Girls and Math
April 29, 2011
by CJ Anton
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
As the mother of a fourth-grade girl with jaw-dropping mathematical prowess, I stand in terror of the coming onslaught of adolescent self-censorship. Everyone "knows" that even (or perhaps especially) gifted girls drop math in favor of eating disorders and cutting in middle school, right?
Is it true?
Not so much. In recent years the math performance gap between boys and girls has disappeared. In our nation's high schools, girls' scores on state standardized tests now equal boys' scores. Girls take advanced math courses in high school just as often as boys do. Even at the college level, 47 percent of bachelor's degrees in math are earned by young women, though women lag far behind in physical sciences and engineering. So there's nothing to worry about.
Why am I still worried?
The factors that impact girls' achievement in math seem tenuous. Having female friends who earn good grades in math and take advanced courses encourages girls to do the same. Make sure your daughter has smart friends. Check. The more gender-equitable the culture, the lower the gap between male and female test scores in math.
Sadly, the US is not at the top of that list, but hey, we're improving. Check. Extra-curricular opportunities for rigorous math challenges increase girls' sense of competence in math at the crucial middle-school juncture. Sure, I can arrange that. Check.
My daughter certainly has my support, but it turns out my husband's attitudes may matter more. One study found that "girls' interest in math decreases as their fathers' gender stereotypes increase, whereas boys' interest in math increases as their fathers' gender stereotypes increase." Fortunately, my kid's proud papa is already planning to teach her linear algebra or somesuch this summer. Check.
Moving forward, the picture for math-talented females is not so rosy. Women make up only 10 percent of math professors, in spite of their proportionate presence in college math programs. Their numbers in high-math science and engineering professions are similarly dismal. Where do all the female math majors go?
According to Cornell researchers Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams, math-talented women make non-math career choices because they need more flexibility than scientists and engineers get to raise families.
"A major reason explaining why women are underrepresented not only in math-intensive fields but also in senior leadership positions in most fields is that many women choose to have children, and the timing of child rearing coincides with the most demanding periods of their career, such as trying to get tenure or working exorbitant hours to get promoted," said Ceci.
This issue is not unique to math fields, of course. It's the same all over. Women are expected to shoulder the bulk of the caregiving responsibilities and can't handle a full-on fast-track career at the same time. Ceci and Williams go on to suggest that universities and companies could attract more women to the fields in which they are under-represented by implementing policies that make it possible to balance work and childrearing, like deferred tenure-track positions that don't insist that you spend 80 hours working every week at the exact time you are likely to be making and raising babies.
They even go so far as to suggest that men could avail themselves of such opportunities as well, thus implying that men can and should share the childcare burden equally. Shout it loud, friends!
My own daughter is reveling in the rounds of fourth grade math competitions and hopes to go to MIT. Keep that fire burning, dear child, one year at a time.
CJ love your article. very comprehensive on the obstacles and how important the input of fathers, husbands, boyfriends are. well, in my family we had this rumor that there were math genes and everyone in the family was expected to have them. this concept worked great. no discouraging teacher could make a dent in my confidence and interest in math. for husbands and boyfriends, I think we need to strongly work against the idea that girls want to find a prince. they need equality not someone to look up to. if you have equality in a relationship there should be a better chance to share work in the house and family allowing two careers.
Thanks, Marille. I hope the math gene helps sustain my daughter’s confidence, too.
Wonderful piece CJ. I was (am) a total math nerd and it came in supper handy on Wall Street. I was pleasantly surprised by the opening stats in your article. Had not realized that the gender gap was closing – good news! thanks for writing!
Hey, I am writing a paper on gender differences in Math education. I want to cite this article, but before I do so, do you know where you got the “10% of math professors are female” stat?
“Women make up only 10 percent of math professors, in spite of their proportionate presence in college math programs” is not quite correct.
It may have come from statistics about female FULL professors at the top 100 departments in 2007 (see Nelson Diversity Survey). Not all professors are full professors and there are considerably more than 100 universities in the United States. As with many things (e.g., politics, Fortunate 500 companies), there tend to be fewer women in prestigious positions.
At four-year institutions, women are about 20% of mathematics faculty members (that is, full, associate, and assistant professors). Source: National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Doctorate Recipients: 2006.
In two-year institutions, women are 50% of the full-time permanent mathematics faculty. Source: CBMS 2005 Survey.
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