Men are From Mars, Women Need to Understand...

This week in the discussion forum there was a lot of talk about the apparent gender gap in mathematics. What factors contribute to the underachievement of females in mathematics classrooms? Where and for whom is the gender gap most prominent? Does the gender gap even still exist? With these questions in mind I think one thing we can all agree on is that there is nothing about our biological make-up that makes males better at mathematics than females. There is no inherent ability gap when it comes to mathematics, and whatever has caused the gap in the past was external and societal as opposed to internal and chemical.

Jonathan Mauger cited Nicholson (2010) whose findings suggest that the gender gap that was once evident in the 1980’s has all but vanished. I agree with Jonathan’s notion that this was in all likelihood a culture gap, and that women have never been any less capable of achievement in mathematics. Traditional gender roles certainly had an impact on attitudes, and consequently achievement of females in the past. I wonder what the assessment results from home economics classes looked like during that same time period? I would be willing to bet on finding a gender gap of a different sort.

Ashley Kinsella cited Fennema et al. (1990) to support the idea of the gender gap being a self-fulfilling prophecy, a point I believe is worth considering. Sometimes the more attention we draw to an issue, the more of an issue it can become. As Margaret Senior posted in response, a professor at Northwesten University “investigated whether a global gender gap exists and whether it was the result of social engineering rather than intrinsic aptitude for the subject” (Lipsett, 2008). That same study found that in countries where gender roles are less defined, the gender gap in mathematics does not exist. As a result, teachers must be conscious of the fact that their own beliefs and values transcend the classroom environment and have a significant impact on student learning. I would perhaps challenge Ashley’s comment that differentiated instruction may create more of a separation between genders. I feel that differentiated instruction allows students to choose from a myriad of learning resources that cater to their individual learning style, thus removing mode of instruction as a possible contributor to inequity. As Sherida Ryan stated in her post, “According to Small (2010) differentiating instruction in mathematics has multiple benefits. More students experience success with meaningful tasks, more students are engaged, more students see themselves as competent in math, and more students enjoy learning math.”

Margaret Senior also indicated by citing Tomlinson et al. (2003) that gender is just one of a variety of factors including race, culture, socio-economic status and motivation that can impact the way a student learns. I am in agreement with her that being aware of the diverse and unique needs of each individual student is more important than finding the reason as to why each student learns differently. Call it chemistry, biology or hormonal balance, males and females are different and there is no contesting that. Boaler (2002) suggests that female students have a stronger desire for understanding whereas males are more likely to abandon understanding in the shallow pursuit of correct answers. Is it so hard to believe that our gender may affect our preferred learning style? I don’t think so. Let’s focus on making it as easy and comfortable as possible for all of our students to learn instead of how or why they ended up with the learning style they prefer.

References:

Boaler, J. (2002). Experiencing school mathematics: traditional and reform approaches to teaching and their impact on student learning. Malwah (NJ): L. Erlbaum. 

Fennema, E., Peterson, P. L., Carpenter, T. P., Lubinski, C. A. (1990). Teachers’ Attribute and Beliefs about Girls, Boys and Mathematics: EDUCATIONAL STUDIES IN MATHEMATICS Volume 21, Number 1, 55-69.

Lipsett, A. (2008) Boys not better than girls at maths, study finds. Education Guardian.  Retrieved Nov 17, 2011 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/may/30/schools.uk1

Nicholson, C. (2010). No gender gap in math. Psychological Bulletin.

Small, M. (2010). Beyond one right answer. Educational leadership.

Thomlinson, C., Brighton, C., Hertberg, H., Callahan, C., Moon, T., Brimijoin, K., Conover, L. & Reynolds, T.  (2003).  Differentiating Instruction in Response to Student Readiness, Interest, and Learning Profile in Academically Diverse Classrooms: A Review of Literature.  Journal for the Education of the Gifted: 27(2/3), 119-45.