Are girls afraid of arithmetic?
Are girls afraid of arithmetic?
Little girls may learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers.
Women still trail men in some areas of math achievement. Now, a study of first- and second-graders suggests what may be part of the answer: Female elementary school teachers who are concerned about their own math skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach.
Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex, and having a female teacher who is anxious about math may reinforce the stereotype that boys are better at math than girls, explained Sian L. Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago.
The more anxious teachers were about their own math skills, the more likely their female students — but not the boys — were to agree that "boys are good at math and girls are good at reading."
In addition, the girls who answered that way scored lower on math tests than either the classes' boys or the girls who had not developed a belief in the stereotype, the researchers found.
Girls who grow up believing females lack math skills wind up avoiding harder math classes, Hyde noted.
"It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology," said Janet S. Hyde, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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- Posted on January 26, 2010
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I think that is mean.I am better at math than I am Reading.So girls can be good at some things that boys are good at.Have u ever heard girls can do anything boys can do but in high heels.
In my opinion, this is not true. Girls are good at math and reading, no contest. like people say, girls are smarter than boys. I am a boy and I am stating facts/
Girls should be proud of their math skills, and if they get a question wrong, they just learn something new. They shouldn't think that just because they are girls, they can't do math. I know some other girls at my school could get 100 percent on a math test if they wanted to. Some girls, though, don't like answering math questions, because they are so shy.
Many girls are afraid of math because they do not really understand what teachers say and get the wrong answers in arithmetic. I did not like math when I was in first grade, because I often calculated wrong, and when my math teacher asked me to answered a question, I got embarrassing. She taught me patiently after school, and my grandpa helped me a lot, so my math is better than any other subjects now. I think if we really get it, we will love math, and be interested in math problem and learning it.
Yes, I think some girls are afraid of Math, but there is a some in that because Math is just like anything else there will be some girls who don't like it and may get nervous in it and then there are others who might love it and can't wait to go to math everyday, I mean its really just a matter of opinion.
I disagree, because.. When I was younger I happend to be talented in math and never had a male teacher intill 7th grade. I had all A's in math intill 6th grade when it started to get a little more difficult. Also I have had commended prefomance on all my TAKS tests except in 7th. So I have to disagree with this article.
why shuold they be scard of math. it is easyed then histery. theacher wery there students mit fail and get held back. math is the best subject
There is nothing to be scared of. Math is math it won't hurt you. You can only get better at it. Any body can do anything they put there mind too.
i think that even if the teachers are anxious about their own math skills then the little girls should put in the back of their minds that boys and girls are the same at math.
I don't now why people are scared of math because math can't bite you.I'm not a huge fan of math' but I think I'm good at it.Also I don't now why some girls are afraid of math that's my question for this.