Working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that actively maintains some amount of information to enable its manipulations for further information processing. Each person has a different working memory capacity. Working memory capacity shows a person's capacity to store, recall the information needed and process it, so it is not surprising that there is an assumption that this will be closely related to one's ability to solve mathematical problems.

This study aimed to explore the working memory capacity of mathematics students according to gender variable and examined the relationship between working memory capacity and mathematics achievement of mathematics students.

This study investigated the predictive relations between working memory capacity and mathematics achievement of mathematics students. The sample comprised 171 students (31 males and 140 females) consists of 30 first-year students, 77 second-year students, and 64 third-year students. The working memory capacity of subjects was obtained using the Operation Span Task (OSPAN test). OSPAN test is a widely used task to assess working memory capacity, in which participants try to remember the sequentially presented number in their correct order while simultaneously solving simple math operations. Mathematics achievement of students was obtained from the score of mid-test, final test and standard test. Pearson correlation analysis, two independent samples T-test and ANOVA are used to analyze the data.

The results have revealed that working memory capacity has a significant positive correlation with mathematics achievements. It is also found that there was no significant difference between the working memory capacity of male and female students. Meanwhile, there was a significant difference between the working memory capacity of first-year students and the working memory capacity of second-year students as well as third-year students