Girls are just as good at math as boys
Categories: In the news, Education
When I was a senior in high school, I told my high school counselor that I wanted to take Journalism (goof around with my friends while publishing the school paper) and Child Development (goof around with my friends while helping out a local kindergarten teacher) instead of Physics and Calculus. Because I'd reached my math requirements for graduation, he let me. I'm still a little miffed at both of us. While it didn't hold me back in college, it could have, and we should have had the foresight to realize that.
Though the idea that girls and math don't mix has been slowly (and gladly) fading, women still lag behind men in math and science undergrad degrees. But a recent study has found that, in grades 2 through 11, girls score just as well as boys on math achievement tests. Twenty years ago, girls kept up with boys in elementary school, but their scores dropped off in high school, evidence that the new attitude is working. Girls are learning that they belong in math and science classes too. Though girls still lag slightly behind on SAT math scores (533 to 499), researchers say that's because there are more girls than boys taking the SATs to being with.
For more reading on this topic, check out LiveScience and their Top 5 Myths About Girls, Math, and Science.
Though the idea that girls and math don't mix has been slowly (and gladly) fading, women still lag behind men in math and science undergrad degrees. But a recent study has found that, in grades 2 through 11, girls score just as well as boys on math achievement tests. Twenty years ago, girls kept up with boys in elementary school, but their scores dropped off in high school, evidence that the new attitude is working. Girls are learning that they belong in math and science classes too. Though girls still lag slightly behind on SAT math scores (533 to 499), researchers say that's because there are more girls than boys taking the SATs to being with.
For more reading on this topic, check out LiveScience and their Top 5 Myths About Girls, Math, and Science.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ku 7-27-2008 @ 5:11PM
I wish I had been better at math in school. Honestly I was very good at science and architecture. Mostly just shape based math but algebra killed me. Seriously. I am hoping when I have a girl I can encourage her to be more motivated in math. It's so hard because we get the excuse all the time that girls aren't as good at math so us girls tend to use it as an excuse for not doing as well as we should know we could. Wow, that was a mouthful. LOL.
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pbhj 7-27-2008 @ 6:00PM
From top 5 myths "article":
>Science and math teachers are no longer biased toward their male students.
>
>Reality: In fact, biases are persistent, and teachers often interact more with boys than with girls in science and math.
So, what my female chemistry, biology and maths teachers were all biased towards the boys in the class?
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Chrysee 7-28-2008 @ 3:07PM
Actually yes. Teachers in general are biased towards male students (interact with more, call on more often, give them a longer time after called on to answer), female teachers actually a little moreso than males. Weird, but true.
pbhj 7-30-2008 @ 11:42AM
Even the lesbian ones?
scottynx 7-29-2008 @ 8:28PM
The results of the study can be interpreted as consistent with what Larry Summer said: That girls and boys have the same average achievement, but boys have higher variance, leading to an over-abundance of males at the higher (and lower) ends of the achievement spectrum.
It seems that only the wall street journal reported on the "boys higher variance" part of the study with this headline: "Boys' Math Scores Hit Highs and Lows"
Here is Andrew Gelman of Columbia talking about the variance part of the study as well, and the contrasting parts that were emphasized by the WSJ vs the NYT (and virtually all other newspapers).
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/archives/2008/07/nyt_vs_wsj_on_g.html
Also, here is Alex Tabarrok of marginalrevolution talking about how the study vindicates summers:
Summers Vindicated (Again)
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2008/07/summers-vindica.html
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