I was never one to be inclined towards math or science. I always felt that English and writing were more my speed, and in turn I enjoyed them more. From Susan Jacoby’s point of view as shown in her essay “When Bright Girls Decide That Math is a Waste of Time,” this would not have been a good enough reason for me to stop taking those subjects in my later years of high school. However, I disagree. I think learning, especially as you get older and closer to college-age, should be about the subjects that allow you to thrive and discover yourself, not about those that you struggle with and cause you stress.
In her essay, “When Bright Girls Decide That Math is a ‘Waste of Time,’” Jacoby talks about how often times nowadays girls decide that they no longer want to take math and science courses in favor “easier” subjects such as English or art. Jacoby argues that this is because of stereotypes of women that have been instilled in girls by society; they think math and science are too hard or they aren’t as smart as boys so it’s not worth it to take them. Jacoby claims that “The real problem is that so many girls eliminate themselves from any serious possibility of studying science as a result of decisions made during the vulnerable period of midadolescence, when they
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If someone absolutely loves math or science or writing or art or education or any other subject, they should be able to choose to immerse themselves in that as much as they are allowed to in high school. This will help them see if it is really what they want to do with their future, and it will take away a lot of added stress from “math anxiety” or just fear that they experience when they are forced to take subjects that they aren’t good at and make them feel
Sommers begins her view on girls scouring higher than boys by expressing that girl students are moving ahead of boys. She appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience that she and many researchers get to the bottom of what the scores are between the two genders. She joins in this time of expressing in order to explain “scholars should be more concerned about the boys who never show up for the tests they need if they
Women alike are disadvantaged by being taught less than boys do in the same school system as her. She discovered that the differences can be seen through the funding practices where the boy’s school had a permanent external source donating towards them, the girl’s school relied solely on their tuition. It is also apparent in the courses provided, where the girls were to take home economics and typing labs where the boys were provided with more intelligent subjects such as
He discusses the differences between boys’ and girls’ behavior in academics, “girls suppress ambition, boys inflate it” (432). Kimmel believes that girls do better in some academic areas, and males do better in others. He provides a logical explanation for rising test scores of girls compared to boys. Kimmel states, “Girls are more likely to undervalue their abilities, especially in the more traditionally “masculine” educational arenas such as math and science. Only the most able and most secure girls take courses in those fields.
Thirdly the consideration of the availability of material, research, statistics and research subjects. Hypothesis: Girls are less likely then boys to study science and technology subjects in Higher education because these subjects are seen as masculine subjects. Objectives: * Find out what subjects girls study more in higher education as
From what has been discussed in class and from what society has taught me, there are more men in science. According to my results, I heavily associate men with science and women with liberal arts. I find this conclusion to be true because I’ve had my own experiences with these results. As a young student, my math and science classes were much more competitive and, as a female, I had to be better than not only the
A common belief at the time was that women did not have the same intellectual aptitude as men (Murray 176). Murray sets out to disprove the belief through the image of children; “Will it be said that the judgment of a male of two years old, is more sage than that of a female’s of the same age? I believe the reverse is generally observed to be true” (Murray 178). Murray makes her point. In general young children have the same intellectual level, regardless of gender. Therefore, why later in life are adult men smarter than adult women? Does age and time change aptitude and gifted ability? Continuing with her line of reasoning, Murray proposes that women are not as smart as men because they are not receiving an education; “Are we deficient in reason? We can only reason from what know, and if the opportunity of acquiring knowledge has been denied us, the inferiority of our sex cannot fairly be deduced from thence” (Murray 177-178). Murray suggests that an accurate scaling of mental prowess cannot be deduced because men and women do not have the same educational level; the very reason that women are being denied and education in the first place. Women’s education has become a paradox. Women cannot receive an education because they are not smart enough, but they are not smart enough because they are denied an education. Murray, having now established that women should have an education, then sets out to explain its
I was in the third year of Mathayom when students are forced to make their first decision about future career. According to Thailand’s education system, high school is divided into different programs. Each program limits student’s choices when entering college. As a result, most parents, including mine, prefer their children to choose the Math-Science program, which provides more options. Moreover, my
Logic The proportion of women attending college in comparison with men dropped from 47 per cent in 1920 to 35 per cent in 1958. A century earlier, women had fought for higher education; now girls went to college to get a husband. By the mid‐fifties, 60 per cent dropped out of college to marry, or because they were afraid too much education would be a marriage bar Emotion , she went to a doctor with symptoms she could hardly describe: “A tired feeling. . . I get so angry with the children it scares
During the 1960s the school's curricula was rather limited. Subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Spanish and Music were excluded from the school's curricula. At the end of Secondary School, many of the young ladies were only able to teach Latin, French, and English. Many passed through without the benefit of a science subject. However when the government took over the school there was expansion of the curricula and sciences were included. A science lab was built, for prior to that, the ladies had to go to the A.G.S for Science classes. Today, in addition to the science, busines...
