Chaya had a knack for numbers from when she was young. While baking with her mother as a four year old, Chaya would double recipes easily.
“Mommy, instead of two eggs, you need four. Instead of one cup of flour, you need two. And, put in, I think, three cups of sugar instead of one and a half.”
As she got older, Chaya’s ease with numbers expanded to multiplying her allowance.
“So, Tatti, if I save my $2 allowance for the next two and a half months, that is ten weeks. After ten weeks, I will have $20 and then I will be able to buy Naomi that doll for her birthday.”
In sixth grade, Chaya was the designated banker when her family played Monopoly, helping her siblings figure out how to “unmortgage” their properties if they needed to add 10% to the cost of the mortgage.
“Well, Yossi, your mortgage was $70, and 10% of $70 is $7, so you owe the bank $77.”
But, as Chaya got older, she realized that she was one of the few girls in her class and among her friends who truly liked math. Some of her friends would ask her, “Chaya, boys are so much better at math than girls. How come you are so good at it?”
***
In truth, there is a common misconception that boys are better at math than girls, or that men are better with numbers than women. In fact, this is such a prevalent false impression, that the U.S. Department of Education created a statement to combat that misconception:
Although there is a general perception that men do better than women in math and science, researchers have found that the differences between women’s and men’s math and science-related abilities and choices are much more subtle and complex than a simple “men are better than women in math and science.”
Until recently, the scientific community believed that male-female differences in math and science were caused by biology. In other words, because boys’ and girls’ brains are wired differently, they will automatically do better in different subjects. The notion was that boys have superior spatial abilities, making them better suited for certain mathematical manipulations. Girls, on the other hand, are supposed to be better at language and writing. However, recently, this biological argument has been debunked.
Over the past two decades, researchers have focused on the influence of a child’s environment on his or her math and science achievement. Think about what toys boys and girls are given to play with, even from a very young age. Boys are encouraged, for the most part, to play with blocks, Legos, racing cars, and other moving objects. On the other hand, girls are pushed to play with dolls, toy kitchens, and dress-up clothing. While boys’ toys often involve principles inherent in math and science, girls’ toys focus on imagination and creativity. From these early experiences, it’s easy to understand why girls gravitate to English and history and boys are drawn to math and science.
However, a recent article in October 2011’s edition of Psychological Bulletin reports that after an examination of 1.3 million students, it is clear that males and females have equal math skills. So, aside from the different ways that children play, what accounts for the perception that girls are worse at math than boys?
Interestingly, perhaps it is this stereotype that reinforces the idea. In other words, when parents, teachers, or school counselors believe the stereotype, they are less likely to encourage or support a young girl’s decision to take math and science in high school and beyond. Studies have shown that when parents believe boys are better at math than girls, they are willing to let their daughters drop out of math class when the going gets tough. With sons, however, the same parents will encourage persistence. Jasna Jovanovic of the National Network for Child Care writes, “In the classroom, teachers, often unaware of their own biases, call on boys more, praise boys more for correct answers, and are more likely to ask boys for help in science and math demonstrations. The message girls get is that they are not as good as boys.”
So, what can we do to encourage girls to excel in math based on their natural abilities?