Math Stereotypes Essay

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People may not totally believe in stereotypes but just having knowledge of them increases their chances of being biased to that group sometimes unknowingly. A lot of teachers have not created a mathematically encouraging learning environment for females as a result of these negative stereotypes. Females don’t necessarily have to be exposed to these stereotypes or negative treatment to be affected by them. If teachers create a less encouraging learning atmosphere when it come to math without showing patience or giving more challenging materials to girls, it will directly affect them. Students may never be exposed to the actual stereotype, but will still be affected by them.
A teachers thinking and actions can be directly affected by just having the knowledge of the stereotype of girls not being better in math than boys, and as a result will have an effect on how their female students perceive themselves. Some female students often feel the pressure of knowing that these stereotypes exist so they put extra pressure on themselves not to fall behind or fail at math. As a result …show more content…

Not only have I been affected by stereotype threats in math as a female but also as just being an African American female college basketball player. I deal with gender and race stereotype threats on a daily basis. I have always been better in math then in reading and writing. I have always been extremely good at sports and I can’t stop being African American. I always wanted to go into engineering but was totally swayed away from that field when I entered college because I was told it was too hard and would interfere with basketball. Female basketball players tend to deal with the stereotype of being homosexual. That stereotype totally affects their performance on the court because most girls don’t want to seem to masculine which could result in not being able to find a boyfriend because men won’t know if they are gay or

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