lera-92-07 diary

utorak, 15.09.2009.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061020.MATH20/TPStory/EducationGender bias in math skills doesn't add up, scientists sayWomen reminded of negative stereotypes underperform on tests, UBC study findsUNNATI GANDHI Are women worse at math than men? Researchers at the University of British Columbia think they have answered that question and can put an end to the fractious debate.Women who are told that their gender affects their math skills do poorly on tests; those told that their math skills depend on how they were raised perform better."If they think they can't do anything about it -- that they belong to a group that is mathematically dumb because of their genes -- [women] react by choking, or underperforming," said Ilan Dar-Nimrod, the lead author of the study published in today's issue of the journal Science.Mr. Dar-Nimrod, a PhD student in social psychology at UBC, gave 220 female study participants bogus scientific explanations for alleged sex differences in math, then had them write math tests. If they think they do poorly in math simply because it's more about nurture than nature, they will react by saying "that doesn't apply to me" and then excel, Mr. Dar-Nimrod said yesterday, adding that people can be highly malleable.The study highlights a key concept in psychology known as the "stereotype threat," where a person tends to underperform when reminded of a negative label associated with a group to which they belong. It also deflates the genetic-superiority argument that has been preached for decades, including a much-criticized statement last year by Lawrence Summers, who was then president of Harvard University.At a private talk, Dr. Summers suggested the shortage of women among the ranks of elite research scientists might be partly due to "innate differences" between the sexes. Dr. Summers, who resigned from his post soon after making the comments, said women have an inferior "natural ability" to succeed in science and math careers.His statements drew harsh criticism from academics of both sexes across the continent.Joshua Aronson, a professor of applied psychology at New York University who specializes in stereotypes and self-esteem, said in an interview yesterday that Dr. Summer's comments were based on incorrect assumptions held by many people."When people think about biology, they tend to confuse it with things that are fixed and immutable. That's incorrect," Prof. Aronson said.If women are reminded of their gender before they take a math test, they'll do worse than if they're told they are highly accomplished students at a selective university, he said. So are women truly worse at math than men?Mary Pugh, associate professor of mathematics at the University of Toronto, doesn't think so. She says stereotypes by their very nature are flawed, but society hasn't come to terms with this fact."When I went to graduate school, the math department had five storeys and there was a men's bathroom on each storey. There was a woman's bathroom only one place in the building and it was next to the secretary's office. So, what type of message does that send to female undergraduates, and graduate students and post-docs and assistant professors?" she asked.These new findings are among the latest research to show how stereotypes can affect behaviour. An earlier study found that the elderly did worse at cognitive tests when they were primed to think of age and its frailties, but did better when they were primed to think of age as a source of wisdom."We have to address the issue that when we study human beings, it's not like studying worms. People are affected by the information they receive," Mr. Dar-Nimrod said. "Making someone think something is immutable or unchangeable is very powerful and very dangerous."

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