In this day and age it is hard to believe that there are still stereotypes regarding diminished capacities of girls.

“In a study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research, it was shown that teacher bias early in a girl's education can have significant effects on her later success in STEM subjects, including whether or not she chooses to take classes in those subjects in high school.

The study followed roughly 3,000 Tel Aviv students from 5th grade through their graduation from high school. Researchers compared students' results on national blind-graded exams in 5th grade to their results a year later on similar internal exams that were not blind-graded.

To determine whether or not teacher bias directly affected girls' later success in math, the researchers looked at the progress of students whose teachers were more or less biased than others. Girls who had biased teachers in 6th grade had lower test scores in 8th grade than their peers; for boys, the opposite was true.

Bias also impacted students' longer-term class choices. Girls whose 6th grade teachers were biased were less likely to take advanced math and science classes in high school, likely contributing to lower numbers of women going into STEM fields after graduation. (Moeny, 2015)”

In another study by Espinoza et al (2014), Attributional gender bias: teachers' ability and effort explanations for students' math performance, “Research is presented on the attributional gender bias: the tendency to generate different attributions (explanations) for female versus male students’ performance in math. Whereas boys’ successes in math are attributed to ability, girls’ successes are attributed to effort; conversely, boys’ failures in math are attributed to a lack of effort and girls’ failures to a lack of ability.”

Dario Cvencek et al (2011), in their study, 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.”

“Since taking office, President Obama has taken steps to increase transparency around the status of women and girls in STEM fields through the collection and dissemination of critical participation and achievement data. In particular two such reports have shed light on the gains made by girls in math and science, remaining areas of underrepresentation, and the relative earning potential of women in STEM careers versus their non-stem colleagues:

• The Department of Commerce’s Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation (August 2011) revealed that, though they represent a mere 24 percent of the STEM workforce, women earn on average 33 percent more when they work in these high-growth fields.

• In June 2012, The Department of Education released a Gender Equity in Education snapshot,shedding light on the narrowing gap in girls’ participation in math and science courses as well as persisting inequalities in AP test passing.” (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013)

According to Moeny, “The Tel Aviv study suggests that this lack of interest could be something teachers are influencing, whether or not they're aware of it.”

In the article by, Cass Sunstein (2015), Girls Dropping Math? BlameTeachers, it was concluded that “Even at early stages, primary school teachers give their students a powerful sense of who’s good at what. If they treat girls and boys equally, they can help give them an equal chance.”

In the article by Kathryn Scantlebury, (2009), Gender Bias in Teaching, possible strategies to reduce gender bias is offered. “Teachers do not challenge girls with questions and rarely offer criticisms of their work. Teachers can reduce and challenge gender bias through an examination of their pedagogical practices and by posing simple questions about their practices. For example, which students do they frequently interact with? Are target students evident in their classroom? If so, how does the teacher deal with those students? What questioning techniques does the teacher use to engage students? Does the teacher ask complicated questions to girls as well as boys? Does the teacher use a variety of pedagogical and assessment practices? Which students are engaged with the curriculum?

Another way of reducing gender bias would be for teachers to videotape their classes and review their interactions with the students. Or they could invite a colleague to watch their teaching and record which students are being asked questions and what type of questions. However, teachers must also prepare for the consequences of changing their practices. Girls are conditioned to receiving less of the teacher's attention, and they do not usually cause discipline problems if they are not receiving their fair share, but boys can react negatively to losing the teacher's attention, causing disruption to lessons and becoming discipline problems. Moreover, research has also shown that boys avoid written work and often have poor communication skills when asked to work in singlesex groups.” (Scantlebury, 2009)

References

Cvencek, Dario, Andrew N. Meltzoff, and Anthony G. Greenwald. "Math-Gender Stereotypes in Elementary School Children." Child Development 82, no. 3 (May 2011): 766-779. EBSCO MegaFILE, EBSCOhost

Espinoza, P., Arêas da Luz Fontes, A., & Arms-Chavez, C. (2014). Attributional gender bias: teachers' ability and effort explanations for students' math performance. Social Psychology Of Education, 17(1), 105-126. doi:10.1007/s11218-013-9226-6

Lavy, V, Sand, E., (2015). On the Origins of Gender Human Capital Gaps: Short and Long Term Consequences of Teachers’ Stereotypical Biases. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Warwick - Department of Economics. NBER Working Paper No. w20909

Money, J. (2015), Biased Teachers Dissuade Girls From STEM Courses, Study Says, Education Week Teacher. Retrieved fromhttp://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2015/03/biased-teachers-dissuade-girls-from-stem-courses-study-says.html

Office of Science and Technology Policy, The White House (2013), Women and Girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Retrieved fromhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/stem_factsheet_2013_07232013.pdf

Scantlebury, K., (2009), Gender Bias in Teaching, Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/gender-bias-in-teaching/

Sunstein, C. (2015), Girls Dropping Math? Blame Teachers, Bloomberg View. Retrieved fromhttp://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-23/girls-dropping-math-blame-teachers