nt needs to be considered when evaluating the overall research findings.
Contributors: Reasons Why Girls Underachieve in Math
1. Passivity. Newman and Goldin (1990) surveyed 34 boys and 31 girls in grades two, four, and six regarding their seeking help with mathematics and reading from their parents, teachers, and/or classmates. In addition to survey data, math achievement and reading achievement data were also collected.
Results of the study showed that math achievement (measured as end of term grades in math) evidenced characteristic gender patterns; that is girls tended to be under-achievers in math, doing far less well than boys. Analyses of survey data indicated that while low-achieving boys and girls knew that they needed help, they hesitated to ask for assistance.
Passive behavior--such as students' unwillingness to ask for math assistance as was observed in Newman and Goldin's (1990) study--was also observed in a study of small group mathematics classes conducted by Mulryan (1995); as in previous studies, this study found that boys evidenced higher math grades than did girls. It was, however, also observed that those students who had higher grades in math (both boys and girls) generally spent more time on-task, and especially more quality time on-task; these students were also far more involved in learning math and were more active participants. Regarding gender, it was found that boys showed more initiating behavior in cooperative small groups than did girls.
2. Biased Perspectives of Educators. According to Holmes (1991), more and more educators have agreed that one of the primary causes of girls' under-achievement in mathematics is that subtle sexism-based practices in school classrooms are denying girls the opportunity to reach their full potential. Examples of such practices are said to include the facts that teachers:
a) tend to call on boys more often than girls, b) tend to give boys mor...