Why are girls so freaked out by math? The reasons are complex and rooted in the patriarchy, and education activist Vanessa Vakharia is fighting back MAYBE YOU REMEMBER the moment you started hating math: the smell of stale gum and musty old textbooks, the monotone drone of the instructor, the knot in the pit of your stomach as you stared at the board and tried to make sense of all the numbers and formulas and rules—so many rules.
Her takeaway? “It’s an act of resistance against the patriarchy to educate girls and women on how to overcome their math phobias,” she says. That’s because over half of all future jobs will depend on mathematical proficiency. And with STEM jobs paying, on average, much higher wages than many other careers, the lack of women studying math at the high school and college level means that women will be underrepresented in these job sectors, as well as being at an economic disadvantage.
In high school, girls are particularly influenced by these gender binaries, and this appears to have a profound impact on how they think about math. With pressure on all sides to follow the rules of normative femininity, teen girls come to feel that being good at math simply isn’t feminine; that it doesn’t fit with their identity; that it’s “not for them.” It’s also the age when many heterosexual girls become obsessed with being attractive to males.
Vakharia’s inspiration came from her own teaching experiences. Most of the girls she taught seemed consumed by shopping and celebrity culture—much in the same way that she’d been back in her Keanu Reeves-obsessed high school days. “These girls are obsessed with the notion of being ‘cool’…and they are all at a pivotal stage in terms of identity creation/acquisition,” Vakharia stated in her thesis.
What if these same celebrities could broaden cultural ideas about femininity by embracing math? Think about it: Paris Hilton in a “Math is Hot” T-shirt. Kylie Jenner promoting #geekchic to her 150 million-plus Instagram followers. And it isn’t so far-fetched to think that high-profile pop culture figures can have an impact on what are considered gender-appropriate traits.
Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »