more accurate depiction of mathematics as it is practiced in high-level courses and professions.
Where Are We Now?
Given the ways in which mathematics is commonly taught and the preferences of many girls for deep understanding and inquiry, it is perhaps surprising that girls do as well as they do in mathematics—and they do perform very well. In 2010, women made up 42 percent of math majors and 41 percent of those taking masters degrees in mathematics and statistics. These numbers do not show equality and are not ones we should be complacent about, but they may show higher proportions of women than many think. Psychologists Janet Hyde, Elizabeth Fennema, and Susan Lamon produced a meta-analysis 5 of studies that have investigated gender differences in achievement, combining more than one hundred studies involving three million subjects. Even in 1990, with such a vast database, they found very small differences between girls and boys, with a huge amount of overlap. 6 Hyde and her colleagues argued that gender differences were too small to be of any importance and that they have been overplayed in the media, which has helped to create stereotypes that are damaging.
In most examinations in the United States there are also no recorded gender differences in mathematics. The small performance differences that exist take place only on the SAT 7 andthe AP examinations (in 2002 the average score of girls was 3.3 compared to boys’ 3.5). In England, a country with a similar education system, girls used to achieve at lower levels than boys on examinations, but now they achieve at higher levels in all subjects. In fact, the results for girls and boys in England have shifted in interesting ways over time. In England, at age sixteen, almost all students take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination in mathematics. As mathematics is compulsory until age sixteen, equal numbers of boys and girls take this examination. In the 1970s, boys passed the mathematics GCSE examination 8 in higher numbers and achieved more of the highest grades; in the 1990s, girls and boys passed the exam in equal numbers but boys achieved more of the highest grades. By the 2000s, girls were passing the exam at higher rates than boys and achieving more of the highest grades. 9 In England, girls now perform at equal or higher levels than boys in mathematics and physics, on the GCSE and beyond, and they now achieve more of the highest grades in the most demanding high-level examinations.
Girls are doing very well now in the United States, England, and many other countries, but their strong performance hides a worrying fact—most mathematics classrooms are not equitable environments and girls often do well despite inequitable teaching. This is the reason that girls often opt out of mathematics even when they are achieving at high levels and even though a mathematical or scientific career could be very good for them. In high-level courses and mathematical jobs, the statistics are quite alarming. In 2009, women made up only 31 percent of mathematics PhDs, and in 2005 only 18 percent of mathematics faculty were women. The low numbers of women working as researchers and scientists across Europe is one of the priority areas for the European Union. Fifty-two percent of higher education graduates across Europe are women, but only 25 percentof these women take science, engineering, or technology subjects. Girls do well in math and science because they are capable and conscientious, but many do so through endurance, and math classroom environments are far from being equitable. Indeed, it is the impoverished version of mathematics that is offered to students that turns many people, female and male, away from the subject.
Other Barriers
Of course, the lack of opportunity to inquire deeply is not the only barrier to girls and women in mathematics and science. Mathematics classrooms in schools are considerably less gender stereotyped than they were
Where Are We Now?
Given the ways in which mathematics is commonly taught and the preferences of many girls for deep understanding and inquiry, it is perhaps surprising that girls do as well as they do in mathematics—and they do perform very well. In 2010, women made up 42 percent of math majors and 41 percent of those taking masters degrees in mathematics and statistics. These numbers do not show equality and are not ones we should be complacent about, but they may show higher proportions of women than many think. Psychologists Janet Hyde, Elizabeth Fennema, and Susan Lamon produced a meta-analysis 5 of studies that have investigated gender differences in achievement, combining more than one hundred studies involving three million subjects. Even in 1990, with such a vast database, they found very small differences between girls and boys, with a huge amount of overlap. 6 Hyde and her colleagues argued that gender differences were too small to be of any importance and that they have been overplayed in the media, which has helped to create stereotypes that are damaging.
In most examinations in the United States there are also no recorded gender differences in mathematics. The small performance differences that exist take place only on the SAT 7 andthe AP examinations (in 2002 the average score of girls was 3.3 compared to boys’ 3.5). In England, a country with a similar education system, girls used to achieve at lower levels than boys on examinations, but now they achieve at higher levels in all subjects. In fact, the results for girls and boys in England have shifted in interesting ways over time. In England, at age sixteen, almost all students take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination in mathematics. As mathematics is compulsory until age sixteen, equal numbers of boys and girls take this examination. In the 1970s, boys passed the mathematics GCSE examination 8 in higher numbers and achieved more of the highest grades; in the 1990s, girls and boys passed the exam in equal numbers but boys achieved more of the highest grades. By the 2000s, girls were passing the exam at higher rates than boys and achieving more of the highest grades. 9 In England, girls now perform at equal or higher levels than boys in mathematics and physics, on the GCSE and beyond, and they now achieve more of the highest grades in the most demanding high-level examinations.
Girls are doing very well now in the United States, England, and many other countries, but their strong performance hides a worrying fact—most mathematics classrooms are not equitable environments and girls often do well despite inequitable teaching. This is the reason that girls often opt out of mathematics even when they are achieving at high levels and even though a mathematical or scientific career could be very good for them. In high-level courses and mathematical jobs, the statistics are quite alarming. In 2009, women made up only 31 percent of mathematics PhDs, and in 2005 only 18 percent of mathematics faculty were women. The low numbers of women working as researchers and scientists across Europe is one of the priority areas for the European Union. Fifty-two percent of higher education graduates across Europe are women, but only 25 percentof these women take science, engineering, or technology subjects. Girls do well in math and science because they are capable and conscientious, but many do so through endurance, and math classroom environments are far from being equitable. Indeed, it is the impoverished version of mathematics that is offered to students that turns many people, female and male, away from the subject.
Other Barriers
Of course, the lack of opportunity to inquire deeply is not the only barrier to girls and women in mathematics and science. Mathematics classrooms in schools are considerably less gender stereotyped than they were
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