Gender Differences
From WikEd
[edit] Gender Differences
[edit] Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
Gender: “the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female.�? (Myers, 2002)
Gender role: “a set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females.�? (Myers, 2002)
Gender Schema Theory: "Organized networks of knowledge about what it means to be male or female. According to gender schema theory, children and adolescents use gender as an organizing theme to classify and understand their perceptions about the world. Gender schema is influenced by society's beliefs about the traits of females and males, and influences processing of social information and self exteem (only behavior or attitudes consistent with gender schema are acceptable)." (Woolfolk, 1995, p.172)
The term “misogyny�? means “the hatred of women.�? There is no corresponding word for the hatred of men in most dictionaries (Myers, 2002).
Any "studies that have found a gap between men and women's [cognitive] abilities have also found much more overlap. A man can grasp the skills of language just as well as a female. Similarly, many women excel in spatial skills." ("Estronaut," 1999)
- "Although boys and girls differ in their physical, emotional and intellectual development, there is no evidence that these are linked. Therefore, it is unlikely that education performance is explained by biological differences. If biology were the reason, girls would not have improved significantly in certain subjects, of which boys used to outperform girls traditionally, such as math and science, in the past two decades. Social and cultural factors are the major reasons leading to gender differences in academic performance. These factors include students' familiarity with the subject, changes of career aspiration, gendered perceptions of specific subject, presentational styles of boys and girls, and teachers' expectation. Unlike biology, the social and cultural factors are changeable by modifying the context of education." (Gallagher, 2001)
Currently researchers are acknowledging that gender differences have little to no biological basis and are focusing on gender differences as a result of the social, cultural, and environmental influences. (Jovanovic & Dreves, 1996)
[edit] Application in classrooms and similar settings
Scrimgeour (1993) performed a study that scored boys and girls on seven different areas: class administration, lesson core, questions asked of, questions asked by, tasks allocated to, discipline of, and other transactions. Amazingly, boys scored higher on all of these levels than girls did. Obviously there is some sort of phenomenon occurring in the classroom that is related to the male student predominating over the female students.
Scrimgeour (1993) also examined gender bias in subject content. He found none in math and geography, but did find gender bias found in English and history. In English, the text being studied by the children featured primarily male characters, and in history the topics covered were mainly concerning famous men. The females that were mentioned were generally stereotyped or not portrayed positively. Scrimgeour (1993) also found that the gender of the teacher did not matter when examining the seven areas or the course content, the results were the same. This was a small-scale study, but the research and I both feel that the results translate well to most of the education environment.
Boys and girls have different learning needs, and teachers need to take this into account when creating learning environments.
Research has shown that boys get called on more in class. However, a reason behind this may be that the boys simply volunteer to answer more, which may be related to males more assertive or competition-valuing nature.
Owens and Straton (1980) found that girls prefer cooperation, open-ended and organized activities, while boys prefer competition and individualism. Also, these studies have shown that girls give more favorable reviews of their learning experiences than boys do. Teachers can apply these different preferences in their teaching methods by assigning the female students to assignment that require cooperation and the male students to individual assignments. While this may not be possible in all situations (or every student), understanding and catering to a students preferred method of learning is a good way to help them to learn more.
In a study by Quek, Wong, and Fraser (2002), male students found a chemistry lab to be less equipped than girls did, and boys also thought that they had less rules and restrictions about the chemistry equipment than the girls thought. Finally, studies have shown that boys get into more trouble and are also more assertive than girls. When designing rules and classroom procedures, these findings should be taken into account by teachers who may want to give a test at the beginning of the year (and periodically thereafter as new equipment is introduced) to be sure that all of the students understand what is and is not allowed.
There are most likely a variety of influences that create and affect gender differences and stereotypes in the classroom. Social expectations and informal influences when children are very young probably contribute to some of the reasons behind the classroom gender differences between boys and girls. Having teachers attend stereotyping seminars and in general attempt to become more careful about choosing their lecture material and how they treat boys and girls in the classroom may help to decrease the gender differences research has found.
Finally, parents can also do a variety of things to help reduce the impact that gender stereotypes can have on their children. Parents should make an effort to expose boys as well as girls to science, engineering, etc. (Patten, 1998), especially if the girl is interested in these subjects. Parents should also not assume that their children will be uninterested in a school subject just because the parent weren’t when he or she was younger. Also, parents should be aware that they are obviously not going to be the only influence on their children. Other adults, teachers, television, etc. will probably have, in total, much more of an effect, since children will be spending much of their time in a classroom and in front of the TV. (Patten, 1998)
An important thing is for parents to explain why other people have different ideas about boys and girls can like and do (such as why girls can’t be engineers), and encourage their children to study whatever field they like, regardless of what other people say. Self-efficacy is also very important, since making a child feel that he or she can succeed in a gender stereotyped area is a key factor to making success actually happen.
[edit] Evidence of effectiveness
[edit] Critics and their rationale
Christopher Kilmartin, Professor of Psychology at University of Mary Washington, states, "there is at least 35 years of research comparing the sexes on a wide variety of dimensions. With very few exceptions, it has not panned out into much more than a footnote in gender studies." (Kilmartin, 2005)
An important thing to remember when considering gender differences is that men and women are, to a small percentage, genetically different. In addition to this, what our biological heritage implies, social culture may accentuate (Myers, 2002). Traditionally, men were physically stronger and women were more emotional because these norms customarily help the species to survive. Men got the food and women nursed the babies. Therefore it seems to make sense to conclude that men make better engineers and technicians (physical jobs), while women make better teachers (emotional caring-about-people job).
Despite the gender stereotypes and gender rules, there is no argument against the fact that gender role assignments are gradually lessening, and the fact that the genders are becoming more equal (Myers, 2002).
[edit] Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
[edit] Signed "life experiences", testimonies and stories
I think there are probably some gender differences but most of it I believe is based on our expectations. As a high school teacher I see examples of this all the time. Some of it tends to be who teaches what subjects. You almost never see a female social studies teacher. I believe that this has a major impact on female interest in history. While using that example I also never had a male English teacher I think that is a factor in girls doing better and liking English more. I do not necessarily find that my boys do better in American History then the girls in fact it is often the opposite. What I do find is that the boys tend to have a greater interest in history even if they don't do as well in the class. I think at least some of this is attributed to having a male teacher. Also most history books only make passing references to women in history. Today with the internet I have found it easier to study women in history which has helped increase interest from my female students. Craig Johnson
Testimony from L. Valenz:
- Talking to my parents, they explained to me how when they were in high school (30 years ago), a women going into a science was almost unheard of. However, when I chose genetics as my college major, they couldn’t have been happier for me. Go do it, they said, we need more women in the sciences. Obviously, the opinions of my parents had changed.
- Today, however, there are still only about 1 in 10 women in engineering classes, and they often have to behave like men to get ahead – talking tough and dressing unsexily. Trying to find someone to do homework with is even harder; few men want to work with a woman who is smarter than him, and if she is not as smart she is criticized for being a "dumb female in a man’s profession."
- Times have changed, but obviously not enough for equality of the sexes. It is my opinion (that is based on countless hours of research) that the changes need to start with today’s youth, and that starts with the parents and the classroom. -- L. Valenz
Testimony from K. A.:
- I believe that we have to cognitively make an effort in the classroom to account for the bias that exsists because of Gender Differences. I know that I myself try to be aware of assumptions, the way I structure comments and suggestions, as well as call on students in the classroom. I find many girls who are extremely good at math in junior high but by this level have started to doubt their abilities, as well as play a strange game to hide what they know. The boys in my math class will dominate discussions and methods of solutions if I am not careful with the way class is run and students participate. I am trying to make a change but the research needs to be more closely looked at and understood by even the teachers that teach lower than junior high because from what I see the problem exsists earlier as well.
- This is an issue that too many educators think is "taken care of." Staff development programs like GESA can bridge the gap beetween teacher perceptions and reality. Addressing educator bias in regards to gender can be part of almost any type of diversity training as well. -- K. A.
