Gender Equity in Education
Gender equity issues in mathematics and science have been the focus of many educators and researchers for years. Women have often been denied an equal education in math and science for many reasons. Parents and teachers must realize this fact and change their habits wherever necessary. Girls must be given the same opportunity as boys from the beginning, particularly in math and science where girls tend to lag behind.
First of all, the term gender equity must be defined. Gender not only includes the concept of sex, but all the social and cultural meanings that go along with being either male or female. Every interaction that takes place is in relation to the sex of those involved in it, therefore
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Parents also have a vital role in influencing the career path their children choose. Children look to their parents as role models and for approval, and parents attitudes and actions will influence their children. They also take into account what job their mother has as compared to their father. In many cases, children start to associate gender with particular jobs when they are very young due to their family life(Stitt, 1988). Stereotypes, like those, are brought forth to girls everyday, ranging from the traditional female jobs to males being more intelligent than females. One example is the fact that there aren’t as many women as men in jobs such as scientists and doctors. Girls often don’t question this idea because it is reinforced by so many people. These stereotypes sometimes get adopted by girls because of this constant reinforcement. Parents have the opportunity either to invalidate these stereotypes or confirm them by their actions and words. They must reassure their children that girls can participate in anything they want, including math and science activities or courses.
Teachers also play a crucial role in the development of children’s lives. The way they run their classroom has a huge impact on how girls see themselves and how they perform in school. The way the teacher interacts with his/her female students is often different than interactions with male
In the essay “When Brights Girls Decide that Math is a Waste of Time” by Susan Jacoby, Jacoby claims that girls develop deficiencies during their adolescent years by not taking math or science in their high school years. It can be argued that Jacoby’s thoughts on high school girls and math are incorrect due to the sexism that takes place in her essay, the amount of inaccurate and outdated information, and her argument that math and science is highly important.
Women have always been viewed as the weaker sex, and society will continue to view them that way unless they do something about it. In the essay “When Bright Girls Decide that Math is a Waste of time”, the author Susan Jacoby discusses the problems women steering clear of math and science subjects because of the traditional view of a woman. She focused on what causes high school girls to focus on arts courses instead of STEM courses and what are the effects of it on themselves. The underlying discrimination amongst boys and girls, stereotypical thinking of parents and teachers that girls are not good at math eventually decreases the self-confidence among girls to solve science and math problems.
unfair because of gender equality and ad as well as disadvantages play a big part while
Most of this gender disparity starts early. As early as in grade school. Young girls are rarely motivated to take Math and Science. This can be problematic because studies show that a lack in intellectual belief can in turn inhibit intellectual growth. There is also that persistent unconscious bias that Science and Math are male fields while females tend to do well
The wrong perception of women in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) holds them back from achieving their full academic potentials. Senior indicated that, "there is a stereotypical perception that women lack interest in technology and maths," (para 5). The attitude is harmful to the society and the education system. A quick observation would reveal that female gender performs at the same level – if not better – with males as long as they have the right tools and adequate teaching resources. Creating a narrative that women are disinterested in STEM
Freedom and equality are ideas this country has had for centuries that have evolved over time. In 1776, what Thomas Jefferson meant by “all men are created equal”, is that white males are dominant in society. Women are treated worse than men and slaves treated worse than women. People that weren’t of the “superior” race/gender of a white male were typically treated as if they were less. Women and African-Americans aren’t being treated as bad today, but they’re still being treated worse than the white males of society. Even today, when white males are typically the leaders of society, it’s not always race and gender that creates inequality; sometimes it’s money that creates the issue. Not just from past evidence, but from present
This journal summary explores a peer reviewed article that answers the question, “Do Growth Mindsets in Math Benefit Females”? The article was written by Jessica L. Degol from Pennsylvania State University, and Ming Te Wang, Ya Zhang, and Julie Allerton from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. The purpose of this research was to gain understanding into the math growth mindset of female students, grades 9-12, as they begin to choose career fields after high school. Through research, it has been discovered that although female’s have lower ability self-concepts and expectations of success in math, they are still equivalent in their math performance compared to males (Degol, Wang, Zhang, and Allerton, 2018). Yet, males
Introduction In recent years there has been much research into gender learning issues and the apparent learning disparity between boys and girls. Such research has included investigations into boys' underachievement in literacy and girls' underachievement in mathematics. The aim of such research is to recognise key reasons why such trends are occurring and perhaps more importantly, to address these within the classroom.
