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Issues related to gender in school
Gender inequality issues in the classroom
Gender equity in education
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Reflective Research Paper
I have connected the reflective research paper to objective # 1 because it made me examine my personal belief and attitude on gender equity issues. I did not realize that gender equity existed at the level that it does until researching the topic. Doing the research made me realize that the way we teach directly affects how children learn in every aspect.
Gender inequities in the fields of math and science are well researched and the results are shocking. Women compromise 45% of the work force, they hold jobs concentrated in clerical, service, and professional fields such as teaching and nursing, rather than in mathematics, science, or engineering (Levin & Matthews, 1997). Gender inequities start in school due to teacher interaction, language, role models, gender expectations, and the method in which the curriculum will be taught.
Learning about gender-equity issues simply by reading or hearing about them is not the same as seeing, thinking about, and reflecting on examples of them. In a 1997 article, Levin and Matthews explain that teachers and teacher educators need to be made aware of gender-equity issues in the classroom so they can encourage both boys and girls to take an interest in math, and science. Levin claims that teacher education programs have inadequately prepared teacher to address gender-equity issues. I think that it is easy to overlook the gender bias in your classroom. I think that self-assessment is necessary in determining treatment of all members of the classroom. Teachers should distinguish between strategies which favor or oppose certain groups, and should influence policy makers to provide equal opportunities for learning (Underhill, 1994).
Interaction be...
... middle of paper ...
... the professional fields of science, and mathematics.
Works Cited
Reys, R., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D., Smith, N., & Suydam, M. (2001). Helping children learn mathematics. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Levin, B., & Matthews, C. (1997). Using hypermedia to educate preservice teachers about gender-equity issues in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 29, 226-238.
Baker, D. (1996). A female friendly science classroom. Research Matters to the Science Teacher. 9602.
Pollard, D. (1996). Perspectives on gender and race. Educational Leadership, 53, 72-75.
Kahle, J., & Damnjanovic, A. (1997). How research helps address gender equity. Research Matters to the Science Teacher. 9703.
Underhill, R. (1994). Equity issues in math and science learning. School Science and Mathematics, 94, 281.
Valian, Virginia. "Beyond Gender Schemas: Improving the Advancement of Women in Academia." NWSA Journal 16.1, (Re) Gendering Science Fields (2004): 207-20. Print.
Throughout the years, males have dominated the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with very few females finding their way in the mix (Steinberg, Okun, & Aiken, 2012). Those females enrolling in the STEM majors soon find themselves questioning why they have, and many quickly change their majors to more female-accepting professions (Steele, James, & Barnett, 2002). The view that women lack the intellect to succeeded in STEM disciplines has been a prevailing one for much of history (Cadinu, Maass, Rosabianca, & Kiesner, 2005). Many researchers have questioned whether it is social stigma impeding female success or indeed basic biological differences that make males are more successful in these fields than women (Smith, Sansone, & White, 2007).
Kahle, J., and Lakes, M. (1983). The Myth of Equality in Science Classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20, 131-140.
Sadker, Myra, David Sadker, and Susan Klein. "The Issue of Gender in Elementary and Secondary Education." Review of Research in Education 17 (1991): 269. JSTOR. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
Libit, H. Summer curricula bridge gender gap programs encourage girls’ interest in math, science, technology. (August 13, 2001)
Despite a growing push for diversity in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields there is still a great deal of sexism experienced by women who work and study in these fields. There are many factors to consider when examining and studying the presence of sexism in STEM. Firstly, what problems stem from society at large? What problems start from an early age and get worse? What problems are unique to high school, college, graduate school in professional environments? The goal of this research to explore and provide information on what the underlying issues are regarding how women are discriminated against when entering in and joining the STEM fields. It will examine issues primarily involved in western society,
The gender gap that results in the absence of women in STEM is progressive and persistent. Not only is this an issue of equity, but a lack of female participation in STEM results in a lack of diversity among perspectives regarding solutions to problems and other scientific endeavors. The gender gap in STEM can be seen as the result of several factors including teacher bias in the classroom, a chilly climate from male colleagues as they progress through their careers, little societal support for wanting a career and a family, lacking role models in their study of interest, and an overall lack of science preparation when it comes to pursuing a STEM career.
