The Exonian Examines Gender Disparities in the AMC

For years, the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) exam has faced criticism for failing to achieve equal gender participation. According to a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Bureau of Economic Research, the male to female ratio in the 99th percentile of AMC results extends to over 6:1. In light of this finding, The Exonian investigated whether this systemic problem has extended to Exeter.PEA students register for the AMC every year, beginning the rigorous selection process to become a part of the United States International Math Olympiad (IMO) Team. Mathematics Instructor Zuming Feng, the former coach of the USA IMO team, is credited for PEA’s success in the AMC.The AMC 10 and 12 are 25-question, 75-minute, multiple choice problem sets designed for high school students. Developed by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in order to foster the problem-solving capabilities of students, the AMC 10 is limited to students up to tenth grade, whereas the AMC 12 is available for all high school students. The A version of the AMC 10/12 occurred on Jan. 30, and the B version on Feb. 5.Exeter has often scored well in the AMC, and students often qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), the USA Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO) and IMO.However, there is often a gender disparity to such competitions. “For centuries, from a young age girls have never been encouraged to pursue math and other academic careers; it has only been recently that we have begun encouraging this,” Math Instructor Ivan Borsenco said.The Exonian recorded the gender distribution of PEA students who placed on the “honor roll,” or placed within the top 5 percent of students that year, using historical statistics published online by MAA. Female honor roll placement at the Academy has never exceeded 40% of test takers at Exeter.In recent years, the disparity between Exeter female and male participation has grown increasingly large. While in 2016, the ratio reached a low of 1.55:1, in 2017, 2018 and 2019 the ratio bounded to 11:1, 6:1 and 4:22, respectively.Math Instructor and AMC Contest Coordinator Tim Whittemore said the gender disparity stems from influences experienced in middle school or even earlier. “A number of years ago, Mattel had a Barbie doll with a button that you’d push and she would say, ‘Math is hard,’ which is not really super supportive of reminding girls that they can do math,” he said. “We have lots of people who would say they don’t know how to balance their checkbook, but very few people who would readily confess admit that they don’t know how to read. I think that literacy and numeracy, the number form of literacy, are comparably important. Unfortunately, they are not seen as equally valuable by the general public.”Park noted that this gender disparity is applicable beyond high school. “In general, as you get older, there are less women than men in STEM. If you look through high school, college and universities, you can see how male-dominated math is, as is the case with most areas of STEM,” Park stated. “Schools typically don’t do enough to foster female interest in math and competitions.”Choi has been competing in the AMC since her prep year at Exeter and was the only female taking the USAMO test last year. “This is not unique to Exeter, but my experience has been that, if you’re a girl who makes it to one of the final round, you’re often in a classroom with a lot of older guys because they’re usually the people who are also in that level,” she said. “I think it’s very easy to get discouraged as a young female to ask questions and throw in ideas, which are very important to improving your skills.”This distribution of girls to boys is also reflected in the Math Club, where fewer than ten girls regularly attend. “Many people who are in Math Club were involved in math competitions before Exeter, where societal influences caused there to be a gender ratio skew towards boys,” lower Jocelyn Sides said. “At Exeter, these self-perpetuates, where sometimes, female students are not taken very seriously or credited for their ideas.”Upper Yunseo Choi felt that this distribution is a result of the influences of different backgrounds. “A lot of that is because certain areas of the country often have a very well established community where they exchange information and raise their kids to be part of this community from a very early age,” Choi said. “So, I don’t think that competition math is a great indicator of your math prospects because a lot of it is influenced by how you grew up and how early you’re introduced to the system.”Exonians are introduced to competitive mathematics through different avenues. Lower Maxine Park started with math competitions in middle school through the AMC 8, which is geared for middle school students. “The math on the AMC is very different from what you learn in a math class, so I wouldn’t take the score as a judgment of math skills. There is a bit more creativity in the problems, so it can be fun to see how you can put a creative spin on concepts you learn in class,” she said.Senior Evan Chandran, a leader of a Math Club, added that although math scores fluctuate year to year, Exeter’s strong math resources continue to foster student learning and participation in the AMC. “One of the reasons I applied to Exeter was for the math programs offered here,” he said.Chandran highlighted that the Math Club has expanded past Exeter’s math curriculum. “In our Math Club group, much of the material we practice is oriented towards contest preparation for exams like the AMC and AIME. We cover topics not taught thoroughly in Exeter’s math curriculum, such as counting/probability and number theory,” he said.As co-head of Math Club, senior Ben Wright also noted that Math Club primarily aims to facilitate student’s interest in mathematics. Thus, preparing for the AMC is not the main role of Math Club. “Math Club provides training for AMC and other competitions, but doing better on the tests is a symptom of math skill growth rather than the goal of Math Club,” he said. “Math Club is the primary method for most students to prepare for the AMC year round, but individual practice plays a large role in the couple of weeks leading to the event.”While the excellence of the math program largely goes unchallenged, gender parity remains a key area of growth. The Academy has taken steps to boost equity. All students are provided opportunities to sign up for the AMC, as each math teacher has a sign up sheet. Math Club also has events for team bonding, such as dinners and ice cream trips to lessen discomfort. “In the end, students decide whether or not to come to the Math Club, so the best we can do is encourage all students interested in math to come,” Wright said.