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Girls parallel boys in math achievement - Jul 29, 2008 | 10:28:28
posted by: Marta Lawrence
Ladies, get out your calculators, it's time to brush up on your parabolas. Contrary to former Harvard President and economist Lawrence H. Summers, we're just as good as the boys at math. Last week the National Science Foundation announced the results of a recent study, finding that boys and girls performed equally on standardized math tests. While there may have been a difference between the sexes 20 years ago, the gap has been whittled significantly. The reason? Opportunity. More and more young women are applying to college, which requires an aptitude in math. So, to prepare, they're taking tougher math courses. "Now that enrollment in advanced math courses is equalized, we don't see gender differences in test performance," Marcia C. Linn a co-author of the study told The New York Times. "But people are surprised by these findings, which suggests to me that the stereotypes are still there." These stereotypes, take their toll in sometimes very damaging ways. "The stereotype that boys do better at math is still held widely by teachers and parents," Janet Hyde, who led the study told the Times. "And teachers and parents guide girls, giving them advice about what courses to take, what careers to pursue. I still hear anecdotes about guidance counselors steering girls away from engineering, telling them they won't be able to do the math." Hyde's observations sound eerily familiar. Senior Associate Commissioner of the Horizon League Alfreeda Goff remembers a time before Title IX when parents would tell her, "I don't want my daughter high jumping or running over hurtles because she may not be able to have a baby." Since Title IX was enacted 36 years ago, women have been struggling for equal opportunity in education and sport. While there have been great strides toward that goal, supports of equality must remain vigilant. Young women should not be assumed inferior. Rather, they should be given the same opportunities afforded to young boys and we as a society must be ready to embrace that proportionality. As the equity in standardized math tests and the excellence of women in sports proves, women can do anything--all they need is the chance.
CommentsAny woman that can excel at Math has my nod of approval. I can barely balance a checkbook let alone do calculus. Imaginary numbers, sigma, a squared plus b square equals c squared - all lost! Girls do have an uphill battle in math. As a teacher, I don't see any direct resistance to it from guidance counselors or teachers - it's a much more subtle push. Like many other stereotypes, though, time will continue whittling it down. This article hits the nail on the head when it talks about opportunity. I teach at a high school where I see young women excel at Math every day and where I see the same young women win state championships in athletics. I believe the reason for their success is because these girls have been encouraged from a very young age to excel at ALL academics and to compete in sports. Since it has become the "norm" in this community, no one even thinks twice when my top Precalculus student is a girl. That said though, we do still get very excited when our Field Hockey team wins the State Championship!!! I am a girl student in honors math, and one of the best math students in my grade, yet, in my class, the boys outnumber girls three to one. Besides that, the girls work far harder, and study far more, than the boys. This strikes me as very unfair, and also a little sexist. Post a Comment |
  
It means that two very good teams with very good coaches made it to the final game.
- Marie
   
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