Gender equity issues are virtually ignored in most university level education classes and any strategies created to decrease gender-biased classroom behavior are basically non-existent. Most efforts to remove this problem are geared toward working teachers when the focus needs to be on the upcoming generation of teachers presently in school (Miller, 2001).
When reading this article I gained the perspective of how science has been influenced by our cultural definitions of male and female. When analyzing our cultural history, as well as today’s culture, gender has been constructed through the ideas and values
Science, according to the Oxford dictionary, is the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. As plainly as anyone can see, this definition does not entail a specific gender to the field of science. Why then does it seem that gender roles and gender views of the modern day seem to lurk constantly in the shadows of the scientific word? Why are we repeatedly shown proof of how deeply rooted our gender association is in even the “objective” observations of the material world? Ultimately, for the reasons W and X, Y successfully responds to the threat posed by sexism in science.
Zuckerman, Harriet, Jonathan Cole and John Bruer (eds.)” The Outer Circle: Women in the Scientific Community” New York: Norton, Print. 1991
The concerns regarding equity issues in math and science may seem minimal, but in reality are very large. Usually unintentionally, teachers pay more attention, and give more positive attention to boys in their classrooms. This is especially noticed in the areas of math and science. “Girls are equal to or ahead of boys in achievement” (Sadker, 1993, p. 67) in the early stages of schooling. So why do boys seem to do so much better in math and science in the later school years? Perhaps it is not that boys are just smarter than girls are. Studies have shown that teachers give boys more attention in the early and crucial years because they fear that the boys will fall behind in their school subjects, and that boys are more daring--more willing to take a risk and answer a question, even though it may be wrong.
It is not a big secret that America’s quality of education is sub-par. According the article, “US 17th In Global Education Ranking; Finland, South Korea Claim Top Spots” by Amrutha Gayathri, it’s obvious from the title alone that the United States is falling behind. Without change, the United States will continue to be behind in education. An issue that currently plagues the American education system is gender bias. Gender bias in schools has been addressed in laws, but it still persists in American schools, such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the U.S. code Title 42, Chapter 21 regarding Civil Rights. Both laws attempt to discourage gender bias through the illegality of gender discrimination. Title IX addresses bias in federally funded educational and athletic programs in schools and colleges within the United States. Title 42, Chapter 21 of the U.S. Code prohibits discrimination based on gender, age, race, religion, and other characteristics within a number of settings, including education. Despite these laws, gender bias is still prevalent within American schools. A proposed solution to gender bias is gender segregated classrooms, which has proven to be a popular alternative to co-ed classrooms. Leonard Sax, author of “Six Degrees of Separation: What Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences,” is a leading proponent of single-sex schools. Single-sex schools are not without critics though. Jaclyn Zubrzycki’s article, “Single-Gender Schools Scrutinized,” claims that single-sex environments “are not inherently beneficial for boys or most girls.” When considering both Zubrycki’s and Sax’s findings, it would seem that the ideal solution to liberate the American education system of gender...
Girls are seen as caring, nurturing, quiet, and helpful. They place other’s needs above their own. Girls get ahead by hard work, not by being naturally gifted. Boys are seen as lazy, but girls are seen as not capable. In class, teacher will call on boys more than they call on girls. Boys are seen as better at math and science; while girls are better at reading and art. This bias is still at work even out of the classroom. There are more males employed at computer firms than women. The ratio of male to female workers in STEM fields is 3-1. In college, more women major in the humanities than in the sciences. In education, women are often seen as lesser than; even though 65% of all college degrees are earned by women. Women are still often seen as needing to be more decorative than intellectual, as represented by the Barbie who included the phrase, “Math is hard!” and the shirt that JC Penneys sold that said, “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” While there was a backlash on both items, it points out that there is a great deal of work to do on the educational gender bias to be
...appy. With the difference in gender, both a male and female teachers' exposure to society's youth is critical, and male teachers are just as important as females in the educational field.