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Boys are better at Maths... or not... - The role of stereotypes

Updated: Nov 3, 2020

Bias, stereotypes, education, self-actualisation, diversity


I read an article on a social media site about a Biology/Science book for 11 years old. The chapter discussed the physical and social differences between boys and girls and details of their abilities and skills. In the screenshot of the book, it talked about the differences between boys and girls, how girls are generally better at art and crafts, boys tend to do better at sport, and are more talented in Mathematics. Then, the article went on and talked about how girls like to be in the role of a wife, a mother and boys want to become fathers and husbands. The most shocking about the article was that it was written last year... what about diversity and inclusion?




Well, there are several reasons why I find this article disturbing. The article is heavily embedding false stereotypes into young children, not covering elements of diversity. What about individuals who don't want to be parents or married? This book is trying to push an artificial 'norm' to the younger generations, and let's say they don't agree with what is said in the book; they still need to give the appropriate answers at the exams otherwise they won't pass the course. We need to ensure that we are teaching our children that they can make educated, empowered decisions in their lives, make choices about their future, be aware of diversity, the importance of accepting others, and that it is ok to be different.


I am currently reading an interesting book from Valerie Young, Ed.D; The Secret thoughts of successful women. In one section of the book, Young talks about the role of stereotypes and how they affect individuals. She explains that there is a phenomenon called stereotype threat, which was first reported by researchers Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson. The danger of stereotypes is that they can be easily internalised as truth, which can turn into a behaviour.



The examples in their research were the ‘idea’ that women are lousy at Math and that we all know this, as this is a fact. In their research, telling female students that the Math test is gender-neutral caused them to perform better; telling them the opposite, they performed substantially worse. It was even enough if individuals needed to tick a box about their gender on the test; they would perform a lot worse.


According to Young, the same is true when we are talking about race and class. In another research, this one is from France; they spoke of students who were reminded of their socioeconomic status, those from low-income groups performed more poorly during educational tests than those from high-income groups. This is a very important part of education. If we want to ensure that our kids and workers achieve their absolute best, we need to ensure that we break down all barriers for them, including stereotypes. There is so much work went into breaking down the differences between men and women in work, it is enough to think about the gender pay gap to see that there is still a long way to go to eliminate these issues. Not to mention the other different areas of diversity where we have even more work to do.




If we are not careful, we will feed our children from a very young age with self-perceptions; we are shaping their views and limiting them before forming their own opinions. Because all of these self-perceptions are programmed in them already, all of our efforts to have more women in STEM roles and more women in leadership roles will become an uphill struggle.


Diversity matters, as it is not true that girls are not good at Math. Some might not be good at Math, but who gives others permission to limit children's possibilities before any of it becomes true? Or my other favourite, that women are generally soft, they are not leadership materials... Why would we write off women? Young carried out many interviews during her work on developing her programme around Impostor syndrome and how to overcome it. As part of her interviews, there were some comments she included in her book, interviewees gave these comments, and a couple is copied below;


“Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths.”


and another one

“Women who talk in a more conventionally feminine manner, using a higher pitch, softer volume, an upward inflection, are perceived as less competent.”


We seriously need to think about our way of thinking and how we bring up our children to ensure we are breaking down stereotypes. I recently had a conversation with a young lady. She has a master’s degree in engineering from the EU, licensed to drive heavy machinery, including forklifts, yet when she mentioned this in work, the answer was; pretty girls don't do this kind of stuff in our workplace. This happened in the UK, 2020. We want to think we have made huge progress in breaking down the barriers, yet, this is a prime example of how far we are from the actual truth. Of course, it is almost like a life's work to break down barriers and see the real difference. Certainly, the situation is a lot better than 40 years ago. Still, when I hear stories and read book extracts about what is taught to children in primary schools in certain countries, not all countries, of course, I can't stop worrying that we are reverting back to past thinking methods, disempowering individuals.



Also, I can't stop thinking about diversity and inclusion programs, when organisations are trying to increase the number of women in their leadership roles or the number of BAME individuals in their organisations. Are we, as organisations prepared to tackle and medicate the issues around individuals' self-limiting beliefs, especially when they are not even aware that they have these limits placed on them from a young age? What is the best way to approach individuals' attraction from underrepresented groups when all hard efforts are not bringing the results? All employer branding solutions are bottomed out. Can we counteract the damage which was caused by years of educational, cultural, and societal programs in a short period of time, e.g. attraction and recruitment? It is not just to see organisational results, but to open opportunities for individuals for the long term and help them become a step closer to self-actualization.


We need to look at the bigger picture to find long-lasting solutions to support individuals.


Reference:

Valerie Young, Ed. D. The Secret thoughts of successful women, Crown Publishing Group, 2011


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