Why Girls Don't Like Math

A recent episode of Your Voice ("helping parents help their children succeed in school") on Ontario Public Television station TVO took a look at "Why Girls Don't Like Math". The program featured a discussion between Patricia Campbell of Fairer Science, Fiona Dunbar, Lecturer in Math at the University of Waterloo, chair of the university's Women in Mathematics Committee and founder of the Canadian Women in Math Association; and Grade 8 teacher Lukrica Prugo, who has taught an all-girls class for two years. Host Cheryl Johnson set out the background:

According to the experts we spoke with on Your Voice, eight out of ten future jobs will require math skills. This does not bode well for girls, since most girls leave math in the dust after high school, if not before. It's not that girls are not good at math. The most recent EQAO scores from the Education Quality Accountability Office in Ontario show that girls and boys in Grades 3 and 6 achieve at the same levels in math. However, when asked in the EQAO survey about math, far fewer girls say they like math, fewer say they find math relevant, and many more say they need help with math. So.....girls are good at math, but they think they're not.

It's an interesting discussion - well worth watching if you are interested in math education.

Watch "Why Girls Don't Like Math".

Tags: mathematics, education, girls