Schaefer, Ashleigh
Ling 325
Professor Mathis
Part 1: Annotated Bibliography: Gender Stereotypes in Subject Matter
1. Cvencek, D. , Meltzoff, A. , & Greenwald, A. (2011). Math–gender stereotypes in elementary school children. Child Development, 82(3), 766-779. Gömleksiz, M. (2012).
This article focuses on the connection between one’s perception of their own gender and how it affects their belief of cultural stereotypes placed on their gender. Cveneck, Meltzoof, and Greenwald examined various children, 126 girls and 121 boys, between the ages of 6-10 in elementary school by giving the children Implicit Association tests and along with having them provide self-reports to see if their perception of gender affected their ideas of certain subject matters in the school. The self-reports asked the children questions regarding gender identity, gender stereotypes, and their self-concept. This article focuses on examining the cultural stereotypes about math. Their research focuses on the stereotype that “math is for boys”. Cvencek, Meltzoff, and Greenwald argue that this is because their self-concept is a “I am a female” along with the cultural stereotype that “math is for boys” tends to lead females to the belief that “I am a girl therefore I’m not good at math”. Cveneck, Meltzoof, and Greenwald had the children take a quiz on the computer. For each question the children were provided with a statement then asked to choose whether or not the male or female character possessed the aforementioned attributes. Once the children chose which character/gender possessed the attribute they were then asked whether or not their selected character possessed this characteristic “a little” or “a lot”. The second part of the study involved childre...
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...eresting about their research was that it showed even at a young age girls tend to believe “math is for boys”. This suggests that the language used in regards to subject matter and gender is ingrained in young minds from a young age. Since math is a learned skill males and females should both have the ability to excel in the subject mater. However, cultural stereotypes regarding math as a primarily male domain run deep and hold females back. It was interesting to see the statements both genders related to in the studies. These articles suggest that gender stereotyping with subject matter is nurture based. If females didn’t hear from a young age that “math is for boys” then perhaps they could enter the subject matter in a confident manner. Overall, these articles follow the generalizations seen throughout the semester about the differences between females and males.
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
Sadker, Myra, David Sadker, and Susan Klein. "The Issue of Gender in Elementary and Secondary Education." Review of Research in Education 17 (1991): 269. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
In the articles “Implicit racial bias often begins as early as preschool, a study finds” and “Research suggests the gender gap in math starts as early as kindergarten”. The central idea in the two articles are that girls and black students are treated unfairly. There are similarities and in how they develop the idea of how some students are discriminated against. However there are many differences in how they develop the central idea. There are studies that back up both accusations of black students and girls being treated differently in the classroom.
Recent research on the interaction of gender, ethnicity, and identity has shown that every culture have had some effect on children’s and their awareness of gender bias. For example, studies has shown that eleven and twelve year old girls are more than likely to believe that they are targets of gender bias than boys, while on the other hand, boys are not as concerned with gender bias or stereotypes as girls seem to be and are usually unaware of it’s concept (Brown, Bigler & Chu,2010).
1. Using Kohlberg’s model of gender role development, discuss the variability of gender stereotypes for children at different ages. What accounts for children’s learning of these stereotypes? P. 153
Gender inequities in the fields of math and science are well researched and the results are shocking. Women compromise 45% of the work force, they hold jobs concentrated in clerical, service, and professional fields such as teaching and nursing, rather than in mathematics, science, or engineering (Levin & Matthews, 1997). Gender inequities start in school due to teacher interaction, language, role models, gender expectations, and the method in which the curriculum will be taught.
Changes in society have brought issues regarding gender stereotype. Gender roles are shifting in the US. Influences of women’s movement (Firestone, Firestone, & Catlett, 2006) and gender equality movement (e.g., Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)) have contributed to expanding social roles for both genders. Nevertheless, gender stereotypes, thus gender stereotype roles continue to exist in the society (Skelly & Johnson, 2011; Wood & Eagly, 2010). With changes in gender roles, pervasiveness of gender stereotype results in a sense of guilt, resentment, and anger when people are not living up to traditional social expectations (Firestone, Firestone, & Catlett, 2006). Furthermore, people can hold gender stereotype in pre-reflective level that they may
The work's topicality is characterized by the existence of the gender stereotypes in society, having generalization, and does not reflect individual differences in the human categories. Meanwhile, there is still discrimination on the labour market, human trafficking, sexual harassment, violence, women and men roles and their places in the family. Mass media offers us the reality, reduces the distance, but we still can see the negative aspects too. TV cultivates gender stereotypes, offering ideas about gender, relationships and ways for living. Such media ideas attach importance to many people in the society. Consequently, it is quite important identify gender stereotypes in the media, in order to prevent false views relating to gender stereotypes.
Girls tend to doubt themselves, while boys think they can do anything. Boys need to be brought down from the clouds while girls need to be dug out of a hole (Mullins 3). David Chadwell says, "Structure and connection are two key concepts when examining gender in the classroom. " All students certainly need both, but it seems that teachers need to consider the issue of structure more with boys and the issue of connection more with girls" (7). And Kristen Stanberry’s research has shown, "Some research indicates that girls learn better when classroom temperatures are warm, while boys perform better in cooler classrooms.
Some boys around the age of seven, are reported to believe that their male peers are better at math than fellow female students. As for girls at this age, believe that both male and female students are equally capable in math, until the age of 10. This is where female students begin to believe that males students are better in the math areas. However, during adolescence years, boys begin to agree that girls and boys are equally good at math, as girls continue to state males are more successful in math (Saucerman and
Girls are seen as caring, nurturing, quiet, and helpful. They place other’s needs above their own. Girls get ahead by hard work, not by being naturally gifted. Boys are seen as lazy, but girls are seen as not capable. In class, teacher will call on boys more than they call on girls. Boys are seen as better at math and science; while girls are better at reading and art. This bias is still at work even out of the classroom. There are more males employed at computer firms than women. The ratio of male to female workers in STEM fields is 3-1. In college, more women major in the humanities than in the sciences. In education, women are often seen as lesser than; even though 65% of all college degrees are earned by women. Women are still often seen as needing to be more decorative than intellectual, as represented by the Barbie who included the phrase, “Math is hard!” and the shirt that JC Penneys sold that said, “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” While there was a backlash on both items, it points out that there is a great deal of work to do on the educational gender bias to be
Hanson K., & Shwartz W. (1992). Equal mathematics education for female students, 78. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2002. ERIC Digest.
Students are more focused and therefore have better test scores in single-sex classrooms. Although stereotypes are formed because of separating genders, a study in the 2009 British Educational Research Journal concluded that in single-sex classrooms, girls achieve more in math and science while boys achieve more in English (Kwong). Stereotypes have been developed early on of what girls and boys are more proficient at. Naturally girls are better at English; boys, math and science (compound sentence: elliptical construction). Single-sex classes encourage girls to pursue more in science and math and boys in English because it takes away gender stereotypes. If a boy and a girl are in the same science class working together, the girl becomes the scribe to write down data while the boy is doing the experiment (Kwong). Math and scien...
...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.
Seligson, Susan. "Debunking Myth That Girls and Boys Learn Differently: COM prof’s book challenges “toxic” stereotypes." BU Today. 10 Jun 2011: n. page. Print. (JUXTAPOSITION)