Teacher's Gender-Related Beliefs about Mathematics (original) (raw)

Educators’ Beliefs on the Gender Difference in Mathematics Performance of their Students

Asian Journal of Education and Social Studies, 2021

Boys outperformed girls in mathematics test scores as per the recently conducted PISA-D test in Bhutan. Further, as of 2017 from a total of 28,070 STEM-related jobs, 34.3% are female and 64.7% are male. Since educators’ teaching practices are associated with their beliefs, this study aims to investigate some of the specific beliefs held by mathematics educators on the gender difference in the mathematics performance of their students. It employed an explanatory sequential mix-method design. Three districts of Bhutan namely Tashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar, and Samtse were covered, from July 2019 to July 2020. From three districts, a sample of 33 mathematics teachers was selected from 18 schools (6 primary schools, 6 middle secondary schools, and 6 higher secondary schools) and 3 colleges. To investigate educators' beliefs a semi-structured survey questionnaire which is the adaptation of Tiedemann [1] was employed. This was followed by interviewing 8 participants from 33 participants....

Toward Gender Equality in Education—Teachers’ Beliefs about Gender and Math

Education Sciences

Math has a strong gender-related image, even among teachers. As teachers hold beliefs about their work, their role, their subject, and their students, they shape girls’ and boys’ mathematical beliefs and attitudes. Research during the past 20 years has shown that teachers’ gender beliefs about mathematics significantly favor boys, thereby reinforcing girls’ low math ability self-concept. Still, there is a lack of studies that examine teachers’ gender-related beliefs based on their underlying assumptions. Our study provides the first empirical evidence of the relationship between general gender stereotypes and math stereotypes. To this end, we used partial correlation and MANCOVA to analyze data from an online survey in 2019/2020 conducted in Switzerland (195 women, 80 men) as part of a cross-cultural comparison study. We therefore created a differentiated profile of prospective teachers by examining their beliefs about their self-image, their image of men and women in society, their...

Elementary Students’ Views on the Gendering of Mathematics

European Journal of Educational Research

Gender differences in mathematics learning outcomes are still evident in many countries participating in large scale international testing, as well as in national testing in Israel, the context in which the study reported here was conducted. The participants were 281 students from three Israeli elementary schools and were in grades 4 and 6. The students completed a questionnaire with items based on a selection of variables included in explanatory models for gender differences in mathematics. It was found that many students held gendered beliefs related to mathematics learning, particularly when the questions asked related to themselves or to significant others in their lives (parents and teachers); the views of the majority of students were gender neutral. When presented with two photographs-a man, and a woman-and asked who was the one more likely to work with mathematics, it was clear that the students' choices and explanations echoed perceptions of mathematics as a male domain.

Gender differences in boys' and girls' perception of teaching and learning mathematics

Gender differences between boys and girls in the perception of the classroom setting, and their relationship to achievement in mathematics and aspects of self-regulated learning skills are the focus for this article. Throughout the component analysis of answers from 6758 Swedish students we found some differences in how boys and girls perceive their classroom setting and some differences in boys’ and girls’ relationship to mathematics. According to the classroom setting, we found that boys feel that they use group work more than the girls do. Boys also feel that they have an influence over the content and are more involved during the lesson than girls. With respect to students’ relations to mathematics we found that boys perceive mathematics to be more important than girls do. One implication for teachers from the study points out how different aspects of a perceived learning environment affect students’, boys’ and girls’, achievement in mathematics.

Determination of Primary School Teachers' Mathematical Gender Stereotypes and Examination of Their Reflection on Students

Eğitimde Nitel Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2022

This study aims to investigate primary school teachers’ mathematical gender stereotypes and to discover whether these stereotypes, if any, are reflected on students. The study was designed as a multiphase mixed methods study. Accordingly, in the quantitative and qualitative stages of the study, different sample groups including both fourth-grade teachers and fourth-grade students in Ankara were studied. Teachers’ Gender Stereotype Scale toward Mathematics, observation form, Students’ Gender Stereotype Questionnaire and Mathematics Achievement Test were sequentially used to collect data. The data were analyzed by Mann Whithey U test and content analysis. Results demonstrate that in comparision to the teacher who has neutral gender related beliefs toward mathematics, the teacher with strong traditional mathematical gender stereotypes favouring their male students. However, results show that students do not internalise their teachers’ mathematical gender stereotypes, and, Hense, there is reflection of teachers’ gender stereotypes on students’ mathematical achievements. By carrying out longitudinal studies, it should be followed at which educational level students begin to acquire such gendered perspectives, which academic fields and professions they choose, and thus the effects of teacher characteristics on students should be revealed more comprehensively.

