According to the PISA 2012 results, 11% of 15-year-old students are top performers in individual problem solving on average across OECD countries, meaning that they can systematically explore a complex problem scenario, devise multi-step solutions that take into account all constraints, and adjust their plans in light of the feedback received. In contrast, on average across OECD countries, about one in five students is able to solve only straightforward problems – if any – provided that they refer to familiar situations.
Student problem solving skills
Student problem solving skills depend on an individual’s capacity to engage in cognitive processing to understand and resolve problem situations where a method of solution is not immediately obvious. It includes the willingness to engage with such situations individually or collaboratively in order to achieve one’s potential as a constructive and reflective citizen.
Key messages
In PISA 2012, boys outperform girls in individual problem solving in 23 countries and economies, girls outperform boys in five of them. In 16 countries and economies, there is no significant difference in average performance between boys and girls. Gender differences are often larger among top performers. On average across OECD countries, there are three top-performing boys for every two top-performing girls in individual problem solving. In no country or economy are there more girls than boys among the top performers in problem solving.
In every education system that participated in the collaborative problem-solving assessment, girls outperform boys by 29 score points. This finding contrasts with the gender differences observed in individual problem solving as discussed in PISA 2012. Boys scored 7 points higher than girls in individual problem solving, on average across OECD countries. The results suggest that it is the collaborative component of the PISA 2015 collaborative problem-solving assessment that favours girls.
Context
Short-term performance trends in the context of pre-2018 trends
There is a strong positive correlation between the mean scores in the two assessments – individual and collaborative problem-solving assessments. After accounting for reading, mathematics and science scores, relative scores in collaborative problem solving are only weakly correlated with relative scores in individual problem solving. This indicates that collaborative problem solving is a skill in its own right, distinct from individual problem solving.
Relative performance in individual problem solving (PISA 2012) and in collaborative problem solving (PISA 2015)
Gender differences in attitudes towards collaboration
Girls were significantly more likely than boys to agree or strongly agree with statements on valuing relationships, such as “I take into account what others are interested in”. By contrast, boys were significantly more likely than girls to report that they agree or strongly agree with the statements valuing teamwork, such as “I prefer working as part of a team to working alone”.
Gender differences in attitudes towards collaboration (2015)
