Sex Role Identity by Gender & Socioeconomic Status and the Association with Academic Performance: A Comparison of American and Korean Student Groups

This survey examined sex role identities (androgyny, masculinity, femininity, and undifferentiated), gender, and academic achievement scores from an international sampling of college students. For a comparison, American students and Korean students responded to survey questions on the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Korean Sex Role Inventory respectively, reported family socio-economic status and achievement scores on the American College Testing (ACT) or Korean Scholastic Ability Test (KSAT). Results in this study indicate that a higher percentage of American students report an androgynous or undifferentiated gender role identity than do Koreans, while Korean students are more likely to show a feminine gender role identity than Americans. Although American students reported higher levels of androgyny in their gender role identity, those who fit the feminine gender role identity group showed higher ACT scores than other gender role identity types. However, in the Korean sample, the masculine gender role identity produced a higher academic achievement for both males and females.