What do you think is one of the most common stereotypes present in society when it comes to occupations in STEM? You might have guessed right or wrong. One of the most common stereotypes is that boys are better than girls at math. As a student aspiring to enter the science field, this stereotype is upsetting to hear. But this is the case: Women only make up 23% of the STEM force in the United States. But specifically in math, how much better are they?
So if men are actually better than women in math, why are we surprised? We shouldn’t be. However, according to a study by Psychology Today, gender differences in math aren’t actually present until children are adolescents. Furthermore, there are other studies which state that the gender differences are very minimal in students, specifically in fifth and sixth grade, and in the first to third grade, both genders perform exceptionally well in math, but sometimes the girls do way better. This is a concrete example of where girls actually outperformed guys in maths. Unfortunately, this changes as children get older, which does not make any sense. Instead of children becoming more confident as they become older, they become less confident. This is because as children become older, they conform to the stereotypes around them. Moreover, if their parents feel that maths is more of a boys’ subject, then they tend to perform worse, according to one study.
So how does one encourage more girls to join the field of maths? The best way would be to expose girls from a very young age to math, even if that would be something simple like counting numbers. This is vital to changing the trajectory of confidence that girls have when it comes to maths so they can identify with the subject and maybe start to enjoy it, pursuing it further. Girls, if you are someone who enjoys maths a lot and want more girls to join you in the field of maths, try to raise awareness about maths; open up clubs or start competitions and activities for all the girls to get involved in! Host conferences and get guests speakers to come. Connecting to my life as a student at this school, UWC is holding a conference solely for Girls in Math to encourage more girls to join. I also have a lot of friends who enjoy maths and are taking it at a higher level, pursuing what they like and at the same time bridging the gender gap and breaking the gender stereotypes.
Overall, a lot of work needs to be done to improve the gender gap present. Even though there are some changes happening such as art representing female scientists and females in STEM positions as well as companies creating toys with females being represented in a positive way, more needs to be done. Encouraging girls at a young age does get them interested in the subject, but representing women in the workforce in a positive way, especially if they have just become mothers, works even better. We need to increase this exposure and garner the attention of young girls entering the maths field, hopefully increasing diversity someday.
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