Developing a Teachers Gender Stereotype Scale toward Mathematics

lnternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education

Gender has become a focus of mathematics education research. While some research show that there are no differences between boys and girls, numerous research studies have indicated that boys have outperformed girls. It is suggested that gender stereotypes, such as expecting girls to show less achievement in mathematics compared to boys, have an effect on mathematics achievement. According to these gender stereotypes, boys are more successful in mathematics and science and girls are more successful in literature and arts. Gender stereotypes are transmitted by one generation to the next generation via children's books, language, parents and teachers as well. Because of teachers' important role of shaping their students' beliefs and attitudes, determining teachers' gender stereotypes is vital to understanding the differences of mathematical achievement between girls and boys. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a teachers' gender stereotype scale toward mathematics. The scale consists of two subscales: the Boys' Form and the Girls' Form. These two forms are conducted with 595 primary school teachers. Results of the exploratory factor analysis for each form, 17 items and four factors are determined. Based on the literature review, these factors are named as environment, gender appropriateness of careers, competence and attribution of success. For each form, the confirmatory factor analysis is conducted and the four factors of the subscales are confirmed. The findings of the study revealed that the scale is a valid and reliable instrument to measure gender stereotypes in mathematics.

Gender and perceptions of mathematics achievement amongst year 2 students

This paper reports on the unexpected findings when a sample of year 2 students' perceptions of their abilities in mathematics were compared with their teachers' perceptions. No significant differences by student gender werefoundfor teachers' assessments, but gender differences infavour of males werefoundfor students' own perceptions. Notable was the finding that in allfive classes, including some in which the teachers had rated the females' achievements higher than the males', male students rated themselves higher than the females. Another interesting trend noted was that where the number of males andfemales in a class was approximately the same,females generally rated themselves more highly than in classes where the females were greatly outnumbered.

Gender equity in mathematics: Beliefs of students, parents, and teachers

School Science and …, 2003

The attitudes about mathematics held by girls and boys participating in a regional mathematics contest, their parents, teachers, and mathematics coaches were investigated. Quantitative data regarding mathematics as a male domain, perception of importance of mathematics, confidence in learning mathematics, effectance motivation, and usefulness of mathematics were obtained. It was found that the traditional gender-based differences in the beliefs regarding mathematics persist even in these mathematically talented students. Furthermore, parents' responses to the questions regarding the role of mathematics revealed that mothers, more than fathers, focused on the computational aspects of mathematics, while fathers more than mothers mentioned the role of mathematics in science or as a language. Boys, fathers, and certain mathematics teachers admitted to a low level of gender stereotyping, as evidenced by their scores on the Mathematics as a Male Domain subscale. However, the girls, mothers, and mathematics coaches did not endorse this stereotyping. Unsolicited responses of girls and mothers, in fact, emphatically denied that gender stereotyping exists. These findings are discussed in terms of the need to resolve the essential conflicts between students', parents', and teachers' deeply held beliefs regarding the nature of mathematics, gender differences in mathematical abilities, and the desire for equity within mathematics education.

Gendered beliefs about mathematics among Australian and Israeli grade 9 students

In English-speaking, Western countries, mathematics has traditionally been viewed as a "male domain", a discipline more suited to males than to females. Using two instruments tapping students' beliefs about the gendering of mathematics, recent data from Australian and American students appeared to challenge the traditional gender-stereotyped view of the discipline. Whether the patterns of beliefs were similar or different among students from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds were of interest in the study reported here. The two instruments were translated into Hebrew and Arabic and administered to a large sample of grade 9 students attending Jewish and Arab schools in northern Israel. Data from only one of the two instruments, "Mathematics as a gendered domain" are reported in this paper. When compared, the Israeli and Australian students held similar views, although the Israelis' beliefs less strongly challenged the masculine image of mathematics. Whether cultural differences could be identified was explored by comparing the data from Jewish and Arab students. The Israeli Jewish students' views were found to be very closely aligned with those of the Australian students. That is, mathematics was considered a neutral domain, and neither a male or a female domain. The Israeli Arabs students' beliefs, however, suggested that they considered mathematics to be either a neutral or a female domain and were unsure if it was a male domain. Gender differences among the Israeli Arab students revealed interesting patterns that were not easily explained.