Introduction
Attitudes towards different subjects may differ among female and male students. Gender stereotypes or fixed ideas about the correlation between one’s preferences and gender impose these groups to be interested in what they are expected to like rather than what they find enjoyable. One common gender stereotype is that girls perform better in social sciences while boys are more intelligent in exact sciences. However, the belief that a student has more chances to academically succeed in some subjects simply for belonging to a specific gender group is unreasonable as academic success depends on various factors.
Discussion
While the stereotype that boys are better at mathematics does not coincide with reality, studies still show that they tend to have a more positive attitude toward the subject. Research among 357 final-year students of a teaching program in Canada revealed that men and women had similar mathematical performance and time since they had taken a mathematics course. Nonetheless, female participants reported higher anxiety levels, a more negative attitude to the subject, and a poorer experience with lessons in high school (Bowd & Brady, 2003). These findings provoke a question of why the attitude and experience with mathematics differ for men and women whether high school educators and the system are exclusively male-friendly, or whether girls are biologically predisposed to have more worries regarding the subject.
The purpose of this study is to offer an explanation of the results of Bowd and Brady’s research and propose a reason for the correlation between gender and mathematical anxiety. The significance of this paper is that it will identify whether there is gender-based discrimination in the education system and evaluate the effect of social factors on the education experience for different genders. The research questions for this study are:
- What factors besides gender should be considered when correlating with mathematics-related anxiety?
- What reasons in the study do women identify as negative math experiences?
- What can improve women’s attitudes and reduce their anxiety in the study of mathematics?
This study aims to conduct qualitative research on female mathematics-related experiences and to explain why women report higher anxiety and negative learning experiences more often than men. The research hypothesizes that there is a significant difference between the perception of girls and boys of any age at school and at home, which results in a negative attitude of female students towards mathematics. This paper will describe previous research on this subject, present the design of future research, explain methods that will be used for obtaining data, and mention the limitations of the research.
Gender Correlation
The study of gender correlation in relation to mathematics is a broad field of study. In their research, Bowd and Brady (2003) proposed a survey among 357 people attending math lectures (p. 28). The participants were 115 men and 242 women – students from a small Canadian university (Bowd & Brady, 2003). As a result, a significant difference was found between the anxiety of men and women within the framework of visiting mathematic disciplines. However, a deeper qualitative study involves identifying the causes of negative attitudes towards the study of science (Bieg et al., 2015). In particular, this primarily refers to the established stereotypes that women are more successful in the humanities, and men in technical fields (Miller, 2011). This is one of the main factors to consider when considering the results of the study, as it can significantly affect the gender correlation.
In addition, as a factor, the attitude towards learning can be indicated. According to Rodriguez et al., 2020, during the period of schooling, girls are more accurate in studying subjects (Rodriguez et al., 2020). Thus, the correlation can be drawn not only at the gender level but also considering the high level of perceived value and the perception of control in relation to grades and academic performance. In addition, girls are responsible for more household chores than boys. As a result, they do not receive the right atmosphere for developing and strengthening their skills in mathematics (Mathema & Bista, 2006). Since this is an exact science, it requires a lot of effort and study, for which girls do not have time. Thus, mathematics is constantly associated with anxiety, which girls are not able to overcome in universities.
Moreover, women themselves can talk about the negative experience of studying mathematics earlier. Often there is a difference in the attitude of teachers during the period of study in high school. Due to stereotypes, many teachers pay more attention to the success of boys in mathematics. At the same time, girls experience a condescending attitude and experience dissatisfaction with teaching. Such an atmosphere affects their attitude to the subject their fear of subsequent teachers and their interaction with the girls in the class. Therefore, it can be concluded that previous research in this field suggests that gender-based discrimination and stereotypes are why girls have more anxiety and negative attitudes toward mathematics.
Methodology and Methods
As part of the study, a methodology should be chosen on the basis of which data will be identified and evaluated. In the research of gender correlation, grounded theory may be a suitable methodology. In this approach, hypotheses arise as a result of the analysis of the collected data, that is, at the end of the consideration of the study. Grounded theory does not limit the possibilities of research by applying certain theories at the initial stage. In this way, one can focus on the result of the data and the subject matter will not be distorted (Opoku et al., 2016). The theory allows one to rely on the principles of openness and a deep attitude to the phenomenon of the human life world, set in the study. As a result, the understanding of the complexity of the studied phenomenon is better revealed.
