Attitude

Adjustment
Olivia Yancey
18 October 2013

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

There exists this preconceived notion that boys are innately better at math and
science and girls are naturally better at language arts. Although this stereotype is far from
the truth, we do observe that males outnumber females in the science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce. According to a study conducted by the
Department of Commerce, by 2011 women made up nearly half of the U.S. work force and
half of the college educated work force. However, women only make up about a quarter of
the STEM work force. Today, more so than ever before, women are not only wanted but
also needed in STEM occupations. According to a report released by the White House in
cooperation with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Supporting women STEM
students and researchers is an essential part of Americas strategy to out-innovate, outeducate, and out-build the rest of the world. Never in our history have women
outnumbered in the STEM field. This fact has caused the field as a whole to be restricted to
only the male perspective. It is now being discovered that women, in fact, can provide a
different perspective that this field needs to continue advancing. However, a major
problem has begun to be uncovered: women are not interested in STEM occupations. In a
study by Sadler, Sonnert, Hazari, and Tai it was found that, The key factor predicting STEM
career interest at the end of high school was interest at the start of high school(411).
Furthermore it was discovered that the percent of high school males interested in the
STEM workforce stayed consistent throughout high school whereas the percent of females
decreased. Finally it was observed that the stability of their interest in STEM was greatly
impacted by the students initial career interest. This proves that the way a student feels
about math upon entering high school can greatly influence their eventual decision

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

regarding a math-based career. In order to increase the number of women in the STEM
field, the attitude towards mathematics of adolescent girls needs to be improved.
In order to improve the overall outlook of female students towards math, one must
locate the point of origin of the negative attitude and begin the change there. As previously
mentioned, high school females already have a dramatically lower initial interest level for
math than males do. This difference poses problems because the students initial interest
can significantly influence the career paths they choose in the years following high school.
As it turns out, students begin shaping their opinions at a surprisingly young age. In a study
by Galdi, Cadinu, and Tomasetto:
A study including 240 six-year-old children, [tested] whether automatic associations
trigger stereotype threat in young girls. Whereas no indicators were found that
children endorsed the mathgender stereotype, girls, but not boys, showed
automatic associations consistent with the stereotype. Moreover, results showed
that girls' automatic associations varied as a function of a manipulation regarding
the stereotype content. (2013).
This study shows that for girls as young as six years old, even though they perform just as
well as the boys on tests, they still uphold the gender stereotype in their connotation of
math. This negativity, no matter how minor it may be, is not only impactful to young
children but also effects females achievement throughout their schooling experience as a
whole. In a national study of students from Kindergarten through the end of eighth grade
performed by Robinson and Lubienski (2010), students math achievements were
observed. They found that there was no gender gap in kindergarten; however, females
steadily declined through elementary school and then made some improvement in middle

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

school. Through observation of the results of these two studies, a correlation can be seen
between the susceptibility young girls have to the gender stereotype and the decline of
their math achievements. It is important to note that even though girls were observed to
improve during middle school, there is no innate mathematical ability within boys that
should give them an advantage to excel. Thus the root of the problem is found within
elementary schools.
It is widely understood that elementary age children are strongly influenced by the
adult role models in their lives. These role models can include their parents, neighbors,
community leaders, and teachers. Teachers are able to mold students academic values in a
way that no one else can. Elementary schoolteachers are held to a very high standard when
it comes to setting an example for their students. However, in the field of mathematics, a
large number of elementary teachers are unknowingly setting a poor and discouraging
model for their students; female students in particular. As discovered by Psychology
professors at the University of Chicago, When the math-anxious individuals are female
elementary school teachers, their math anxiety carries negative consequences for the math
achievement of their female students (Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez, and Levine,2010,
p.1860).
Math anxiety refers to the fear of math that a large number of people experience. A
person who has this anxiety is not necessarily mathematically incompetent. However, this
fear does impede them from continuing into upper level math. Although they may be
proficient enough in math to continue on to a higher level or even eventually into the STEM
workforce, their lack of confidence acts as a bearing keeping them from reaching their full
potential in math. As previously mentioned, in a study it was found that if a female

