Monday, March 23, 2015
Teachers' Biases Keep Girls from Succeeding in Math and Science
While many people believe that teachers can have a lasting positive effect on their students, research is showing that this may not be so true for girls when it comes to math and science. Due to the lack of women in the STEM fields, there are few female role model for young girls to look up to and want to emulate. New studies are showing that teachers may have an unconscious bias in the classroom that ultimately discourages young girls to purse further studies in these areas.
When girls are discouraged at a young age, such as elementary school, they are less likely to take advanced classes later in their academic endeavors. Boys on the other hand are more likely to perform better, later in life if they were encouraged as children. Women currently only account for 12% of collegiate computer science degrees. Studies have also found that professors as well as employers discriminate against female scientists.
It is evident that girls are at a disadvantage as they enter the workforce and it is not being attributed to the messages they receive as young girls. In a society that is know for keeping its women in an inferior role, it is so important for teachers, mentors etc. to give young girls encouragement and the belief that they are just as smart as the boys and are able to have the same opportunities. Teachers need to be aware of these unconscious biases and try to be more aware of the messages they may be sending to young girls who may hold the cure to cancer or technological advancements.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/upshot/how-elementary-school-teachers-biases-can-discourage-girls-from-math-and-science.html?abt=0002&abg=0
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I'm not sure whether teacher's biases or the lack of women in the STEM fields are more discouraging to young girls. As with everything, I know it depends on where the child goes to school, but from my experience, I have never noticed any biases, even now looking back on my time in both private and public school systems. When I switched to the public high school, we had about equal number of men and women teachers in each subject. Two of my aunts actually teach in the math and science fields. Of course there may be unconscious biases in schools, but teachers cannot help it if there are more men than women who teach that subject. To encourage young women in this way, it seems that the school system would need to begin by hiring at least one female teacher in each subject, which in the long run, would hopefully encourage the students to pursue their real dreams, rather than what society tells them their dreams should be.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is really interesting that this study found that a teacher’s behavior and bias can dictated a female student’s views on math and science. It’s amazing to me that this study found that a teacher’s reaction can be even more impactful than a child’s family or support system in terms of what career that student may pursue. You bring up a good point Kara. Teachers need to empower and encourage their students to pursue their passions in life. Especially, since studies have shown that teachers are very influential to their students.
ReplyDeleteIn reading the article, the thing that shocked me the most was the bit about the tests that were graded by individuals who did not know the identities of the test-takers vs. the teachers who did. The fact that teachers awarded higher grades in math, a completely objective field, to male students, whereas when the tests were kept anonymous, the female students actually scored higher, is mind-boggling. I would have thought that in that sort of field, where subjective grading is very limited, this kind of thing would be less likely to happen. The level of inherent sexism that has to exist within a culture for tests with a right answer to still be subject to sexist biases is, frankly, terrifying.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very telling. Particularly after having read the article regarding segregation in the future of science. I too was shocked by the differences in grading in fields like math and science that are factual. In situations like this where there is clear individual bias having a huge impact on outcomes, how does this get addressed? Is training simply enough?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the article also mentioned that "the effect is larger for children from families in which the father is more educated than the mother". I interpreted that the power differential in family also affect the gender socialization for girls, but in a negative way. This point provided us with a different perspective to look at the interaction effect between the school system and family system. Actually, I believe the stereotype effects for girls are intertwined among different social systems and we must make more efforts to help girls to promote self-efficacy.
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