There is no denying that there are gender differences in education. Science, technology, engineering and math majors are all dominated by male students. According to the National Science Foundation, women earn less the twenty percent of bachelor's degrees in computer science and engineering and around forty percent in physical sciences and mathematics.One approach that by useful in examining this phenomenon might be the Constraint Preference theory described by Correll as the idea that when men and women make differing assessments about their own competency at specific task, they will also forge disparate aspiration for actives believed to require competence at these tasks. This theory can be used in order to explore the gender inequalities present in education and the role that teacher may play in perpetuating these inequalities, particularly in STEM majors.
Gender can be described as a status characteristic, or attribute that individuals possess to varying degrees, and as such, it has certain status beliefs, beliefs which link different status characteristics with varying performance and competency expectations. Gender is a relevant status characteristic in STEM majors because many common status beliefs support the idea that men are more competent and better equipped to excel in STEM majors. Due to the salience of gender in education, teachers can potentially strengthen the gender inequality present in STEM majors. Science instructors, in particular, tend to view their
The idea of occupational stereotypes and gender-compatible preferences could already be seen practiced at the college level. Various studies found that the stereotypical perception that men are “better” at math, physics, and science to be true while women are much more likely to change majors if their initial choice was engineering in comparison to their white male counterparts (Gadassi and Gati 2009; Dickson 2010). Women are typically concentrated in subjects and work fields that have lower salary than men. There is an obvious correlation between gender and college major choice, which
The force of societal stereotypes is a large part of this gap. Instead of joining STEM careers, the most common careers among women are secretaries, nurses, and elementary and middle school teachers (Mandell). This truly illustrates that when well-rounded, talented women have the choice, they are inclined to delve into the field in which society expects them to belong. In this way, the stereotype of women not being involved in STEM is forcing less women to be involved in these fields. The deficiency of women in technical fields, despite their well-roundedness and ability, can be directly related to unyielding cultural stereotypes that stigmatize women in supposedly masculine fields.
There is empirical evidence to show that males do not like females to be clever in areas considered male. They think there is something strange about females who want to be scientists. (Fensham 2005. p.224). Keller (2002) postulates that maintaining gender differences may not be primarily due to teacher interactions but due to the behaviour of the schoolchildren themselves. This then reinforces the argument students themselves are forcing themselves into gender roles. Tobin (cited in Kahle 2005) states there is hidden invisibility of masculinity and dominance in science, in the masculine verbal bravado present and evident in science classrooms. By contrast, females lack science
Education is a key part of people’s lives these days. Students around the world go to school to find out what their career should be, and to learn more about their job. You have to think from a student's perspective school is harder than it used to be. Now of days some kids have homework, projects, papers, and tests. A lot of times students have to work on their school work all at once. Not only has the subjects, tests, and assignments got harder. But learning if you're a different gender has a lot became harder. So it makes you think does gender impact achievement in education? Matter of face gender greatly impacts achievements in education.
Many women end up surrounded by male peers with no one to relate to in their coursework. Women may find themselves isolated in their classes and unable to find academic organizations on campus that support women majoring in STEM. Being unrepresented in STEM academia and having a limited amount of peers to relate to leads to discouragement. Women also face harsher criticism due to male bias within the STEM communities. This criticism comes not only from their male peers, but from administrative staff at institutions as well. One study shows that many woman applying for STEM related scholarships have had to be up to 2.5 times more productive than men to be considered equally competent (Barres, 386). This is again due to the gender stereotypes that have become imbedded within society. This bias also means women pursuing STEM degrees are put at a disadvantage in regards to selective processes for internships and academic clubs. By constantly having to prove themselves and repeatedly being discouraged by their environment, women studying STEM have a much harder time than men staying motivated in their courses. This of course leads to lower grades and a greater likelihood of dropping out of their programs. It is also safe to assume that creating an environment that causes women to constantly doubt themselves will have a negative impact on their academic performance; any student male or female must believe in themselves to be able to
In his video, A Brief History of Sexism in Science, by Michio Kaku made a point that women can easily be shut out of the science field. He told a story of a woman who was not given the opportunity to succeed within her field. He brings up a good point that girls and women are often pushed out or not encouraged to purse science fields. Reading 6, Chilly Classrooms for Female Undergraduate Students, makes the case that female students are not given the educational equality that others are given. Women are often academically discouraged, favoring men over women, and discouraging women in front of male peers and faculty. There is also lack of representation within the field, so it is hard for women and other disadvantaged groups to get ahead, since
Gender inequality also assumes that men get senior jobs or more jobs in the STEM fields. STEM fields employ many men and it is rare to find women. Many believe that the STEM fields are sexist and only employ men. Although, according to Cornell University, “Women are preferred 2:1 over men for STEM faculty positions” (Bosnia). Facts show, that women are preferred in STEM fields but they choose not to be in these positions. This large difference in women and men in STEM fields is not because of STEM but because of women not choosing STEM positions that they offer. In addition, research shows that, “the only evidence of bias the authors discovered was in favor of women; faculty in all four disciplines preferred female applicants to male candidates,
“When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.”(Michelle Obama). Education is a cital practice which has shaped history for hundreds of years and is the main reason for countries to develop and progress as humanity to occur. Even though many of us share this same idea and want most of the world's children are currently being educated but many womens and girls are not still being educated. Mainly because of religious and traditional reasons or because there families aren't in a a good financial shape to educate them. All of this can stop by educating girls also educating girls brings GDP and economic growth and better educate generations in the future.
