Girls put numbers up in math

Boston Globe
Peter Schworm
June 5, 2005

Girls in all grade levels have scored as well as the boys on the math MCAS exams, but some educators are still concerned about girls’ math performance. Girls’ SAT scores continue to be lower than boys’—an average of 36 points lower—and in Massachusetts girls take fewer advanced placement courses in math. The stereotype perpetuated by our culture—that girls innately lack math ability—continues to undermine female students’ confidence in their ability. Despite the improvements evidenced by test results, many educators are still concerned that women are discouraged from entering into male-dominated fields. According to Susan McGee Bailey, executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, “It’s not just test scores. I don’t think girls are getting the message that they can be engineers, too.”  Read more

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