From the research I have read while there is a disagreement on when and how much of a gender gap exists in math and science, there is definitely an equity issue that needs addressing. There seems to be an abundance of information about equity issues and as a future teacher I feel that it is important to examine these issues. If gender equity issues exist in today's’ classrooms why do they and what can be done to help correct it.
Gender inequities in the fields of math and science are well researched and the results are shocking. Women compromise 45% of the work force, they hold jobs concentrated in clerical, service, and professional fields such as teaching and nursing, rather than in mathematics, science, or engineering (Levin & Matthews, 1997). Gender inequities start in
Despite the fact that half of the college educated workforce is made up of women, they make up only 29% of the science and engineering workforce (“Statistics”). Some believe this could be due to the fact the boys are naturally better than girls in science related subjects. However, a recent test conducted in over 65 countries compared the science scores of teen boys and girls. The study showed that in most countries the girls led the boys; In the United States, however, the girls lagged behind (Fairfield and McLean). This demonstrates that the gender gap in science scores is not natural, but cultural. The most prominent place to see gender
Education continues to be seen as the way in which poor people can escape from the grips of poverty. According to President Barrack Obama, “The best anti-poverty program is world classes education” Belize along with other UN nations have made considerable progress to make it affordable and accessible to its citizens. The Millennium Development Goals had been targeted at addressing multiple issues and education was addressed by goal number 2, Achieve Universal Primary Education. The issue of gender parity in education is still an issue and, regardless of improvements, female students are more likely fall out of the education system. “Although 62 million girls are denied access to education, the number of out of school girls has declines by the 52 million”. The statistics globally and in Belize presents and alarming situation in the education sector. Women have continued to push and advocate for equality and the most basic rights continue to be denied. There are many social, cultural and economic reasons for the gender parity in education and why it continues to exist in contemporary society. These reasons include a) cultural perceptions as to the career path of women b) gender discrimination, and c) Child /domestic labour.
The gender gap has been a concern for decades, it used to be that females lagged behind males when it came to academic achievement. Females now outperform males academically and are more likely to obtain college degrees and enroll in graduate school despite the gender inequalities that remain in American society. The underachievement of females has diminished if not vanished due to the focus of the United States for the past 30 years to close the gender achievement gap. Yet, the concern in the most recent years has been both the lower performance of girls in mathematics and science and now males’ underperformance in most academic areas (Del Rio & Strasser, 2012). Why is it that despite that females and males attend the same educational environment, males are having a hard time keeping up and females continue to be less likely to take advanced math or science classes or enroll in science and math related careers?
Currently, 70 million people around the world today cannot get a basic education, and more than half of them are females. Women have always been treated unequally in many countries compared to men since women do not receive the same opportunities. Particularly in the developing nations, women are denied from receiving education, jobs, healthcare, and many other necessities to become successful. The main reason for this is because women are too occupied taking care of their families and maintaining their homes. With that, women usually don’t focus too much on sending their children to school since they need help at home. Therefore, there are still 31 million young children are out of school, and out of these children, 17 million are girls who would never earn the chance to enter school. In contrast, there are 4 million fewer boys than girls out of school. This is causing females to have more fear than they have had before because they aren’t able to protect themselves. School environments can implement barriers for girls and promote gender inequality by utilizing gender-biased curriculum, textbooks and teacher practices.
Gender equality is a broad topic with many different angles that can be examined. For my part in