Gender Bias Essay Research Paper The topic

Gender Bias Essay, Research Paper

The topic of my research has been differences in math learning and aptitude

between boys and girls. This topic was suggested to me by my mentor, Mike

Millo, as it is of particular interest to him. Mr. Millo is an Algebra teacher at Ball

High. Much has been made of gender differences in math by the popular media

and Mr. Millo felt that it would be interesting to examine this topic and explore the

findings of educational researchers. I also found this topic personally intriguing

as I am currently reading the book, Failing At Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat

Girls, by Myra and David Sadker (1994), which explores gender bias in all area of

education.

In researching this topic I found many related research articles and extensive

articles where relevant variables had been measured. I tried to focus on highly

relevant articles, which examined specifically the different abilities of males and

females in math or sought explanations for those differences.

With one exception, the studies I reviewed supported that there are differences in

math related achievement between males and females. Two of thr articles I

reviewed focus on the differences in teacher interaction with male and female

students in math class rooms.

The Structure of Abilities in Math-Precocious Young Children: Gender

Berninger, and Julie Busse (1996), the following research questions were

explored:

1. Can young children who are advanced in mathematical reasoning be located

efficiently by soliciting parent nominations.

2. Do measures of these children’s cognitive abilities in other domains also show

advancement and, if so, to what degree.

3. How do measures in verbal and visual-spatial domains relate to mathematical

skills for subgroups divided by grade and gender.

4. What, if any, cognitive gender differences emerge within this group of young

precocious children.

My interest was focused on the last question, which relates to gender differences.

The study showed gender differences apparent in every analysis. However, the

study does not propose reasons for these differences. One of the possible

implications of this study, that gender related differences in math ability are

apparent from such a young age conflicts with information presented some of the

other papers I reviewed.

In three studies, there is a great emphasis on gender related abilities in math which

are related to adolescence. In Gender Roles in Marriage: What do They Mean

for Girls’ and Boys’ School Achievement, by Kimberly A. Updegraff, Susan M.

McHale and Ann C. Crouter (1996), the researchers evaluate differences in family

dynamics to determine what implications these might have for gender related math

ability. This article was very interesting, although the research question was biting

off more than it could chew. What this article finds is that girls from families who

have a more egalitarian family structure are less likely to suffer a decline in math

ability at adolescence. This article also suggests that it is not the girls “hard

wiring” which causes math ability differences. I interpret this article as implying

that the root of the problem could be in gender role stereo types.

In Single Sex Math Classes: What and For Whom. One School’s Experiences,

Richard Durost (1996) reports that when administrators talked to many of the girls

in his school, the girls stated that they felt mentally intimidated by the boys.

Teachers noted that boys asked questions, talked and competed, while girls tended

to reflect, listen, and cooperate. In an attempt to deal with gender related

performance issues, Mr. Durost’s school implemented a all female section Algebra

I. The females who participated in the pilot program did show an increase in their

math scores. This paper suggests that the differences in math ability are not “hard

wired”. That it may not be a difference in a girl’s ability to “do” math or learn

math, but perhaps a difficulty in a girls ability to interact in a co-educational math

related settings which determines her math success. In other words, there might

not be a math problem in and of itself but perhaps math differences were one

manifestation of differences in inter-gender communication and interaction styles.

In Gender Based Education: Why it Works at the Middle School Level, William

C, Perry (1996), the principal of a middle school cites studies from the American

Association of University Women (1991, 1992), supporting the theory that gender

related math ability differences don’t become manifest until middle school. Mr.

Perry was very concerned about reports he had read or heard presented showing

that there is bias against girls in the classrooms. In response to the researchers

concerns, a study was done in which participating students were assigned to same

sex classes. The study reports in

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