MiP’s Blog
How Do Girls Learn That Math Is Not Nice?
The Math inquiries Project is very interested in the pre-algebra experience among both boys and girls. A study by the University of Chicago, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on girls in elementary school. It researches the origins of the misperception among girls that boys are better at math. Where does it come from and when does it start?
The report says It starts early. According to the study, first- and second-grade teachers, who are predominantly female and math adverse, communicate to their students that math is not their strong suit. The study discovered that girls who got the idea that math ability falls along gender lines had the worst achievement in this subject during the school year.
“We speculate that having a highly math-anxious female teacher pushes girls to confirm the stereotype that they are not as good as boys at math, which, in turn, affects girls’ math achievement,” wrote the authors.
Little Girls Are Made of Sugar and Spice, and Learn That Math Is Not Nice
By Carina Storrs
Scientific American Observations , January 25, 2010
www.scientificamaerican.com
Full article
Related Links