Jezebel: mathletes

British Paper Says Women Just Can't Do Math

Jessica — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:30:00 EST

A new survey by a numeracy campaign about basic math skills in British adults has been released, and it reports that one in three women have trouble adding sums mentally, while only 18% of men do. The results of the poll help to underscore the obnoxiousness of the London newspaper the Daily Mail: while the BBC report on the survey attributes the demographic gender split to women's lack of "confidence" in their own quantitative abilities, the Daily Mail takes the opportunity to imply that women are stupid and only need math skills for things like buying shoes. "34 per cent [of women]- said she had trouble adding up prices in her head while out shopping," the paper laments.

Finally, more than 50% of women "asked maths questions by their children or family said they struggled to answer them," reports the BBC. If the vintage calculator ad above is any indication — "If you can't remember numbers, Rapidman can!" displayed with a picture of a smiling, groceries clad couple — it's not that the average woman is worse at math than the average man, but that, as the BBC implies, she's just less confident in her abilities. (Age also was a major factor in the poll, as men and women over 55 were the most confident in their mathematical abilities, while 25 to 34-year-olds were the least sure of themselves.) Studies have shown that in the bell curve of mathematical ability, most women end up clustered around the middle, while men more often fall on the high and low ends of the ability spectrum, and in American schools, girls and boys are now equal in their math courses. Once again we say to the Daily Mail: sod off. Your proclamations about women's frivolousness are only discouraging their latent math skills. Danica McKellar, Winne Cooper from the Wonder Years and the co-author of a scientific paper about a theorem in mathematical physics is our new math deity.

[Image via Vintage Ads.]

The Women Who Admit: We Just Can't Figure Out Sums [Daily Mail] 'Many Struggle' With Arithmetic [BBC News]

Earlier: Do We Suck At Math Because Of Biology Or The Patriarchy?
It All Adds Up
A Blast From The Past Brings A Glimmer Of Hope For The Future

It All Adds Up

Dodai — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:20:00 EST

A new study published in the January/February 2008 issue of the journal Child Development states that girls have caught up with boys in terms of math courses — and their friends influence them. Girls look to their close friends when making important decisions, the study found, and girls with friends who make good grades took more high-level math than other teens. Ditching the Plastics to hang with the Mathletes, à la Mean Girls, is a scientifically wise choice! [EurekAlert]

High School Girls Make History; Kick Ass In Science Competition

Jessica — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:30:00 EST

Even though the number of women completing doctorates in math and science is nowhere near 50% — and a new report says that the U.S. isn't even in the top 25 world rankings for science, math or reading — a passel of female high school students owned yesterday's math, science and technology Siemens Competition. For the first time in the event's nine year history, young women won both the individual and the group competitions. (Suck on that, Larry Summers!) Isha Jain from Bethlehem, PA (pictured) took home the individual prize of $100,000 in scholarship money for her research on bone growth in Zebra fish, and Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Harinoff from Plainview, NY won for their work on tuberculosis. All three girls attend public school. (Represent!).

Jain says that while there's still a preponderance of boys in her math and science classes, she sees the all-lady win of the Siemens competition as evidence that girls are ""finally stepping up to the plate and are more than capable...I'm proud to be a part of that."

Girls Dominate the Siemens Competition [Business Week]
Girls Shatter Glass Ceiling At Science Contest [MSNBC]
World Rankings For Reading, Maths And Science [Telegraph]
Earlier:
Do We Suck At Math Because Of Biology Or The Patriarchy?

Do We Suck At Math Because Of Biology Or The Patriarchy?

Jessica — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:00:00 EST

Ever since ex-Harvard President Lawrence Summers said that women are not succeeding in math and science careers because of innate biological differences, there have been numerous articles written, some supporting Summers and some trashing him. Though no one has come to a definitive conclusion, everyone agrees that there are too few females pursuing high level math and science careers. An article from the December issue of Scientific American attempts to summarize all the important sociological and statistical studies about women in science and finds that in the bell curve of mathematical ability, most women end up clustered around the middle, while men more often fall on the high and low ends of the ability spectrum, meaning there are more male math geniuses, and more male math morons, then there are women in either category.

The most interesting part of Scientific American's survey is the discussion of the "real-world impact" of attitudes towards women in science. The magazine says that at the top levels, many aspects of scientists' careers are determined by peer reviews and that there is a "shroud of secrecy" surrounding these reviews and that "awarding of grants, acceptance of academic papers for publication and decisions about hiring — are judged by a panel of other, often anonymous, scientists." It's possible that these anonymous scientists have completely sexist attitudes, keeping women from the highest levels of scientific achievement.

That still doesn't explain why Anna and I were awesome at math (and even enjoyed it!) until about age 12 or 13. Did teachers stop encouraging us? Were we getting tacit cultural messages telling us that girls aren't good at math? Were our tween brains addled by hormones? It's not entirely clear. What about you? Did you feel like you were encouraged at math and science, or did you find the same adolescent math block that we did?

Sex, Math And Scientific Achievement [Scientific American]