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

elementary school teacher is math-anxious then her female students math achievements
can be hindered. They came to this conclusion by observing first and second grade female
teachers of whom they had tested levels of math anxiety. They further tested each of their
classes at the beginning and end of the year to assess their math achievement. At the
beginning of the year no relation was found between the students achievement and the
teachers anxiety. However, by the end of the year the math-anxious teachers female
students associated themselves with the gender stereotype but their male students did not.
This conclusion was derived from the math achievement test and a personality test where
the students were instructed to draw a person who was good at math and a person who
was good at reading. The female students with female math-anxious teachers consistently
drew a boy for the math student and a girl for the reading student (Beilock 2010). This
study and the manner in which it was carried out shows how this problem is
psychologically rather than physically hindering. It is a tragedy that girls have had this
psychological handicap for so long, keeping them from reaching their full potential in a
subject area that was easily dismissed. Girls experience these damaging consequences
more so than boys because an overwhelming number of elementary teachers are female. In
fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2011 that 97.7% of preschool and
Kindergarten teachers and 81.7% of elementary and middle school teachers are female.
Since psychologically a student is impacted greater by a teacher of the same gender than of
opposite genders, this puts girls at a statistical disadvantage compared to boys. However,
the damage done by this cycle of math anxiety is reversible.
The implication that female students will experience negative repercussions if a
female teacher has math anxiety is also true conversely. Positive female role models can

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

have a notably positive influence on girls attitudes towards math. In an observational

study, a researcher shadowed a high school math teacher for two different classes (AP
Statistics and Remedial Geometry) three times a week, for three weeks. Between the two
classes there were seventeen male students and eleven female students, and they all varied
in levels of proficiency and in their educational backgrounds. The teacher of these classes, a
younger woman who had had fifteen plus years in a high school math classroom, was
highly proficient in mathematics and had undergraduate and master degrees in math. Over
the course of the observation, the high level of respect between the teacher and her class
was noticeable. Near the end of the study the class was given an entirely anonymous survey
about their attitude towards math. The students were first asked to identify their gender
and which class they were taking. The final question asked them to pick the option to which
they related the most: I love it! Math is my favorite subject; I dont mind it and I do pretty
well, but it isnt my favorite; I dont like math, but I understand why I should take it; maybe
if math werent so hard I would like it; I hate math and I dont see the point in taking it; or
they could write about their own attitude if none of those applied. It was hypothesized that
the girls would give decent to excellent feedback based on the class they took as well as the
positive influence the teacher gave by being a strong, female, math-oriented role model.
The results are as follows: the girls evenly chose options one, two, and three; in
comparison, over half of the boys chose option two, and the majority of girls who chose
option 1 were members of the remedial Geometry class. These results support the original
hypothesis. This class provides a great example of how a positive female influence can be
beneficial to her female students.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

There is a high demand for women in the STEM field. However, at a young age girls
are being introduced to the gender stereotype of math and science. This stereotype causes
girls to grow up thinking that they will not be strong in these subjects, and as a result they
tend to have more anxiety towards math and choose not to pursue the STEM field.
Furthermore, these girls carry this anxiety with them through life and become mothers and
elementary school teachers who proceed to set an example of unease towards math for the
next generation of girls. In order to break this cycle, we need to improve girls attitudes
towards math.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Bibliography

(n.d.). Women in STEM. Retrieved from
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Beilock, S., Gunderson, E., Ramirez, G., & Levine, S. (2010). Female teachers' math anxiety
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the United States, 107(5), 1860-1863. Retrieved from
http://www.pnas.org/content/107/5/1860.full.pdf html
Galdi, S., Cadinu, M., & Tomasetto, C. (2013). The roots of stereotype threat:when automatic
associations disrupt girls. Child Development, doi: 10.1111/cdev.12128

Robinson, J., & Lubienski, S. (2010). The development of gender achievement gaps in
mathematics and reading during elementary and middle school:examining direct
cognitive assessments and teacher ratings . American Educational Research Journal,
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Sadler, P., Sonnert, G., Hazari, Z., & Tai, R. (2012). Stability and volatility of stem career
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