Testimony from Heidi Savoca:
- In my undergrad, I did a project on gender-based differences in learning. I recall that in the elementary years, children are evenly distributed by success in subject areas. It is in the junior high/middle school years that girls begin to grow discouraged in the content areas of Math and Science. I think I started shutting down in my math studies when I stumbled and fumbled in algebraic learning at the age of 14. Females have a tendency to be stronger in Language Arts curriculum areas, whereas males then dominate the areas of Mathematics and Science. If you look at the job fields people go into, these finding often ring true. I'm not stereotyping genders here, but repeating findings. I question if it a matter of time before these tendencies disappear? Will there be more female scientists and mathematicians in our future? It is important to encourage these "taboo" curricular areas by allowing leadership and particpatory occasions for both genders in all subject areas. We need to encourage interests and promote learning to close the gender gap in these areas. -- Heidi Savoca
Testimony from Pat Reed:
- Since reading a recent cover article in Time Magazine on gender differences in math and science performance, I have made some personal observations of my 8th grade math classes. Boys much more frequently raise their hands to answer questions or solve problems, with little worry or concern that their answer may be wrong. They speak their answers with great confidence. Many girls are unlikely to raise their hands at all, and when called on, often respond with the correct answer, but phrase it as a question: "five thousand and twenty-two?" as if unsure that their answer is correct, even when it is correct. Interestingly, the math grades for my students show more girls with A’s than boys. This I attribute to greater diligence and care, rare failure to turn in homework assignments, very few errors in work due to consistent checking and rechecking of homework, quizzes, and tests before submitting by the girls. It was interesting (and somewhat disappointing) to review their scores on the high school entrance exams. For many of the boys, their best scores were in math, and their worst scores in language arts. The opposite was true for most girls. It wasn’t that their math scores were poor, just that math was not their best score. I wonder if this phenomenon can be attributed to girls doing more reading than boys. I am also concerned that it is something we as teachers are doing or not doing in the classroom that is promoting boys in math more than girls. I’ve tried to be very conscious of it, and build up the confidence level of the girls by involving them in math competitions and so forth, but am not sure what effect this strategy will have. Pat Reed
In my experience, the major gender difference that I have noticed is the interest in different types of reading materials. I have found that most of the boys in my room are reading nonfiction during self-selected reading times. Most of the girls are reading fiction stories. Of course there are some exceptions to the rule, and I encourage my students to read a variety of materials. It just seems that boys prefer nonfiction and girls prefer fiction. -NMF
I teach language arts and my experience has always been that girls perform better than boys in my classes. I sometimes think this is because boys tend to pay more attention to factual material and want the "right" answer. They are willing to answer grammar related questions because the answers are either right or wrong. Literature is another story. Girls are more apt to see the bigger picture, able to apply what they have read to other situations. I think much of this can be attributed to boys and girls having very different interests. A large percentage of grading in my class is given for class participation. I am sure I would have a lot fewer boys participating in class discussions of literature if they could rely on tests to get them by. N.Meeker
I teach math in high school. When I first began teaching I called on those students who wanted to answer. A raised hand made it easier for me. Since then, I've made a concerted effort to call on each and every student in my classroom, and they know I will. My students are more alert during class and that just snowballs. Understanding of concepts improves, homework gets done, quiz and test grades go up. It's all good. GUUUD! M. Uhls
Science teachers, like math teachers, need to be particularly aware of the historical differences in preference and performance between the genders in scientific fields. In recent years, girls have shown an equal propensity for scientific pursuits to that of boys, a trend we should encourage. This is a thought that some college teachers as well as those in high school need to take to heart. In too many cases has science been taught more toward male students. There is no reason we should encourage both genders toward success. Timothy Zorn
In the area of band directors, it is a very masculine place. The majority of band directors are male. Does this mean that women cannot succeed in this arena of the work environment? Absolutely not. What it means is that they typically have to work twice as hard to get the same or at least close to the same amount of respect and success. Is this fair? Not at all. My middle school band director was female, and she was fantastic. It was partially because of her that I went into music. She was a great director who worked very hard at what she does to do very well. Thank you. I believe that things are changing all over the place. More and more people are realizing how males and females are the same and can accomplish the same things. In my opinion this is extremely true. As long as you work hard and have the drive, you can acieve anything you set your mind to. -Jeremiah Kramper-
