27. Gender gap in Maths

[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.

http://qz.com/826748/the-math-gender-gap-between-girls-and-boys-starts-in-kindergarten-and-is-largely-driven-by-teachers-biases/

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

Submitted by Ms. Deva Prabha S.