The Gender Gap in Mathematics is Only a Social and Cultural Consequence

Mathematics is acknowledged as a hard subject and people who are good at it are considered to belong to
a small group of special elite. Furthermore, that elite has been historically spearheaded by a specific
gender. The majority thinks that the nature of mathematics goes along mostly with masculine quality,
thus, men are commonly focus on it. For many years the view has been that there exists a difference
between the academic performance of men and women, especially within the areas of science and
mathematics. It has been proposed and thought that the differences that are seen in both women and men
in performance in mathematics have been associated to the distinction in gender. Despite the advances in
the modern world and the change of women role through the time there still exist strong social cultural
influences on perception of gender. Men and women have been made to define themselves on the basis of
the distinct psychological and behavioral predisposition that are associated with appearing biological
functions, when the truth is that the only problem is society and the way that the children are being raised.
With such thinking in mind, it becomes increasingly difficult to have uniformity in performance in men
and women at work and in academics.

Firstly, it is well known that the education has been the key of the progress of any social group, then it
makes sense that the first attention fall in home and in how parents teach and bring up children. Parents
can positively affect children’s educational attitudes, for example those who take the time to explain
concepts and ask questions help sons or daughters gain mathematical knowledge. Unfortunately, parents
can also contribute to negative student attitudes by perpetuating negative stereotypes. Several research
studies including the book International Perspectives on Gender Issues in Mathematics Education
(Forgasz, Becker, Lee, & Steinthorsdottir, 2010) focus on how both females and males tend to assume
that men are more naturally gifted in mathematics than women and that women must work harder to be
successful in the field. In our macho country it is more than clear that parents of sons believe that they
have higher mathematical ability, even when the daughters earn higher grades. But this perception goes
beyond borders. In Korea for example, some parents were not receptive to the notion that girls could learn
mathematics and science sufficiently well to continue into careers in that kind of fields. Theses types of
negative parental beliefs may contribute to women receiving less parental support in mathematics, which
in turn may cause females to internalize the thought that they are inferior to men.

Another essential social aspect is the elementary and high education. It is this aspect that has given the
man a male advantage and consequently expected him to perform better at mathematics. For this reason
the teachers treat boys and girls differently in science and mathematics classes. On the one hand the
teacher will make the boy feel they need to perform well in these areas and will give their attention and
resources on them. On the other hand the teacher will give the girl the perception that it is not wrong for
them to fail in the subjects, because the teacher does not expect them to perform well in these subjects.
Such views are still woven in society and are crucial in a future decision. This, undoubtedly has created
the gender gap within the academic fields in the world that have driven the differences in performance in
science and mathematics and can be easily recognized in now days indoors schools.

Of course there are others environments that affect the develop of mathematical skills. In the study
reflected in the book Children, Schools, And Inequality (Social Inequality) by Doris R. Entwisle, Karl L.
Alexander and Linda Steffel Olson (2004) showed that there were experiences from the school and
neighborhood resources that affect the development of mathematical abilities. In their study they revealed
that there were contextual aspects in the environment that affected the mathematical skills in the boys
more than those in the girls. Boys are able to respond more to the resources in the neighborhood than girls
can. Such skills obtained from their surroundings have been associated with the mathematical
competency of boys. The reason being that boys spend more of their time in the neighborhood than girls;
hence they are able to draw experience from their surroundings than girls.This is because the society
limits the exploration capabilities in girls while it encourages boys to explore more. Boys are given the
freedom to explore and play around the neighborhood, while girls were encouraged to stay at home. It is
this exploration that helps boys to develop better spatial and numerical abilities that see them perform
better in mathematics. The experience within the neighborhood and their surroundings help them further
develop their spatial skills more than girls. Spatial skills can only develop if one is able to practice them
often, where the best area to do so is in the field. The contributory factor is the socialization process that
the girls and boys go through as they develop and learn at the elementary age.

Although it is true that women and men have biological differences it would be wrong to claim that these
differences explain the lack of participation of women in mathematics. For support this, the researcher
Jane Mertz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Jonathan Kane of the University of Wisconsin-
Whitewater have performed the most comprehensive exploration yet of math performance. The study
analyzed data from two international surveys of school mathematics performance, one from 2007, which
included fourth- and eighth-graders, and the other from 2009, which included 15-year-olds. The data from
86 countries, including the U.S., Belgium, England, Hong Kong and New Zealand, shows greater
variability in male math talent only in some cultures, for example, Taiwan. In others, like Tunisia, girls
showed more variability. This suggests that culture, not biology, drives women out of math fields. All of
these findings argue strongly that the apparent gender gaps are really just disparities in education and
cultural expectations, not evidence of some deeper biological mechanism. Thus, it does not suggest that
an innate biological difference between the sexes is the primary reason for a gender gap in math
performance at any level. Rather, these major international studies strongly suggest that the math-gender
gap, where it occurs, is due to sociocultural factors that differ among countries, and that these factors can
be changed.

Finally, it is the gender social constructs that have shaped the perception of women of science and
mathematics and have influenced their performance in these areas. Therefore the differences in
performance in men and women mathematics and science are under the influence of the social cultural
factors. These have in effect created an environment where capabilities and abilities are limited by the
socially assigned gender roles. These gender roles are perpetuated through social interaction, and every
person plays a part in constructing them. Both positive and negative gender stereotypes can affect
people’s beliefs, values, and attitudes, which in turn can positively or negatively affect achievement.
However, even though history has had shortage of outstanding female mathematicians, Hypatia of
Alexandria, Maryam Mirzakhani (first woman who won a Fields medal), Ada Lovelace, Mary
Somerville and others who have performed in mathematics through time are examples that despite of the
culture and stereotypes it is able to do math and be a woman.