I graduated from college with a degree in mathematics. I have taught high school mathematics for the past two years. I have earned a Master's Degree in Math Education. I have never perceived any bias against me because I am female. I think that the gender gap in mathematics has decreased so much, that it is barely worth discussing anymore. I agree that there is still a disparity between men and women earning post-college degrees in the area of math and sciences. But, I think that this gap will also disappear as more time passes. Jenny Circello
I couldn’t help but notice during my teaching assistantship that the course in chemistry for engineers was comprised of less than 25% females. I also couldn’t help but notice that in my graduate-level course, I was one of only four females that completed the course. In my search for an answer as to why this might be, I came across this quote from this WikEd site, "Owens and Straton (1980) found that girls prefer cooperation, open-ended and organized activities, while boys prefer competition and individualism." I find this to be very enlightening. I remember feeling a sense of competition as a teaching assistant for the engineering course. I wonder if many females leave the sciences when hit head on with competition. I certainly prefer group work and cooperation and it really bothers me that many science courses must include intense competition. In a perfect world, instructors would include both individualism and cooperation. We all have our strengths, and mine happens to be in logical thinking. Females are capable of having strengths in any field (news flash), it is not a lack of intelligence that keeps them out of a field, but rather the nature of the field itself. I wonder what my life would be like if I had succumbed to the intense competition of undergraduate studies. You can bet that I will teach my high school chemistry courses with both male and female interests and tendencies in mind. –Mindy Waters
While growing up with two boys and a girl, the gender differences I experienced were amazing. The boys were given trucks, cars, etc to play with while the girls were encouraged to play dress up, and had a rooms decorated in pink and with princess themes. I was disappointed by this. I think my parents raised me very well, but weren't very open when it came to how they thought a boy and a girl should be raised. I feel that my parents are proud of my but if I had decided to do something that was more typical of a man's job, they would definitely say something about it. S Peduzzi
I think teachers need to be more aware of gender differences and biases they promote in their classroom. If they are having girls draw flowers and boys draw cards, then they are promoting these stereotypes. Teachers need to be more gender neutral. jdelaney
[edit] References and other links of interest
Links:
Gathering Web Evidence to Think About Education>Issues in Education> Gender Differences
Toni Owen Tenecza as part of her education portfolio from Georgetown University addresses gender issues in math. Her web page includes a comprehensive review of literature on gender differences.
Related Readings:
- Eleanor Maccoby wrote a very interesting book called The Two Sexes. She writes on the different play styles of boys and girls and how the two groups diverge so that you see gender differences appear. It is an interesting read and she is not without critics, but still a different way of looking at gender differences based on play styles in and out of classroom and supervised environments. MJB
- I'd like to recommend the book The Boys and Girls Learn Differently: An Action Guide for Teachers by Michael Gurian and Arlette C. Ballew (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003.) This work describes inherent differences between boy’s and girls’ brains and the implications that this holds for teaching and learning. The scope is broad, covering pre-school through high school; however, it provides the needed springboard for discussion of gender issues. I have found it to be a useful "quick reference" in addressing gender related classroom issues. -- Linda Diekman
References:
(1999). "Estronaut: A Forum for Women's Health." GenneX Healthcare Technologies, Inc. Retrieved February 21, 2005 from http://www.womenshealth.org/a/gender_cognition.htm
Gallagher, Tony. (30 Nov 2001) Equal Opportunities Commission Conference on Boys and Girls in the 21st Century: Gender Differences in Learning. Retrieved February 21, 2005 from http://www.eoc.org.hk/TE/edu/gendiff
Gopnik, Alison. (16 Jan 2005) "How We Learn." The New York Times.
Jovanovic, Jasna and Dreves, Candice. (May 1996). "Math, Science, and Girls: Can We Close the Gender Gap?" National Network for Child Care. Retrieved February 21, 2005 from http://www.nncc.org/Curriculum/sac52_math.science.girls.html
Kilmartin, Christopher. (13 Feb 2005). "Sex-difference arguments only hide raw sexism." The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved February 21, 2005 from [1]
Myers, David G., (2002). Social Psychology. 7th Edition. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York.
Owens, Anne Marie. (10 May 2003). "Boys' brains are from Mars." National Post. Retrieved February 2005 from National Coalition of Girls Schools
Owens, Anne Marie. (7 Jan 2004). "Brain research cited in defence of girls' schools: Boys blamed for cortex shutdown." National Post.
Patten, Peggy. (1998). "Understanding Gender Differences that May Occur in Classroom Settings." National Parent Information Network. Retrieved February 21, 2005 from http://library.adoption.com/Child-Development/Understanding-Gender-Differences-that-May-Occur-in-Classroom-Settings/article/3379/1.html
Quek, C. L., Wong, A. F., & Fraser, B. J. (2002). Gender differences in the perceptions of chemistry laboratory classroom environments. Queensland Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 18.
Ransome, Whitney and Meg Milne Moulton. "What About the Boys?" Retrieved February 13, 2005 from National Coalition of Girls Schools
Scrimgeour, R. (1993). Gender bias in the Classroom? Research in Education. Vol. 52.
Strauss, Valerie. (15 Mar 2005). "Educators Differ on Why Boys Lag in Reading: Gap Stokes Debate Over Teaching Approaches, Curricula." Washinton Post
Woolfolk, A. E. (1995) Educational Psychology (6th ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
