  We have investigated the difference in persistence between male and female
students while taking undergraduatephysics courses. To quantify the persistence
of a certain group of students, we have defined 'persistence index' as the
inverseof the decrease rate of the number of that group of students while
taking a specific course. We have collected the data fromthree consecutive
workshops on various topics of physics. After plotting the number of
participations against the number ofdays attended, we have calculated the
decrease rates and persistence indices for both male and female student groups
on eachworkshop and compared the persistence indices on a bar diagram. The
comparative statistics show that the persistence indicesof female student
groups are significantly higher than that of male student groups. This leads us
to the conclusion that thefemale students are more persistent than male
students while taking an undergraduate physics course.
