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... coordinating the mutual construction of success and failure' and that categories such as low achiever or learning disabled are 'positions in education that get filled by children' (pp. 152). Jo Boaler (2000), considered these ideas very significant because they relocate the focus, away from categories of people and the characteristics they bring, and towards a dynamic system that produces responses of achievement, underachievement, gender, culture, and class. (Mathematical Thinking and Learning. , 4 (2 & 3), 127 - 144) Discussion Thus, due the recent research made, it is proven that female students are no longer inferior to male ones in mathematics. Also, as it appeared, the problem of gender difference in math was overstated by mass media.
I think that the issue underestimation of girls achievements has more social and historical reasons than biological. In fact, girls in schools do not suffer from the lack of natural intellect but become the victims of social attitudes and expectations. These expectations clearly state that mathematics is the sphere that belongs to men, that all professions relating to math, such as engineering, are still likely to be occupied by males. Also, social expectations regard women as incapable for succeeding in mathematics and if a girl gets high scores in this discipline she feels uneasy and tries to hide her interest in math (Christina Perez, 2000).
As a result, girls often loose their anxiety to study mathematics and by 6 th grade they consider it as less important and useful for future career than boys do (Christina Perez, 2000). I think that the leveling of students achievements in math today is the evidence that some steps have been made to improve the state of things in the U. S. A. For example, in 1989 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) set the goal that was defined - "mathematics for all and written in the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. This goal embedded the idea of eliminating the long-standing disparities in mathematics achievement between girls and boys, between White students and students of color, and between the economically disadvantaged and the advantaged. (Christina Perez, 2000).
Additionally, there was stated that "Mathematics has become a critical filter for employment and full participation in our society" (NCTM, 1989). Though, the state of education in America had changed from 1989, in 2000, when NCTM's was working on Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, inequity in education still remained a pressing issue. The matter is that the problem of gender in mathematics was not eliminated by leveling the grades of male and female students, but it changed and shirted its focus to other aspects. While some of the gaps in mathematics achievement have slowly diminished (e. g. , differences in mathematics grades and participation rates between girls and boys in K- 12 education have decreased), others remain intractable. (Christina Perez, 2000). On the whole, I think that the issue of gender in mathematics has many complicated aspects and can not be restricted only to the problem of girls underestimations.
To my mind this issue deals with many drawbacks that need reforms in our society and education. I really believe that the origins of gender problems in school are prejudices and beliefs regarding the subjects of women social roles and mens superiority. Summary and conclusion In my investigation I have examined the findings and innovations of the recent research concerning the issue of gender in mathematics. Thus, I have distinguished between three main points of view shared by contemporary scientists. They are: 1) girls are still inferior to boys in mathematics (Kenney and Silver, 1997); 2) boys and girls are equal though they show different kinds of abilities (Halpern, 2000; and Jacobs, Lanaz, Osgood, Eccles, and Wigfield, 2002); 3) girls surpass boys in mathematical disciplines (Miriam R. Linver, Pamela E.
Davis-Kean, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles, 2003). Then I summarized the progress made in the issue of gender in mathematics for the period of the 20 th century, using the information form the article Paying the Price for 'Sugar and Spice's hosting the Analytical Lens in Equity Research (2000) by Jo Boaler. Final, I discussed the origins and reasons of the issue of gender in mathematics. For this purpose, first, I stated three of the reasons and by turns enlightened them supporting my arguments with the necessary citations from the sources. In the chapter Discussion, I proposed my own point of view on the issue that lays in the following: the problem of underestimation of girls achievements has more social and historical reasons than biological.
This problem took place mostly because: social expectations regarded women as incapable for succeeding in mathematics; social expectations clearly stated that mathematics is the sphere that belongs to men social attitudes to girls succeeding in math were negative; all professions relating to math, such as engineering, were likely to be occupied by males; consequently, girls lost their interest in math. However, I have also come to the conclusion that the phenomenon of gender in mathematics can not be improved by managing only one of its aspects - underestimation of girls. There have been made certain steps in education to better the state of things in U. S. A, but this issue also needs social reforms.
Bibliography Brian Butterworth, (2001). The Mathematical Brain. Educational Leadership: Volume 59 Number 3: 3 rd, November 2001 Bourdieu, P. (1982). The School as a Conservative Force: Scholastic and Cultural Inequalities. In E. Bed & W.
