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Making math uncool is hurting US
REUTERS ^ | 10 Oct 2008, 1212 hrs IST | REUTERS

Posted on 10/10/2008 3:15:02 AM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins

WASHINGTON: Americans may like to make fun of girls who are good at math, but this attitude is robbing the country of some of its best talent, resear chers reported on Friday. They found that while girls can be just as talented as boys at mathematics, some are driven from the field because they are teased, ostracized or simply neglected.

"The US culture that is discouraging girls is also discouraging boys," Janet Mertz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who led the study said in a statement. "The situation is becoming urgent. The data show that a majority of the top young mathematicians in this country were not born here." Writing in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Mertz and colleagues described their analysis of data from international math competitions going back to 1974. They also looked at surveys of US students.

"It is deemed uncool within the social context of USA middle and high schools to do mathematics for fun; doing so can lead to social ostracism. Consequently, gifted girls, even more so than boys, usually camouflage their mathematical talent to fit in well with their peers," they wrote. They also challenged the widespread belief that females lack exceptional math aptitude.

"Innate math aptitude is probably fairly evenly distributed throughout the world, regardless of race or gender," said Titu Andreescu of the University of Texas at Dallas, who worked on the study. "The huge differences observed in achievement levels are most likely due to socio-cultural attributes specific to each country." The study looked at how many women faculty members there are in five top US research university mathematics departments.

It found 20 percent of them were born in the United States. "We are wasting this valuable resource," Mertz said. "Girls can excel in math at the very highest level. There are some truly phenomenal women mathematicians out there." The study also looked at test scores that show that in elementary school girls do as well or better in math than boys. These begin to lag in the middle school years and the gap widens greatly between girls and boys in high school.

Many of the women who become math or engineering professionals come from other countries, notably in eastern Europe and Asia, where mathematics is promoted more, the study found. "Just as there is concern about the US relying on foreign countries for our oil and manufactured goods, we should also be concerned about relying on others to fill our needs for mathematicians, engineers, and scientists," Joseph Gallian of the University of Minnesota and current president of the Mathematical Association of America, said in a statement.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: education; matheducation; mathematics; sexdifferences
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1 posted on 10/10/2008 3:15:02 AM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

2 posted on 10/10/2008 3:20:17 AM PDT by ari-freedom ("He (Obama) cannot win, Bill. He cannot win" -Hillary)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
some are driven from the field because they are teased, ostracized or simply neglected.

I give this "study" as much faith as I did the ones saying boys are called on more than girls--none.

3 posted on 10/10/2008 3:20:28 AM PDT by Darkwolf377
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

This is another re-cycled canard that needs to be taken out with the trash.


4 posted on 10/10/2008 3:20:29 AM PDT by x_plus_one (Muhammed and Allah = 2 memes destined for the ashheap of history.....)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

In my area of California nearly every strip-mall has a learning center to tutor the children. In two blocks we have three of these centers. Every one of these is run and attended by those of Korean heritage.

The kids on my street are good at texting on their cellphones and skateboarding.


5 posted on 10/10/2008 3:22:42 AM PDT by Loud Mime (Legal Plunder - the goal of the Zero cult)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
Oh for cryin' out loud. First off, there's been oodles of fed/state money for GIRLS ONLY math classes going on for 30+ years, all around the nation. Second, boys are the ones being neglected in math, as rainforest math becomes the norm. And THIRD, it's girls who ostrasize girls who like math.

And last but not least, Gov Sarah Palin has numerous children. It's lefty women who can't do the math and scorn Sarah Palin because she can count higher than "1-1/2 children." Lotta women on the left have children they aborted; so when they are asked how many children they've had, they never are able to count the one they aborted.

yeah. New math by the lefties always leaves people unable to count properly.

6 posted on 10/10/2008 3:33:28 AM PDT by Alia
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To: Loud Mime

The Asian families in our community are well known for their high academic expectations of their kids. Unfortunately, we hear stories of kids being beaten over B’s; I hope they’re untrue. The youngsters around here have an expression for the syndrome. When they think their parents are pushing them too hard on their grades, they call it “going Asian”.


7 posted on 10/10/2008 3:35:02 AM PDT by Think free or die
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

One thing that is true, it’s not cool for girls to be good at math in middle school. I know, I have one and it’s a struggle to keep her on the right track.


8 posted on 10/10/2008 3:35:21 AM PDT by TheRake (Lake Orion, MI)
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To: ari-freedom

LOL! That’s exactly what I was thinking! What’s hurting us, at the foundational level, is that our elementary math instruction is dumbed down so that it takes years for students to progress to anything interesting or useful.


9 posted on 10/10/2008 3:37:55 AM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: Alia
New math by the lefties always leaves people unable to count properly.

Clever imagery!

