SCIENCE GRRL: Research proves girls & boys equally good at math…again
Do you ever think, “Duh!?” when you read a news story about how fattening movie popcorn or fast food is for us? I get that same feeling when I read that yet another research study has been published proving that girls and boys are equally good at math. How much more proof do we need?
Professor Marcia Linn’s paper focuses in on why there are differences in girls confidence around the world. The answer? Social expectations. [PDF link]
A society’s gendered division of labor fosters the development of gender differences in behavior by affording different restrictions and opportunities to males and females on the basis of their social roles….if the cultural roles that women fulfill do not include math, girls may face both structural obstacles (e.g., formal access to education is limited to boys) and social obstacles (e.g., stereotypes that math is a male domain) that impede their mathematical development.
Many people like to believe that we live in a post-feminist society. The evidence includes Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and women making up half of the workforce. But girls and boys still receive messages on a daily basis that they have roles to play and only those roles. As recently as this past holiday toy buying season, Toys R Us advertised three different magnification power microscopes and telescopes, guess which one had the lowest power? Yup, the pink one.
Some will argue that we need to pinkify science things to attract girls, but do they also need weaker microscopes too?
And that brings us to another Duh moment…Pink often does stink.
Last 5 posts by Veronica Arreola
- SCIENCE GRRL: Boys need women in science & engineering experiences too - July 14th, 2010
- SCIENCE GRRL: How sexy should math & science be? - June 9th, 2010
- SCIENCE GRRL: Astronaut Wilson knows we have the right stuff - April 14th, 2010
- SCIENCE GRRL: Celebrating Women's History Month with science...and a give-a-way! - March 10th, 2010
- SCIENCE GRRL: Math anxiety in women teachers - February 10th, 2010
January 13th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Thank you Science GRRL! Fascinating about those pink microscopes! My daughter, a senior in high school, reports about the demographics there in “advanced” science courses: girls are a decided minority in her advanced physics and advanced chemistry classes. But the advanced biology class is gender-balanced. The only other class where this gender disparity has been obvious is her women and society class–but the other way round, of course (two boys out of 25 students). And while there are many women biology teachers at her school, only men teach these physics and chemistry classes. A very limited sample, I know, but here it is….
January 14th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Weaker microscopes? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jeesh.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:44 am
Oh boy this kills me. Or rather, oh girl…
March 6th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
[...] I’ve particular been inspired by Veronica’s voice on issues like science and sports, where women are often disregarded. Veronica the Assistant Director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender and directs the Women in Science and Engineering Program at UIC. Her “Science GRRL” column at Girl W/Pen has highlighted an outreach program for pre-college girls to meet women who work in science and research that shows (again) that girls and boys are equally good at math. [...]