, this study suggests that, the school, the teachers, parents, and concerned bodies have to intervene and design ways in order to enhance students’ attitude and performance in mathematics, in particular female students. Keywords: Attitude, Achievement, Component, Scale, Mathematics 1. Introduction Achievement in mathematics and science education at secondary education is critical for every student’s lifelong learning or career paths. However, it is an open fact that quite in a large number of General Secondary and Preparatory Schools of Ethiopia, most female students’ performance in mathematics is poor. They do not have sufficient knowledge and competence that conform to their grade level, especially in mathematics and science subjects [37]. Likewise, in the school where this study was conducted, achievements of female students in mathematics were poor in comparison with their male counterparts. As an affirmation, in both grade levels, as the data from the school’s record office indicated