Weaving Gender Equity

The following is a list of research articles and books related to psychology:

Campbell, Kathleen and Cay Evans. "Gender Issues in the Classroom: A Comparison of Mathematics Anxiety." Education, Vol. 117 (No. 3), 332-338, 360.

Researchers in this study of ninth-grade students discovered that girls enrolled in a single-sex algebra class reported lower levels of mathematics anxiety than those enrolled in a coed class. In the coed classroom, girls' anxiety levels were not only higher than their female cohorts in single-sex classes, but were also higher than the boys in their class. Furthermore, their anxiety level increased over time, while anxiety decreased for both boys in coed classes and girls in single-sex classes.

Ethington, Corrinna A. (1992). "Gender Differences in a Psychological Model of Mathematics Achievement." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Vol. 23 (No. 2), 166-181.

Using data from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS), researchers found that females who are less likely to receive parental help, who are less likely to stereotype math as a male domain, and who view mathematics as less difficult demonstrated higher levels of achievement. Self-concept as it relates to prior mathematics achievement and perceptions of parents' attitudes towards math significantly influence expectations for success for both females and males. Task value (for males and females) and expectations for success (for males only) proved to have the largest effect on the students' decision to continue in mathematics. Girls' achievement was most strongly determined by prior achievement in mathematics.

Fennema, Elizabeth. (1990). "Teachers' Beliefs and Gender Differences in Mathematics." in Elizabeth Fennema and Gilah Leder (Eds.), Mathematics and Gender. New York: Teachers College Press.

Differences in teachers' expectations for girls and boys may be one factor contributing to gender differences in mathematics. Teachers tend to encourage males to work harder at more complex mathematical problems, while girls are expected to do well with routine problems. Teachers tend to attribute boys' failures to effort and they receive more feedback from teachers on the intellectual quality of their work than females; they tend to attribute girls' failures to lack of ability, and their successes to effort. Teachers tend to give more attention to girls in reading and more attention to boys in mathematics.

Fennema, Elizabeth and Penelope Peterson. (1985). "Autonomous Learning Behavior: A Possible Explanation of Gender-Related Differences in Mathematics." In Jane Gaskell and John Willinsky (Eds.), Gender Influences in Classroom Interaction: From Interaction t to Transformation. New York: Teachers College Press.

Autonomous Learning Behavior (ALB) includes working independently on high-level tasks, being persistent on these tasks, choosing to do them, and realizing success on them. The authors postulate that some of the gender differences found in mathematics can be traced to boys exhibiting more ALB's than girls. This plays out in girls having less confidence and sense of independence in mathematics, attributing success to external factors, and viewing math as a male domain. Teachers also facilitate boys' ALB's by asking them more higher-level questions, praising the intellectual quality of their work, and interacting with them more.

Latimer, Kathleen (Spring 2000). "Ethnicity as a Factor in Teachers' Perceptions of the Mathematical Competence of Elementary School Students." College of Education Review, Volume 11.

Elementary teachers with ethnically diverse students in their classrooms were asked to define a "mathematically competent" student as well as to describe the behaviors and characteristics of their most and least competent students, to assess the extent to which teachers use ethnicity to determine mathematical competence. Teachers identified a positive attitude and eagerness to leant math to those students most competent in mathematics. Ethnicity did not appear to be a primary factor in assigning competence. However, during teacher evaluations, European Americans were chosen more often in both the "most" and "least" competent student categories and teachersÕ comments on culture and ethnicity were ambiguous.

Leal-Idrogo, Anita. (1997). "The Effect of Gender on Interaction, Friendship, and Leadership in Elementary School Classrooms." In E. Cohen and R. Lotan (Eds.), Working for Equity in Heterogeneous Classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.

The author of this study suggests that how teachers design classroom task structures strongly influences verbal interaction patterns between the sexes. In the complex instruction (CI) classrooms studied, leadership did not prove to be a male characteristic (as previous studies have shown), with a fair number of students perceiving girls as leaders. Furthermore, gender did not operate as a status characteristic in these groups; girls spoke as much as boys did, and the rates of cross-sex talk were the same. Several characteristics of the classroom structure which may contribute to these shifts include: mixed-sex small groups at learning centers; training in cooperative group behaviors; rotating roles within groups; multiple-ability status treatment (each child had a chance to make a contribution).

