Equity in Primary and Secondary Education Abstracts

The difficulties encountered by young women with a budding interest in science and math are noted. Many such women are discouraged in their pursuits at an early age. Suggestions for parents who wish to encourage their daughters to pursue science and math are provided

Ability --Testing
Discrimination in education --Analysis
Hispanic American students --Testing
Educational tests and measurements --Social aspects
African American students --Testing
Mathematics --Study and teaching
Minority students --Testing

The dominance of males in mathematical contests can discourage females from pursuing their interest in the subject. Teachers can counteract this negative effect by emphasizing the importance and relevance of mathematical skills for both sexes and planning classroom activities which will enhance their female students' learning experience. Other incentives include providing opportunities to mingle with other mathematically proficient female students and training them on test-taking skills.

In this Opinion piece by Barbara Oakley, professor of engineering and author of a book on learning, the author argues that the way we teach math in America is hurting girls the most.

A two-part study of the students of an all-female school, an all-male school and a co-educational school to analyze gender differences in attitudes to mathematics revealed that both female and male students showed positive attitudes to math and their performance in math. Male attitudes were more positive than that of the females because they were considered to be smarter than female students by their teachers. Female students from single-sex schools showed a higher degree of self-confidence than those from the mixed-sex schools.

A study on the influence of the stereotyped belief that 'mathematics is a male domain' on the biases of middle school mathematics teachers was conducted. It involved fourth, fifth and sixth grade students working on the same non-traditional mathematical problems on the hypothesis that higher ratings will be given to male students. Results of the study were not conclusive on the existence of teachers' gender biases and suggests the purposeful scoring of the mathematics exams regardless of gender

Leslie R. Wolf of the Center for Women Policy Studies discusses the trend toward same-sex math and science classes, saying that segregating girls sends dangerous messages to boys and girls by teaching that girls must be protected from coed learning, are not as smart as boys, and cannot succeed without special attention