At the same time, in order to expand the work of Bowd and Brady, it is necessary to place the study in the same setting. For this research, it was decided to use a sample of around 360 students at a small Canadian university. Participants will be randomly selected by lottery to reduce the chance of any bias. The sample will be made among students of different specialties, avoiding a strong mathematical bias. This contributes to a more accurate definition of anxiety when correlated with gender if mathematics is not the main subject of the group of subjects. Subsequently, the participants will be mixed into different groups so that their answers are based on their own empirical experience, and not on the answers of their comrades. After that, three sites will be prepared where researchers will gather information.
An interview is chosen as the qualitative data collection method for this study. Conducting an interview will allow researchers to get detailed answers and track the difference in men’s and women’s attitudes toward mathematics. Moreover, the data will consider different specialties, which makes the study more extensive and profession-independent. As Creswell explains, the researcher conducts one-on-one or group interviews using the qualitative method (2003). Interviewing students individually and in groups will provide information about their experience in the classroom, which might have impacted their opinion about the subject.
It is crucial to analyze different age groups to compare their answers and find out whether girls have more anxiety about mathematics at any age or if they develop it over time. Students will be asked about their academic performance and describe their opinion of the teachers’ attitude in the classroom and their feelings about mathematics. This will allow us to understand how active gender stereotypes are on the part of teachers and how this affects men and women in relation to the study of the subject.
Draft examples of some questions for students are as follows:
- How do you feel about mathematics and where do you think you can apply your skills in real life?
- How do positive and negative behaviors of teachers affect you and what do you think about the subject after that?
- Do you think math teachers are gender discriminatory and if so, how does this affect your motivation?
- What experiences have helped you understand the importance of mathematics and motivate you to study it?
These questions will allow the study to find patterns in previous math experience and attitudes toward the subject in female and male students. 200 women and 160 men will participate as subjects in the study. Data collection methods for such interviews are taking notes, audiotaping, and transcribing answers (Creswell, 2003). To analyze the obtained data, the research will focus on some of the most informative answers and disregard the least informative ones. A qualitative data analysis software program MAXqda, which helps organize and find necessary information will be used (Creswell, 2003). These methods provide the opportunity to sort and effectively analyze data obtained during the interviews.
Multiple approaches will be used to ensure obtaining valid and reliable results. To increase validity, a detailed description of the research results will be presented (Creswell, 2003). Peer debriefing will be used to review the conducted study and get the outside opinion on the research, adding reliability to the research (Creswell, 2003). In addition, participants’ confidentiality during the interview will be maintained, and their permission to use responses will be taken by signing an informed consent form. Confidentiality will ensure the most genuine answers as students’ identities will not be revealed to their teachers or school administration to avoid further bias in the classroom.
Conclusion
At the same time, the study has some limitations that must be considered when processing the results. First of all, it is about the reliability of the study and the reproducibility of the results (Maxwell, 2012). It is vital to take into account the fact that students may be upset by their performance in mathematics at the current moment and answer negatively to all the questions posed. Thus, the limitation is one-time data collection, which does not indicate how confident students are in their answers. Moreover, the question arises about the validity of the study. Since the study does not put forward ideal hypothesized results, there is nothing to compare internal validity as an indicator of the validity of the conclusions. Additionally, the experiment covers a small field in relation to anxiety due to mathematics and does not have additional variables to support the results.
References
Bieg, M., Goetz, T., Wolter, I., & Hall, N. C. (2015). Gender stereotype endorsement differentially predicts girls’ and boys’ trait-state discrepancy in math anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. Web.
Bowd, A. D., & Brady, P. H. (2003). Gender differences in mathematics anxiety among preservice teachers and perceptions of their elementary and secondary school experience with mathematics. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 49(1), 24-36. Web.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd Ed.). Sage. Web.
Mathema, K. B., Bista, M. B. (2006). Study on student performance in SLC: Main report. Web.
Maxwell, J. A. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach (3rd Ed.). Sage.
Miller, P. (2011). Theories of developmental psychology (fifth edition). Worth. Patton, M. Q.
Opoku, A., Ahmed, V., & Akotia, J. (2016). Choosing an appropriate research methodology and method. Web.
Rodriguez, S., Regueiro, B., Pineiro, I., Estevez, I., & Valle, A. (2020). Gender differences in mathematics motivation: Differential effects on performance in primary education. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. Web.