[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17
- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]
Gender gap in Math abilities
A new study shows that
the gender gap in math abilities starts early—and teacher bias makes it worse
as time goes on
In
2008, research suggested there
was no gender gap in math performance in the US. From second to 11th grades,
girls did just as well as boys on state standardized math tests.
A
new, well-designed, and large study suggests
otherwise. It looks at younger children and shows that there is a tiny gender
gap when kids start school (albeit larger among the very top performers) and
that it widens, across all ability levels, through third grade.
That’s
a critical timeframe, as past research shows that
early math achievement determines a child’s interest and confidence in the
subject during elementary and middle school, and strongly predicts how good at
math she’ll be later on.
Gender
differences in math are actually depends on which math outcomes we look at. At
both elementary and secondary levels, boys and girls score similarly on many
state tests, and girls get relatively good grades in math classes. However,
some gender differences in math attitudes and skills appear during elementary
school, and ultimately, boys are much more likely than girls to pursue careers
in some key math-intensive fields, such as engineering and computer science.
Some researchers have
found that boys tend to use more novel problem-solving strategies, whereas
girls are more likely to follow school-taught procedures. Research consistently shows that, even from a fairly
young age, girls are less confident and more anxious about math than boys.
Moreover, these differences in confidence and anxiety are larger than actual
gender differences in math achievement. These attitudes are important
predictors of math performance and math-related career choices. In addition, some
of our own research suggests that when boys and girls have the same math
performance and behaviours in math class, teachers perceive that the boys are
better at math, and that this “differential rating” of boys and girls
contributes to gender gaps in math performance. This is not to suggest that
teachers are to blame for gender differences in math performance.
Strategies
to improve math skill
*Training to teachers and making them aware of their potential implicit
biases.
*Teachers should praise girls for inventing new strategies to solve
problems.
*Parents may be able to take steps to counteract implicit biases against
girls.
*Moms should model mathematical confidence and curiosity around their
daughters
*Parents should expose girls to books and games that involve
mathematical patterns, praising girls for trying new problem solving strategies
References
http://www.nctm.org/Publications/Teaching-Children-Mathematics/Blog/Current-Research-on-Gender-Differences-in-Math/
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/math-gender-gap-kindergarten_us_581215abe4b064e1b4b0c0a9
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/03/07/the-truth-about-gender-and-math/
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/07-08/gender-gap.aspx
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