Developing a Teachers Gender Stereotype Scale toward Mathematics (original) (raw)
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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.
GENDER STEREOTYPES AND MATHEMATICS: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS
Nowadays, despite the positive changes that have been made in Kosovo society, gender stereotypes continue to negatively impact the academic achievement of girls in some scientific fields. One of these areas is the mathematics, which has traditionally been known as a male domain. In this case, boys are considered more capable than girls. The purpose of this paper has been the introduction of teachers and students\' perceptions about impact of gender stereotypes in the academic achievement of girls in mathematics. This paper presents the results of research conducted in Kosovo Elementary Schools, rural and urban areas. For the realization of this research are used quantitative and qualitative methods. The instruments used for research were questionnaires and interviews. The research has included in total 176 respondents, out of which 87 teachers and 89 students. Of the total number of teachers, 44 were women and 43 men. They were aged of 25-64. While 47 students were from the respondent group were females, and 42 males. Students were of the eighth grade of Law Secondary Schools. Respondent students were selected at random. The results of this study present a clear picture regarding the perceptions of teachers and students about gender stereotypes and mathematics. Such research will encourage teachers to focus towards the elimination of gender stereotypes in mathematics, as well as that of motivating girls to choose such professions, which traditionally known as male professions.
Same Performance but Different Perception: Female Stereotypes in Mathematics Emerge in Fifth Grade
Prior study on the differences in the performance levels of male and female students in elementary and middle school mathematics show mixed results. While significant differences are reported in some studies, others show no such differences. This study assessed differences that might exist in the performance levels (self-reported grades) and beliefs of male and female students in mathematics. One-hundred and twenty-nine (129) students, sixty-seven (67) female and sixty-two (62) male, completed survey questions ranging from fourth through seventh grade. There was no significant difference in the performance level of male and female students; however, whereas male students felt more successful and labeled mathematics as one of their best subjects, their female peers largely reported the contrary. Stereotypes were found to have started in fifth grade and widen up to seventh grade.
Gender Stereotypes, Performance and Identification with Math
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015
Previous research has showed that school achievements depend on students´ motivation and identification (Zimmerman, 2000). There are some differences between girls and boys beliefs about mathematics (Gallagher & Kaufman, 2005). We still do not have enough information about relations between identification and gender beliefs and about the impact of those two areas on real knowledge. The paper presents new research on academic achievements and attitudes of girls and boys in mathematics. The basic aim is to test whether there is a correlation between mathematical knowledge/performance, identification with mathematics and gender schemas. The study involved 436 boys and girls who were divided into two age groups-10 or 11 years old and 14 or 15 years old. Data were collected using a questionnaire focusing both on identification with math, and on gender schemas. The second source of data was a didactic test with 10 or 12 math items from TIMSS. In all three areas (identification with math, gender schemas, didactic test), average scores were calculated. Correlations between scores were identified. Differences concerning gender and age were examined. Results show that boys and girls reach similar test scores and have similar identification with math. Gender beliefs about mathematics were pretty strong and got stronger for boys and the older group. As children get older, differences between boys and girls increase as does heterogeneity within each group. However, the relationship between performance, beliefs and identification is low, except for the group of older boys. The paper discusses some more results and recommendations for math schooling from psychological perspective.
Teacher's Gender-Related Beliefs about Mathematics
Research in Mathematical Education
Mathematics has been stereotyped as a male-dominated subject, and there is considerable evidence to support this belief. There has been much research in the past three decades on gender-related differences in elementary and secondary school mathematics. The research found that teachers possess different beliefs about male and female students that influence their teaching behaviour, which then directly or indirectly impact their students' behaviours, beliefs, and achievements in mathematics. Based on data collected from teacher questionnaire surveys in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, this study examines teachers' beliefs about the achievements of boys and girls in mathematics. The study also compares the findings in the two regions surveyed. Results showed that teachers gave more attention to boys than girls, regardless of the teacher's gender. Not only are teachers more likely to recall more boys than girls, but also more boys than girls with average academic standards.
Social Psychology of Education, 2007
The negative reputation of women in mathematics and its consequences on their self-perceptions have been extensively demonstrated. However, in France and other countries, the younger the students, the less pronounced these gender differences are. The focus of this study was to explore whether children of two age groups (fourth graders and seventh graders) are aware of a math-ability gender stereotype favorable to boys, and to determine their personal beliefs on mathematics ability. The link between this gender stereotype and self-perceptions was also examined. As expected, there was not a clear-cut awareness of a math-ability gender stereotype favorable to boys. More surprising, girls in both age groups and seventh-grade boys believed that girls do better than boys. Moreover, when their gender identity was made salient, the boys who believed in girl superiority perceived their own performance in mathematics as lower. The girls, on the other hand, regardless of their age and stereotype awareness or personal beliefs, perceived their performance in math as higher when their gender identity was made salient than when it was not.
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...
Math–Gender Stereotypes in Elementary School Children
A total of 247 American children between 6 and 10 years of age (126 girls and 121 boys) completed Implicit Association Tests and explicit self-report measures assessing the association of (a) me with male (gender identity), (b) male with math (math–gender stereotype), and (c) me with math (math self-concept). Two findings emerged. First, as early as second grade, the children demonstrated the American cultural stereotype that math is for boys on both implicit and explicit measures. Second, elementary school boys identified with math more strongly than did girls on both implicit and self-report measures. The findings suggest that the math– gender stereotype is acquired early and influences emerging math self-concepts prior to ages at which there are actual differences in math achievement.
Gender stereotypes concerning mathematical abilities: threat or challenge?
Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis | Studia ad Didacticam Mathematicae Pertinentia
Stereotypes concerning women's mathematical abilities are widespread and can become an obstacle for some women to succeed in this domain, thus, they can be one of the possible reasons for the gap between men and women in mathematics. There is significant empirical evidence confirming that women in the situation of stereotype threat (i.e. when they are afraid of confirming that they are less gifted in mathematics than men are) perform worse than their colleagues who are not threatened in this way. There is also empirical evidence that another psychological phenomenon, intellectual helplessness in mathematics, is a predictor of school achievement in mathematics as well as general intellectual capabilities are. An experimental study with women active in STEM (graduates at university of engineering) as participants was conducted to test the relationships between intellectual helplessness experienced in mathematics classes and vulnerability to stereotype threat. All participants comp...