A newly released study by The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.addresses my biggest academic pet peeve.... ....which is the bass ackwards socioculturally conditioned stereotype that boys are better at math than girls: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x/abstract
I'll try to keep my own academic experiences and personal triggers out of this post to keep it objective. But, truth be told, it's going to be very hard for me. I was NOT a young female student who fit the, "girls naturally tend to do better at language arts while boys naturally tend to do better at math and science" stereotype. This absurd preconceived gender based stereotype was a repetitive speed-bump in my elementary & middle school years that eventually evolved into the academic road-block that ultimately lead to my deep rooted disdain for school by my freshmen year.
Anyway, my personal experiences aside... ...I've brought this topic up before and I am glad to finally see a study showing girls are conditioned at an early age to believe boys are better at math. And, I can say with 100% full confidence, this stereotype is sociocultural Bull S#*! and HAS to stop. We NEED to nurture and encourage the development of the naturally scientific and analytical thinking young girls instead of trying to squelch it. Not just for them - but for our own collective future.
Women are naturally intuitive. Women are naturally creative AND analytical problem solvers. For me it's a no brainer - to more forward the world needs more women physicists, mathematicians, chemists, biologists, architects, medical researchers, doctors, engineers... ...etc.
Comments
Last night I watched the National Geographic special Chimps: Nearly Human... http://natgeotv.com/asia/chimps-nearly-human
The internet intro of the show starts out:
At the end of the show it discusses the possibility the females of the group evolved to be the more intuitive/inventive problem solvers and tool makers because the dominate males aggressively "took" food and resources found by others.
Hi Bonnie,
Hope you are ok.
Take care,
Milesey.
Hi Bonnie,
Hope you are ok.
Take care,
Milesey.
.
Right. Sorry for the duplicate posts.
Great posts, Bonnie. Of course, you are 100% correct, but will the predominantly male population here at TH.com comment? Do they care? Oh yeah, there is Miles... "caring" for your recovery... erg.
If you are better at math than at "language arts," you must be super-great at math, because your language arts shine.
Bonnie, it makes sense that girls and boys would be conditioned to believe stereotypes that boys are better at math and science. Some topics from social psychology that relate to this issue include self-fulfilling prophecies, confirmation biases and stereotype threats. All of these would predict that if people are told they are not good at something, they won't be, and all are supported by research. I clicked on the link, and it didn't work, but I think I can say this much.
"Miles" does care. And I am indebted to him for reasons most here don't understand.
Despite whatever political/social nonsense that occurred on this forum in the past - Miles is actually one of my dearest friends. We all have flaws to inflict and extraordinary gifts to give.
At a time in my life where I began to feel despondent to the point of shrugging and giving up to the "Well, I've grown up and grown old and this is all there is. Creativity and opportunity are for the young and not for those of us who are growing older" -- It was Miles who encouraged me to reconnect with my musical "whimsical" self and once again pick up the violin, cello and bass to find a sense of creative balance.