10 posted on 10/10/2008 3:39:28 AM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
The real mission is to keep as many innumerate as possible. That way they get sub-prime mortgages, do not understand what a percent APR means, cannot comprehend compound interest, and will not argue with the presentation of impressive numerical 'evidence' which can be used to support just about anything.
11 posted on 10/10/2008 3:41:20 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

This is just part of the greater goal to make the USA a socialist state.
Political Correctonism pushed by Democrats (they’re communists but don’t know it) is to blame.
Once upon a time we had IQ tests and split student populations to take advantage of the fact that some people are very smart, most people are average and some people need help. The smart kids were kept together and learned math, science and languages. The average kids all learned courses that they could use in business as accountants, managers, small business owners and such. The rest all learned home economics, shop, and skills associated with a skilled trade. This system worked very well and America was the envy of the world.
Now, IQ tests are gone and teachers teach to the lowest common denominator; none of the kids ever learn to their potential; and the Socialists are happy, because they’ve ruined our culture in the name of fitting-in.


12 posted on 10/10/2008 3:43:15 AM PDT by BuffaloJack
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To: Tax-chick

The elementary school math curriculum is indeed critical to kids developing basic skills. We recently went through a review and textbook piloting process for grades 4-6. I was very relieved that they didn’t select “Everyday Math”, which is weak on basic skills on the assumption that drills and memorization are a bad idea. The math curriculum that was selected was a little heavy on spiral reviews and soft squishy supplemental exercises, but it seemed to cover the basics reasonably well. It’s frustrating to see how much they fiddle with something as basic as elementary school math. They over-complicate simple arithmetic to the point kids are confused and overwhelmed.


13 posted on 10/10/2008 3:47:38 AM PDT by Think free or die
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To: Think free or die

The family across the street has three girls that pride themselves on their good grades and are great kids. I’ve noticed that three times a week they have friends over for study sessions. It is quiet for some time, then they have dinner and fun. All the girls have missing teeth and bruises all over their bodies and burns on their arms...

I’m kidding about the injuries. But seriously, how many families have study sessions at their dining table? Answer: not enough.

My brother gave me the same excuse about the Asians when he was in school. It was an excuse not to learn, and he learned not to learn well.

Have a great weekend!


14 posted on 10/10/2008 3:48:36 AM PDT by Loud Mime (Obama-Acorn - Corrupt loans, Corrupt Votes)
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To: BuffaloJack
Believe that this has more to do with the failure of public education in general than anything else. I do not put much stock in percentages of math and science professors because an individual may want to pursue a different career path.

As to this issue of male and female participation is various fields, the idea that we should have perfect equality by numbers in every endeavor is absurd. You will always finds professions that will have more of one gender than another. This has more to do with genetic predispositions than anything else. The dirty little secret is that both men and women excel differently at various occupations. Political correctness makes these views anathema in academia. Just ask Larry Summers of Harvard fame what happens when you bring up these differences.

As to the concern that females are falling behind males academically all signs indicate that the reverse is true. At this point in time we graduate more females from high schools and from 4yr. colleges than we do males.

15 posted on 10/10/2008 3:57:14 AM PDT by RU88 (The false messiah can not change water into wine any more than he can get unity from diversity.)
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To: Loud Mime

We “go Asian” on our kids pretty regularly. Despite some grumbling, they both recognize that this is important to their future and knuckle down pretty well. They’re also well-rounded boys, with participation in Scouts, swimming, music and church. We’re in a very competitive school district. We have a lot of immigrant families from China and Korea. We also have a high percentage of Jewish familes, and most of those families are very supportive of educational achievement. It makes for a strong local school district and pressure among the youngsters to work hard, take honors courses and excel.


16 posted on 10/10/2008 3:59:10 AM PDT by Think free or die
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
Americans may like to make fun of girls who are good at math, but this attitude is robbing the country of some of its best talent, researchers reported on Friday. They found that while girls can be just as talented as boys at mathematics, some are driven from the field because they are teased, ostracized or simply neglected.

This is an unsupported assertion that girls are teased, ostracized or simply neglected if they are good at math. I would question the methodology, data, and assumptions used by the "researchers" in this study. Their findings are highly questionable.

17 posted on 10/10/2008 4:01:14 AM PDT by olezip
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To: Think free or die

I agree. Memorize basic facts and then move on. How many young adults can’t do long division, because they never memorized the division facts and the long division procedure?

When I was tutoring in a high school in Texas back in the 90s, the counselor said one of the main problems the students had with the math section of the state’s graduation exam was that they didn’t know the multiplication tables and they couldn’t do operations with fractions - in the 10th grade! They moved on from year to year, and there was never any requirement that they master the basics.


18 posted on 10/10/2008 4:22:39 AM PDT by Tax-chick (This is embarassing! Have a Guinness and pull yourselves together!)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

19 posted on 10/10/2008 4:26:16 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (My freq'n head hertz...)
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To: Think free or die

Sounds good. Hopefully the “busing” nonsense won’t infect your school district.


20 posted on 10/10/2008 4:28:58 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (My freq'n head hertz...)
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