Posted on 09/26/2023 1:56:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
IT has been claimed for a long time that boys are inherently better at mathematics than girls, and this has led to intense debate on the issue.
According to gender stereotypes in mathematics, girls are less confident in their arithmetic skills and experience greater anxiety and this eventually lowers their test scores.
However, it is important to rely on scientific evidence and extensive research to determine whether this stereotype has any basis in reality.
Is it true that men have an advantage in learning mathematics?
Experts and research have found that there are only slight differences in the maths performance of boys and girls; these differences depend on several factors, including a pupil’s age and maths proficiency and the type of maths they are attempting.
A meta-analysis on gender differences in mathematics performance showed that males have an advantage when the mathematical concepts require more reasoning and are more spatial in nature.
This is in the context of solving problems in geometry and calculus, typically taught in the higher secondary-school grades.
It also found that females have an advantage in early primary-school years when mathematics consists of computational knowledge and speed.
Research also shows that at times, there were no differences and in some cases, an advantage for girls to do more basic numerical skills and math problems that have a set procedure for solving them.
Age and the type of math might have an impact on research findings simultaneously. For instance, two recent studies on the gender differences in children’s earliest numerical abilities found no gender differences in infants and children’s basic maths skills.
Findings also suggest that girls and boys learned math at similar rates, and boys did not have a higher aptitude for learning math or for processing numbers compared to their female counterparts.
No one is better in anything unless one has the desire to learn it and it is not gender that determines our interests but our habits that dictate what we are good at.
SOURCES
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359013929_Understanding_the_Symbolic_Effects_of_Gender_Representation_A_Multi-Source_Study_in_Education
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47642285_New_Trends_in_Gender_and_Mathematics_Performance_A_Meta-Analysis
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07370000903221809
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-018-0028-7
https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.13044
No grant application would be approved.
I would add that I disagree with his fudge factor over different numbers of boys and girls taking the test.
At the high end, every boy and girl likely to score over 700 WILL be persuaded to take the test.
There was a story a few years back that they were not allowing boys to stand when they pee, because it gives them an inherent advantage in physics and math because they have to calculate the arc of the stream and employ force times distance to hit the target.
I’ve attended many conferences on IT, and 90% plus of the attendees are men. The only exception is Data Base Administration. I found a lot of women in those meetings.
WELL .......half a brain has its consequences...
WELL .......half a brain has its consequences...
That’s encouraging,
“I believe that men and women are wired differently in their brains, and that each sex has an advantage over the other in various areas.”
So do I.
Men and women aren’t equal, they are complimentary.
Men are better at highly focusing on a part situation and women are better at paying attention to the whole situation.
Goes back to hunter and gatherers.
Men focused on find the meat to keep his family alive and women focused on finding the vegies, taking care of the kids and getting everything organized.
FTA: No one is better in anything unless one has the desire to learn it and it is not gender that determines our interests but our habits that dictate what we are good at.
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Hogwash! Men, in general, excel in math computation and at any analysis that requires mentally rotating an object in space. Men are better at estimating the speed of a moving object.
Of course, there are exceptions, i.e., there are men who do not fit this description, just as there are some women who are better at these tasks than many men. But the numbers in each of these subsets will not exceed 10% of each group as a whole..
Same here.
C was a struggle to get.
My sister was the algebra, calc, trig whiz.
Most colleges have a nearly 2 to 1 girl to guy ratio now, and things like this gender math gap are dramatically changing.
I worked with a black lady about 20 years ago.
She was brilliant with math, she told that me that she had two degrees in two different mathematic disciplines (?), I nodded politely.
What impressed me was her ability to calculate the weight of random samples of our finished products, without a calculator or writing the equation down. A standard sample was 1ft x 1ft and our random samples would be yards and uneven dimensions and even polygonal shapes.
It became a bit of a game, she rarely got it wrong.
She was beautifully goofy and sweet.
What she was doing working at that job, is beyond me,but I assume it was the stability and benefits.
They sold the company, laid us off and moved the operation to China.
So true. I was the only girl in many of my classes.
Three, more girls in college earning degrees does not mean they are going to surpass boys in mathematics.
It just means more social workers and Masters of Public Administration.
Exactly
Boys like things. They play and build things. Girls like people. Their play is completely different than boys. The advantage gap between boys and girls is difficult for girls to close because by the time they are ready for more advanced mathematics they no longer play.
If you don’t want to cripple your sons when it comes to math, keep them away from faggoty toys. Give them something to build.
What didn’t help was when the schools went to that New Math crap. So I was confused even more and it seemed to me that No two Teachers were using the same instruction playbook.I wish I had paid enough attention to even notice any of that!
Women aren't interested in hawks chasing pigeons or trains heading in and out of Chicago.
Not surprised by mixed result. My impression has been that girls tend to be more diligent students in school, but guys tend to be better at focused abstract reasoning. But I’ve known many individuals that are exceptions.
“I may have been the outlier growing up,”
Same here.
Math, Physics, Chemistry were a piece of cake.
Anything involving writing was torture!
Wanted to get a Ph.D. in Pharm but got an M.D. cuz I didn’t have to write a thesis. That would have been torture.
Or happier as CEO where they can run A great many things. Because women actually are good at the big picture.
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