What I read
From Science Daily:
“Friends’ School Achievement Influences High School Girls’ Interest in Math”
“Few Gender Differences in Math Abilities, Worldwide Study Finds”
“Believing Stereotype Undermines Girls’ Math Performance: Elementary School Women Teachers Transfer Their Fear of Doing Math to Girls, Study Finds”

From the MathForum:
“Girls’ Attitudes, Self-Expectations and Performances in Math”

From the News Bureau in Illinois:
“Girls’ Confidence in Math Dampened by Parents’ Gender Stereotypes”

From Prufrock Press Inc:
“Helping Teachers to Encourage Talented Girls in Mathematics”

There is a widespread belief in our country that only certain people have the talent to pursue mathematics-related careers and to take advanced math classes. This belief tends to assume that males and Asians are more talented in math than are females and non-Asians. While innate talent is a widely disputed subject, the fact is that if there are some people born with an innate genius in math, those are very few. What matters most is effort, persistence and confidence. It’s time to start letting students in on this “secret” of math.

There are many articles and studies trying to understand when the majority of girls get turned off to mathematics (and science, computers and technology) and how to turn that around. The most apparent issue that came out several times when reading the above articles, is that girls tend to have less confidence in their abilities to do math. When I attempt to track this backwards, it seems that the low confidence is directly connected to math anxiety which stems from two barriers: societal influences and the competitiveness of the math environment.

Let’s talk about the first barrier, societal influences. Girls tend to tune in to their environment and the people in their environment to obtain information about how to act and think. If parents and/or teachers think that boys have a higher aptitude for math, that information is communicated through body language, verbal cues, facial expression, assumptions of girls’ abilities and persistence, and unsolicited help. When adults try to “help” female students with their math, they are often really hurting girls’ confidence in their own abilities. So, note to parents and teachers, lay off the helping and encourage all your students, especially girls to persist in finding their own answers without your help. Another major societal influence for girls are their peers. Girls like to do things together in pairs or groups. If all their friends are going to take an art class instead of an advanced algebra class, which class do you suppose she will choose? The adults in girls’ lives must encourage them to pursue mathematics despite what their peers are choosing. Part of this encouragement is believing in their abilities and having high expectations that they can and will succeed.

The second barrier to girls’ positive attitudes towards mathematics is the competitive environment of the math class. Math classes tend to held in a competitive and fast-paced environment. There is little think time and little opportunity for small group or cooperative learning. While some girls thrive in this competitive math environment, the majority of girls get turned off by needing to come up with answers and solutions to problems as quickly as possible and not having the opportunity to check in with their peers before they decide on a solution. Girls “need classrooms in which they will be heard and understood and where they can discuss ideas before coming to conclusions” (Gavin & Reis-Prufrock Press).

Teachers should do their best to create an environment in the math class that

  1. Offers choice between competitive and cooperative work
  2. Allows think-time (using think-pair-share or journaling) and disallows shout-outs
  3. Encourages risk-taking
  4. Includes cross-curricular activities such as math and writing, dance or music
  5. Uses assessments such as math portfolios and projects in addition or instead of traditional tests
  6. Uses open-ended questions on tests instead of multiple choice
  7. Doesn’t give unsolicited help, instead encourage students to persist in finding their own solutions
  8. Provides some single-sex learning opportunities
  9. Uses co-ed small groups but single sex pairing (since girls tend to defer to boys in partner math situations)
  10. Holds Family Math Nights planned and carried out by girls (boys should get this opportunity as well)
  11. Gives girls the opportunity to tutor younger children and organize math clubs
  12. Ensures math topics are of interest to girls as well as boys (not just sports and construction but also paper folding, spread of diseases, endangered species, scale drawings and patterns)
  13. Uses a challenging curriculum that introduces different number systems, Fibonacci numbers, non-euclidean geometry, fractals, chaos theory and other such topics in mathematics
  14. Introduces knowledge of female mathematicians such as Hypatia, Marie Agnesi, Sophie Germain, Evelyn Boyd Granville, Sonya Kovalevskaya, and Mary Somerville.

Teacher Resource
Math Publication Best Sellers from Prufrock Press