Brooks argues that male and female brains work and experience things differently. He suggests that this theory is also the reason as to why young girls are surpassing their male counterparts in school settings. He incorrectly assumes that by separating males and females, males will be allowed to break free from gender stereotypes. Brooks strengthens his argument with results of brain research on sex differences. But, Brook’s argument is unpersuasive. He categorizes all young males, and suggest that single sex-schools are the best solution for them. He wants to apply a black-and-white solution to something that is just not that simple. While Brooks uses comparisons and surveys to convince the reader, his argument simply does
After his visit to a Shell Research Laboratory, my high school teacher in math told us in class that he was so happy with his education, because mathematics had helped him to understand the explanations and demonstrations that had been given by the Shell researchers. He said, "If you master mathematics then you can understand everything." That was certainly an exaggeration, but it nevertheless sounded like a golden message. Since I definitely wanted to have a better understanding of what was going on around me, mathematics seemed the obvious way to go. Also, if it was not much beyond high school math, then it was pretty easy in addition. What could one wish more? So I enrolled in every advanced math class offered in our high school. Pretty soon I discovered that mathematics was much more than a set of principles that helped one to solve intellectual riddles. It was not a finished system that one could aim to master after some limited time, but it was really a way of thinking, a means of expressing creativity: endless, an old established science, but still fresh and with undiscovered green meadows, nearby and far away.
Parents and educators both display actions that could be and continue to affect the gender gap in STEM. By parents not giving both their sons and daughters an equal to the questions they ask, it supports the idea of why there is a lack of women in these areas of study. Female teachers also may be openly expressing their struggles with math and other similar areas have negatively affected the gap in STEM today. Direct biases and unconscious biases are both reasons that lead to a gap in these areas. But as female teenagers mature and grow older, they have different wants than men do when they grow
I personally think that people have a different mid-set when they are in high school than when the are in college. Students who attend to college have different priorities than the students who attend to high school. In addition, having different priorities makes students experience differences between college and high school. For example, students attending to high school have more leisure time because they have a regular schedule every week, so their weekly planning is considerably easier. On the other hand, college students are busy most of the time because they have to study throughly. Most high school subjects don’t require extra time doing labs or extra work; therefore, most high school students do not struggle because of the complexity of subjects. Mathematics is a perfect example to illustrate the different complexity of such subject given between high school and college. Students in college take mathematics at a deeper level, to point where a single problem could be solved in one or two hours; making students consider math assignments intolerable. in contrast high school students experience mathematics at a more broad level, so the assignments given are mostly done in matter of
...cs. In the years, the country has started to realize the injustice it has been doing females in the field of mathematics. I believe that in the future these biases and disadvantages will be a thing of the past. Females have the mental capability to perform on an equal level with all respected and distinguished male mathematicians, but first social pressures and stereotypes must be eliminated.
Hanson K., & Shwartz W. (1992). Equal mathematics education for female students, 78. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2002. ERIC Digest.