Women Mathematicians: Why So Few?
The great field of mathematics stretches back in history some 8 millennia to the age of primitive man, who learned to count to ten on his fingers. This led to the development of the decimal scale, the numeric scale of base ten (Hooper 4). Mathematics has grown greatly since those primitive times, in the present day there are literally thousands of laws, theorems, and equations which govern the use of ten simple symbols representing the ten base numbers. The field of mathematics is ever changing, and therefor, there is a great demand for mathematicians to keep improving our skills in utilizing the numeric system. Many great people, both past and present, have made great contributions to the field.
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Therefor, one can conclude that the problem lies in the society of today and the general public’s view of the field. Due to the fact that in most primitive cultures men were superior to women, women were not given the chance to study mathematics (Chipman vii). This is why almost all great classical mathematical thinkers are male. Despite the many advances that women have made in the past years, the general public still views mathematics as a field for men (Perl 1).
In 1971, the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) was founded. This was the first noticeable step by women to try to integrate the field of mathematics (Nolan 3). This organization strove to give women mathematicians a voice with which to let the world know that they really existed. The AWM does many studies to try to understand just why
women are not active in mathematics (Nolan 3). IN 1973 Julia Sherman and Elizabeth Fennema, both mathematical educators, studied girls in mathematics courses in both elementary and high school settings. They found that the crucial years of a woman’s mathematical future is in her 3rd or 4th year of high school, when she is often counciled out of mathematics by parents and teachers because they felt that the girl has no future in the field (Nolan 3). These results were supported by the Wise, Steel, and MacDonald analysis which found that "sex differences in average math achievement increased most sharply after the tenth grade, when
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.
Being one of the first black women to receive a PhD in mathematics, she opened up the field to women, especially women of color, who were systematically drawn away from math because of the color of their skin or because of sexist exclusionary notions. Although her contributions to mathematics are seen more in a group effort, one cannot take away from the fact of her role as an inspiration to girls interested in the field of mathematics. With her widespread dedication to education and large investments of time for space programs, this woman was pivotal in challenging sexist and racist stereotypes that had held women like her back for years. She opened up positions for women of color in fields where they were never
It's is written in history that the field of Math and Science seems to be a more male dominant field. The evidence shows that years ago women were discouraged from pursuing the field. We learned about the Darwin theory which is based on the fact that men were inferior to women. A theory that to a point made society actually believes that because men's brains were bigger they were smarter than females. This matter on top of a society that already didn't treat male and female equal created more challenges for women to succeed. Another main reason was that education for women wasn't as accessible as it was to men. Women didn't have the resources and at times weren't allowed to attend the schools available to men.
Women in the Math World Works Cited Not Included Math is commonly known as the man’s major. Many college math professors are men and the same goes for their students. "One study revealed that women accounted for 15% of students in computer science, 16% in electrical engineering,. . . Gender splits in the faculty were similar" (Cukier).
Throughout the history of math, very few women are to be found along the line. This is so, because there was a time when freedom just was not present. People were segregated by their gender, race, or religion. They led a life based on the stereotypes of who they were made out to be in the eye of the general public. Prevailing through multiple impediments was Emmy Noether. It’s impressively inspiring how much she committed herself to a field that not only is rather unpopular, but also one that discriminates against females, especially in her lifetime in the late 1800’s and 1900’s. Noether’s theorem is one of the few reasons that history will be etched by her legacy.
Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).
Mathematics has always been described as the purest science and considered as one of the most important aspects in many countries around the world, especially developed countries. Theoretically, the most significant requirements for a life of a mathematician is the mathematical ability. Nevertheless, very few women get involve in this field, which creates a myth, and slowly develops into a stereotype in society, that women are naturally not good at math. However, many people would be surprised, that “the world’s greatest living mathematician for a time was a women” (Deakin 13). Hypatia of Alexandria was, indeed, a physically beautiful woman who used her talent and intelligence to defy the stereotypes against
Interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is thinning for women as they progress into higher levels. Women in grades 7-12 were surveyed to see if their interest in STEM fields were diminishing. According to Van Leuvan, this survey showed that there was a decline in interest as these girls progress through high school. Throughout middle school and junior high a love for mathematics can be developed. However, a loss of interest is present as soon as girls hit more demanding classes like calculus. Grades will highly diminished and a fear for comprehension of mathematics in the future will develope. According to the article “Women and Minorities in Engineering” a major outlook on success from students is their ability to understand calculus.
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.
Throughout history, women have been looked down upon and seen as insubordinate and incapable. Women were never viewed as equal to men until about the 1950s. History will also tell us that men dominated the mathematical scene and have made the biggest contributions in that field, yet this does not seem to be the case. Women have had just as big an impact on math as men have, if not a bigger contribution.They still continue to rock the mathematical world today. Various women such as Hypatia from the ancient Greeks, Grace Chisholm Young from England at the turn of the century, to Mary Fairfax Somerville from the Imperialist English, and Maria Gaetana Agnesi from Modern Enlightenment in Italy have all contributed in major ways to the
mathematics because it was not allowed for women to study a lot, it was too
Gender equity in terms of education is about the socialization of men and women and the results of this process on the life outcomes of the two genders (Husen & Postlethwaite, 1994). In the United States, the education system is required to treat males and females equally. There has been much research done to compare the genders in all areas. In the past, research has found that women fall far behind men in many areas such as math, and science, but men lag behind women in certain areas as well. Over the years, many provisions have been made with the goal of equalizing the treatment of girls and boys in public education. These improvements are proven successful as women, as well as men, are advancing in areas where they tend to lag
Mathematics has always been a difficult subject for students. Many children have developed phobias and barriers towards mathematics, which prevail into adulthood, thus limiting their potential. This limitation implies problems of learning, resulting in the child a sense of inferiority.
Mathematics is a type of reasoning. Thinking mathematically includes thinking in a rational way, developing and checking conjectures, understanding things, and forming and validating judgments, reasoning, and conclusions. We show mathematical habits when we acknowledge and explain patterns, build physical and theoretical models of sensations, develop sign systems to assist us stand for, control, and review concepts, and create treatments to address issues (Battista, 1999).
Mathematics is the one of the most important subjects in our daily life and in most human activities the knowledge of mathematics is important. In the rapidly changing world and in the era of technology, mathematics plays an essential role. To understand the mechanized world and match with the newly developing information technology knowledge in mathematics is vital. Mathematics is the mother of all sciences. Without the knowledge of mathematics, nothing is possible in the world. The world cannot progress without mathematics. Mathematics fulfills most of the human needs related to diverse aspects of everyday life. Mathematics has been accepted as significant element of formal education from ancient period to the present day. Mathematics has a very important role in the classroom not only because of the relevance of the syllabus material, but because of the reasoning processes the student can develop.