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Katie Bell
Professor Diaz
MATH 2010
October 31, 2016
Essay 3
Gender and Mathematics
The issue of gender gap and mathematics is a real problem. After
reading these different articles, the why behind it makes more sense. There
are very simple ways I feel we as teachers can close this gap between the
boys and girls that we teach.
One of the reasons that there is a gender gap is because boys and girls
think differently. Boys, Carr says, tend to use memory to retrieve sums and
are motivated by a sense of competition to get the answer fast, even if they
sacrifice accuracy. Girls care less about speed than accuracy and more often
rely on manipulatives counting on their fingers or a counting board,
(Azar). I have seen this difference of strategy in the classroom. Boys are
more competitive than girls and that brings the motivation for the boys to
learn sums. Girls want to get the right answer, so speed falls to the back of
their mind.
As a teacher, there are simple ways to fix the gender gap problem.
When students are practicing math, make them work for it! Not just because
they are quicker at sums, but because they learn more. Teach each student
in a way that reaches them while also having the same expectations for boys

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and girls to exceed. Give them the motivation because it makes them better
than they were before.
Calculators can also be a hindrance if the students are doing simple
equations that can be memorized. When students memorize simple facts,
they will then have room in their brains for more complex math. If you as a
teacher can help students see and understand the why behind math they will
get better at math. If we make sure all children are fluent [in math facts],
we will eliminate most gender differences, (Miller). Although we might be
only one teacher, we can still at least affect the students we have.

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Works Cited
Miller, Claire Cain. "How Elementary School Teachers Biases Can Discourage
Girls From Math and Science." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 2015. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Azar, Beth. "Math Culture = Gender Gap." N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.