The most drastically noticed is usually in the place of education and work. Often boys and girls are separated because a boy is better at a girl in one thing and visa versa. A study done in November of 2016 found that, “A big part of the reason that girls stay away from STEM isn't about test results. It's down to self-confidence and the weight of public perceptions; girls and young women seem to absorb societal beliefs that "girls can't do math" and rate their own abilities lower as a result, while boys often have an inflated view of their skills. Parents in the study tended to hold higher opinions of sons' mathematical abilities, which probably added an extra layer of discouragement” (Thorpe). Although it may not be apparent, girls and boys are often steered into a specific educational choices by the older generation and educators based on their gender. A gender should not affect how a person is taught in school and what they want to do in life. As boys are girls are given different types of encouragement growing up, it often reflects on their career path. Often men and women are separated by which jobs are “gender appropriate”, but if women and men do get the same job they are also often separated. Noback and others said, “A wide range of empirical evidence suggests that women face more obstacles that hinder career advancement than men do. Based on a review, Tharenou found that the barriers
By targeting the number of enrolled female students at community colleges, we can increase the number of women college graduates and thus address the issue of the gender gap in the workforce. This would help achieve the overall goal of facilitating creativity and innovation by increasing diversity in STEM occupations. Any initiatives and programs designed for this purpose should also take into account possible etiologies of this gender discrepancy. Some well-known contributing factors to the lower number of female community college students enrolled in STEM courses include negative gender stereotypes regarding aptitude towards mathematics and science, and a decreased number of female faculty members in college and universities.
417) which shows that males still perform better than females on both mathematics and science tests. So, there are fewer females with standardized test scores high enough to meet entrance requirements of engineering and technology programs, which are often rigorous. Not only do fewer women enter into these fields in the first place, but universities have noticed that retention of women is lower than retention of men in these fields. Amanda Griffith, in the Economics of Education Review, stated that “[women and minorities] are less likely to pick a STEM major initially, and if they do, less likely to remain in that major” (911). Although both genders struggle in STEM fields, statistics show that females have greater problems – only 37% of women who declare a STEM major upon entering college actually earn one while 43% of men do. In addition, fewer women than men switch into a STEM major from another department – only 10% of women and 15% of men had done so by the spring of their sophomore year (Griffith 915).So, there are two problems plaguing the representation of women in these fields – they are less likely to show an interest in these fields to begin with and are more likely to drop out of a STEM major if they do.
The researcher looked at boys and girls, self-concepts, perceptions of other boys, and girls ratings in science, math, and engineering students. Girls see themselves to other girls, and don’t see themselves as pursuing an education in science and technology Lee (1998). Girls and boys both agree that science students possess more masculine traits, “they perceive other science students as having more masculine traits” (Lee 1998:209). Girls top two choices in the science and technology fields are physician and biologist, and boys choose engineering. Girls prefer psychology over boys, and boys like mathematics over girls. Overall, girls express greater interest in nonscientific disciplines than boys (Lee 1998).
Not only are there few women earning STEM degrees, but there are also few female and university science teachers. A study reported that in high schools across the country, about 44% of science teachers were females (Bottia et al. 2015). Although this number seems to be very close to 50%, the study explains that this small gender discrepancies among science teachers have a profound impact on the number of students who decide to pursue a STEM degree. And that high schools which have more female STEM teachers, largely raise the chances of producing women who will
Over the past few years, there appears to have been exponential growth in discussion surrounding gender identity and the role educators ought to have in gender alignment. Multiple groups in BC have clashed over the issue, resulting in national media coverage. The proposed SOGI curriculum, for instance, has sparked a heated discussion between those for and against it, prompting Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld call allowing children to choose their gender “child abuse” (Global News). The other side of the argument saw bi-partisan MLA support in favor of the new curriculum (Abbynews).
Studies have confirmed that all cultures make a noticeable distinction between girls and boys, either consciously or subconsciously. A study on gender socialization in Chinese Kindergartens (Chen & Rao, 2010) states that although the Hong Kong government does not require the teacher to teach about gender. However, there is subconscious gender-based discrimination favoring the male gender. To the contrary, America is taking a turn to gender education, starting as early as Kindergarten (FPIW, 2016), focusing on gender expressions not only as a male or female but also include non-traditional identities, for example cross-dressing. Another important distinction in the development of children is the moral evaluation of modesty and self-promotion in diverse cultural setting, as noted in this study by (Cameron, Lau, Fu, & Lee, 2012). This study analyzed how young children distinguish the truth and found that many Asian communities reinforce early socialization and view humility, unpretentiousness or modesty as an essential element of virtue. It was noted that kids perceive the truth differently based on cultural values, with Canadian children telling the truth as the truth and showing a sense of pride in acknowledging their own good deeds with no shame in telling what they did for others. On the contrary, Chinese children are more modest and sometimes preferred to deny their good deeds, feeling embarrassed to admit the truth in fear of being seen as boastful. There was also a