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In elementary school, I hated multiplication tables. I just did not get them. Endless (and I mean endless) flash cards later, I was able to squeak through my second grade math quizzes (barely). Sometimes, even now, I still do my nine times tables on my fingers. In high school things did not get easier, I had an issue with the unknown x. "What is x?" I would ask my Dad repeatedly. x, of course, is what we don't know but what we are looking for. In college, I decided to do exactly what my parents didn't, and study engineering. That first year, I had no choice but to get down to the math of things. Did my being a girl have anything to do with it?
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin recently published a study which shows that girls can do just as well at math as boys. How do they know? They did a statistical analysis comparing various math scores and contests. According to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, differences between girls' and boys' performance in ten states were close to zero in ALL grades, even in high school. Now that girls are taking the same advanced math courses as the boys, their performance on standardized tests have improved significantly. The researchers even contend that "gender inequality, not lack of innate ability or intrinsic aptitude" is the main reason fewer females than males are recognized as excelling in math in the United States and other countries. So mathematical ability in males (and females for that matter) is not biologically determined. For those of us who struggle with math, keep at it because you will get it.
Unfortunately, the stereotype that boys do better at math still exists. To excel, girls need to have equal educational opportunities and know that if they learn the material, there will be jobs accessible to them. Now more women than ever are getting doctoral degrees in mathematics (gasp!). According to this article, in 1970 8 percent of the United States doctoral degrees in mathematics were female, and in 2006 that number has increased dramatically to 32 percent. We are moving in the right direction, beyond equality.
Although, I do not have a doctoral degree in mathematics (and probably will never get one), one of the pleasures of looking at the world through mathematical eyes is that I can see things that would otherwise be hidden. Discover math for yourself, and keep at it!
-Heather
Author's Note: This was submitted to the blog by Heather, one of our corespondents.
Sources:
http://www.wisc.edu/
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/22/8801
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE5507QQ20090601
Editor's Note: For more blogs from Dr. Rabiah, visit Science Chicago's website at: http://www.sciencechicagoblog.com
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