Feinberg (Eds. ), Knowledge and Values in Social and Educational Research (pp. 391 - 407). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Campbell, P. , & Clewell, B. C. (September 15, 1999). Science, Math and Girls. Still a long way to go.
Education Week, pp. 50 & 53. Cohen, M. (1999). A habit of healthy idleness': boys' underachievement in historical perspective. In J. Elwood, D.
Epstein, V. Hey (Ed. ), Failing Boys? Issues in Gender and Achievement (pp. xxx-xxx). Buckingham, England: Open University Press. Christina Perez. (2000).
Equity in Standards-based Elementary Mathematics Classrooms. ENC Focus: A Magazine for Classroom Innovators. David C. Geary. Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences (American Psychological Association), 1998 Friedman, L. (1989). Mathematics and the Gender Gap: A meta-analysis of recent studies on sex differences in mathematical tasks.
Review of Educational Research, 59, 185 - 213. Jacobs, J. E. , & Osgood, D. W. (2002). The use of multi-level modeling to study individual change and context effects in achievement motivation. In P.
R. Pintrich & M. L. Maehr (Eds. ), New directions in measures and methods (Vol. 12, pp. 277 - 318). New York: Elsevier Sciences. Jo Boaler (2000).
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Gender Differences in Mathematics Ability, Anxiety and Attitudes: What do Meta-Analyses Tell Us? In L. A. Penner, G. M. Batch, H.
A. Know, & D. L. Nelson (Eds. ), The Challenge in Mathematics and Science Education: Psychology's Response (pp. 251 - 274). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
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Linver, Pamela E. Davis-Kean, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles (2003). Influences of Gender on Academic Achievement. the NICHD Network on Child and Family and the National Science Foundation, ITWF Award # 0089972 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (1989). Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics.
Reston, VA: Author. Rich Monastersky. Women in Science. (2005). Chronicle of Education [Section: Research & Publishing], Friday, March 4, 2005, Volume 51, Issue 26, Page A 1. Retrieved 10 Apr. 2005 from web Rogers, L. (1999). Sexing the Brain.
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Varenne, H. and R. McDermott (1999). Successful Failure: The School America Builds. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Gender Differences in Mathematical Understanding in Children (Hand-out) The issue of gender differences in mathematics has been debated since 1970 s. Today there three main points of view shared by contemporary scientists. They are: 1) girls are still inferior to boys in mathematics (Kenney and Silver, 1997); 2) boys and girls are equal though they show different kinds of abilities (Jacobs, Lanaz, Osgood, Eccles, and Wigfield, 2002); 3) girls surpass boys in mathematical disciplines (Miriam R. Linver, Pamela E.
Davis-Kean, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles, 2003). Summarizing the progress made in the issue of gender in mathematics by the world science for the period of the 20 th century, Jo Boaler (2000) concluded the following: Generally, the gender difference in mathematics achievements is very small; Achievement differences have greatly diminished over time and thus they may not be attributed only to genetic sources; The greatest difference in mathematic achievement exists in the most advanced levels: Mostly gender differences occur on mathematics questions. It refers more to students problem solving and spatial ability. Generally, I think that the main reasons of the issue of gender in math may be of four kinds: 1) biological; 2) social; 3) cultural; 4) historical. I think that the issue of underestimation of girls achievements has more social and historical reasons than biological.
Thus, the issue of gender in math needs a wider social and educational approach. Bibliography: Jacobs, J. E. , & Osgood, D. W. (2002). The use of multi-level modeling to study individual change and context effects in achievement motivation. In P.
R. Pintrich & M. L. Maehr (Eds. ), New directions in measures and methods (Vol. 12, pp. 277 - 318). New York: Elsevier Sciences. Jo Boaler (2000).
Paying the Price for 'Sugar and Spice's hosting the Analytical Lens in Equity Research. Mathematical Thinking and Learning. , 4 (2 & 3), 127 - 144. Kenney, P. A. & Silver, E. A. (1997). Results from the seventh mathematics assessment of the NAEP.
Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Miriam R. Linver, Pamela E. Davis-Kean, and Jacquelynne S. Eccles (2003).
Influences of Gender on Academic Achievement. the NICHD Network on Child and Family and the National Science Foundation, ITWF Award # 0089972
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Research essay sample on Gender Differences In Mathematical Understanding Part 2
