Gender and Mathematics Essay Example

There is great debate about whether the male sex is better than the female sex, or if the female sex is better than the male sex. It has been both proven and debunked by researchers and scientists alike. But the question still remains, are boys better at math than girls? Some people may look to the sex gap in the STEM fields; which is that there are more men than women. When people are first born, there is little to no difference in the brain. Many boys and girls when they are still young can be easily convinced and “molded”. They can internalize the idea that they are inadequate, or that they are egregious at certain subjects like math. Take for example, a Barbie doll that came out a few decades ago whose catchphrase was “Math is hard”. Barbie dolls were extremely popular and they were all the craze for young and impressionable girls. This only makes them self conscious about their math abilities, and makes them scared to try more math. M. Beth Casey, a professor of Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology measured people's confidence about math and when she got the results, she agreed that confidence does indeed affect one's mathematical abilities. When people are born, certain jobs are pushed towards them. Jobs that are less dangerous and more nurturing are pushed towards young girls, while jobs in STEM are pushed towards young boys. In the end skill depends on nature vs. nurture. The gender gap in math ability is due to nurture. It is similar to how some people are good at reading. Why? Because they read more and do more English based learning than those who are not good at reading. It all depends on the environment one grows up in and what they themselves do. If a young girl grows up hearing her mother or father say “I was bad at math too” or “I am not good at math” they will start to doubt their mathematical ability. If a young boy grows up hearing similar locutions he too will doubt his mathematical abilities. Although genetics always play a substantial role in plenty, intelligence and learning skills are extremely malleable.  If you grow up doing more math, when you get older you will be better at math. If you struggle with math and you study and practice your math skills will advance, you will get better at it. Another reason it pivots on nurture is how much a child has played with interactive toys. Like M. Beth Casey, once again, said “Early in life they tend to play more often than girls do in ways that develop spatial abilities. Boys are attracted to those kinds of spatial activities where they're running cars along the ground or block building,"  Playing games encourages and improves strategic math thinking skills. Skills that are rather critical. When boys play these kinds of games or have more access to them, they are more likely to be better at finding different strategies for problem solving and further improve memory. Many factors play a role in one's ability to do good in math, but what may be the most momentous factor is nurture. Where one grows up and how they grow up can affect their math skills. If we want both girls and boys to have the same or around the same amount of math skill, they should have more problem solving and more math oriented games.