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Shock over maths gender stereotypes

(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)
A Fin24 user who teaches mathematics to first-year engineering students in an academic support programme at the University of Cape Town says a conversation between parents on who should study maths took her breath away. She writes:

I RECENTLY overheard the following at a middle class Southern Suburbs parents’ meeting:

“Is it true that to gain entry to high school a child must pass two languages and maths?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Boys AND girls?”
 
Such gender stereotyping takes my breath away. The good news is that it’s wrong.

Many studies have shown that girls can match boys' achievements in mathematics if given the right conditions.

But stereotype threat can also cause anxiety that negatively affects girls performance.

If you have a daughter and you struggled with maths at school, her achievement in maths is likely to nosedive very soon after you say the words, “I was never any good at maths,” particularly if you are her mother.

A better approach would be to say: “Can you explain to me? Let’s learn together.”

Help is there for the taking

 
If the thought of learning maths hasn’t made you run away, you may be interested in a free, self-paced online course, How to Learn Maths, currently running at class.stanford.edu until September 28 2013.

Designed for teachers and parents, it presents a view of maths very different from what many experienced at school and refutes myths, such as the world is divided into those who can do maths and those who can’t.
 
Without maths as a high school subject, you cannot study science, commerce or engineering and you immediately limit your prospects for a professional job and the accompanying standard of living.

Even if your career path is one where maths literacy is sufficient, you will be limited if you cannot tackle problems involving some mathematical reasoning.

The internet offers a multitude of resources for refreshing or expanding your knowledge of maths

Perhaps the most powerful at the moment is the Khan Academy, where you can view a knowledge map showing how different maths topics are linked, watch short videos explaining sub-topics and take quizzes to test yourself.

Parents or teachers can be ‘coaches’ and receive incredible feedback of the topics attempted, number of hints given, time spent on each task and more - all for free.

An organisation called Numeric has mapped the South African curriculum to the Khan Academy videos and is investigating the impact of the Khan Academy on mathematics education in South Africa.

Although some of the content has been criticised for being very procedural, it is likely to be better than the classroom experience that most South African learners currently experience.

Don't give up on maths

Bad experiences in your past can hold you back from career paths you might be well suited to, and which offer a faster and more satisfying road to wealth.

If you have suffered in maths, a course like How to Learn Maths might reset your career trajectory. Look out for future versions of the course aimed at learners, especially if you have daughters.

- Fin24

* Anita Campbell teaches mathematics to first-year engineering students in an academic support programme at the University of Cape Town.

** Add your voice to our Women's Wealth Issue and help empower others this Women's Month.

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