McIntosh, Peggy. (1998). "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." in Enid Lee, Deborah Menkart, and Margo Okazawa-Rey (Eds.), Beyond Heroes and Holidays. Washington, D.C.: Network of Educators on the Americas.

In trying to uncover the ways in which White privilege has impacted her life, this educator lists 26 advantages she has because of the color of her skin. She distinguishes between positive advantages versus privileges that confer dominance because of one's race. The author realizes that ideas she originally thought were part of being a human being were actually an unearned advantage or conferred dominance given to her because of her Whiteness. In closing she argues for a change in the systems of social dominance that create privilege.

Meyer, Margaret, and Mary Schatz Koehler. (1990). "Internal Influences on Gender Differences in Mathematics." in Elizabeth Fennema and Gilah Leder (Eds.), Mathematics and Gender. New York: Teachers College Press.

The researchers used data from the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales and the Mathematics Attribution Scale to look at the relationship between affective variables and cognitive outcomes in students grades 6-12. Statistically significant findings include: high-confidence students generally had higher achievement than lower-confidence students; in the sixth grade males chose other males to succeed more than females chose males; by eighth grade females chose males to succeed more than other females (indicating falling expectations); males reported more stereotyping of math as a male domain than females did; for males and females the more significant predictor of achievement was confidence; and affective variables have more influence on females' achievement and participation in mathematics than they do on males'.

Pungello, Elizabeth P., Janis Kupersmidt, Margaret R. Burchinal, and Charlotte Patterson. (1996). "Environmental Risk Factors and Children's Achievement From Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence." Developmental Psychology, Vol. 32 (No. 4), 755-767.

In analyzing the effects of family background and ethnicity, researchers found that low income and minority ethnic status stand as strong predictors of math achievement for children in grades 2-7. Math scores for children from low-income homes decreased as students got older, while those not from low-income families increased over time (thus widening the differences between the two groups). Students from ethnic minorities scored lower overall than those from European American backgrounds, regardless of family income level.

Stipek, Deborah and Heidi Gralinski. (1991). "Gender Differences in Children's Achievement-Related Beliefs and Emotional Responses to Success and Failure in Mathematics." Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 83 (No. 3), 361-371.

Researches looked at the achievement-related beliefs of girls and boys in third and ninth grades. A few of the findings from this study include: on average, girls expected poorer achievement on upcoming tests than boys did; a young girl's expectations for poorer achievement in mathematics can be overcome by successful performance, whereas older girls continue to expect relatively poor results; younger girls believed more than older girls that anyone could well in math if she or he tried harder; and girls were more likely to attribute failure to a lack of ability (boys most often cited difficulty of the task).

Streitmatter, Janice. (1997). "An Exploratory Study of Risk-Taking and Attitudes in a Girls-Only Middle School Math Class." Elementary School Journal, 1997.

This study of seventh- and eighth-grade students revealed higher levels of risk-taking and more positive attitudes towards math among girls in single-sex classrooms than among those in coed settings. Interviews with girls in single-sex classes showed how those students felt more freedom to ask questions and answer questions even if they were not sure they had the correct answer, displayed a greater degree of confidence in their abilities, enjoyed math class more, and were more willing to display competence in the classroom than girls in coed classes.

Tiedemann, Joachim. (2000). "Gender-related Beliefs of Teachers in Elementary School Mathematics." Education Studies in Mathematics, Vol. 41, 191-207.

Fifty-two third- and fourth-grade teachers in Germany answered survey questions regarding girls' and boys' achievement in mathematics. Teachers viewed mathematics as harder for girls than boys among equally achieving students, with boys seen as more capable of logical thinking. Teachers believed that boys could increase their success through additional effort, and that girls used more of their functional capacity for mathematics than boys do. Girls' poor mathematics test results were more often attributed to lack of ability, while boys' failures were attributed to lack of effort.