Although physics is one of the most male-dominated educational fields in Europe and North America, this is not the case in all parts of the world. The present study investigates contextual variability in the physics gender gap by leveraging unique characteristics of the Israeli state educational system, including its highly standardized national curriculum and its distinct school sectors that differ on key analytical dimensions. First, comparison of schools serving different sociocultural groups reveals strong overrepresentation of boys in advanced physics courses in the Hebrew-speaking but not the Arabic-speaking school sector. This pattern aligns with previous cross-national studies showing more gender-integration of STEM fields in contexts characterized by more socioeconomic precarity and in Muslim-majority societies. Second, comparison of advanced physics course-taking between coeducational and single-sex schools provides no support for claims about the degendering effects of single-sex education. Results are consistent with accounts that treat educational gender segregation as the product of contextually contingent sorting processes rather than stable characteristics of boy and girl students. Initiatives aimed at addressing the gender gap in STEM fields must be calibrated to the diverse sociocultural contexts in which these sorting processes unfold.

尽管物理学是欧洲和北美男性最多的教育领域之一，但并非在世界所有地区都是如此。本研究通过利用以色列国家教育体系的独特特征，包括其高度标准化的国家课程和在关键分析维度上不同的独特学校部门，调查物理性别差距的背景变异性。首先，对服务于不同社会文化群体的学校的比较表明，在希伯来语的高级物理课程中，男孩的比例过高，而在阿拉伯语的学校部门则不然。这种模式与之前的跨国研究一致，这些研究表明，在社会经济更加不稳定的背景下和穆斯林占多数的社会中，STEM 领域的性别整合程度更高。第二，比较男女同校和单性别学校之间的高级物理课程学习，并不能支持关于单性别教育的退化效应的说法。结果与将教育性别隔离视为上下文或有分类过程的产物而不是男孩和女孩的稳定特征的帐户是一致的。旨在解决 STEM 领域性别差距的举措必须根据这些分类过程展开的不同社会文化背景进行调整。结果与将教育性别隔离视为上下文或有分类过程的产物而不是男孩和女孩的稳定特征的帐户是一致的。旨在解决 STEM 领域性别差距的举措必须根据这些分类过程展开的不同社会文化背景进行调整。结果与将教育性别隔离视为上下文或有分类过程的产物而不是男孩和女孩的稳定特征的帐户是一致的。旨在解决 STEM 领域性别差距的举措必须根据这些分类过程展开的不同社会文化背景进行调整。