Gender Equality In Education
For years educators have been focusing on creating gender equality in education so that men and women can receive equal opportunities in the future. However, it seems as though educational institutions have only been focused on the top of the student body. Research has shown that the top percentage of boys score higher on mathematical standardized tests than the top percentage of girls. In the workforce that is now so heavily based on expertise in both engineering and mathematics, it should be a social priority to reduce this divide in education.
Thirty-five years ago, the department of psychology at Johns Hopkins University published an article suggesting the severe gap in gender equality in specifically the mathematics and engineering fields. Since this realization, the problem has been brought to the public eye where countless education specialist have been working to reduce the divide.
However, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently released a report stating top-performing boys score higher in math than the best-performing girls in all of the 63 countries in which the tests were given. This statistic is outrageous given the amount of resources that have been used to definitively increase female’s math scores since the original study. Still, only 14 percent of women entering college for the first time choose a science-related field, compared to 39 percent of men.
Furthermore, in the same report, OECD released that the problem of gender equality is not only in the upper percentage of the academic population, but also in the lower part of the schooling community. There is now a large gap between the worst-performing boys and the worst performing girls in the U.S. The number of students doing poorly in all areas of study in the female population seems to double in the male population. Also, it is not only the worst male students who cannot compare to the females; it is also the average male students who score lower on standardized tests than average female student. Educators are currently trying to figure out how to address this problem and improve gender equality on both sides of the spectrum.
Additionally, the OECD study suggests the effects of social and economic development. In more developed countries, the gap between male and female test scores is smaller; yet, in relatively poor countries, there is an even larger gap in standardized test scores between underperforming males and females. In these countries, females still outperform males on standardized tests. Also, in wealthier countries without much women’s rights, males tend to outperform females in mathematics by wider margins. Even if socio-economic development helps males’ scores, it doesn’t raise female math scores up to the levels that they should be.
The OECD has many theories about what could have caused this gap between females and males on both ends of the spectrum. It is believed that what holds women back from keeping up with mathematical performance in the top percentage of students is just the fact that they are insecure about their skills. Boys on the other hand, can easily become disengaged and fall behind on their work. This, of course, can be altered with a few changes in curriculum and parenting, which can shorten the gap in between male and female students in the academic community.
Research shows that different tactics will work with females and males. In the case of male students, structuring their working environment and monitoring the amount of video games or other activities that they do with their free time can greatly improve the overall success of the child. It forces them to work harder in school and hopefully be more successful in the future. Usually all the support needed by females is a parent or teacher who encourage her working habits and giving her reinforcement about how she is doing in a certain subject. Not only will this help to boost the child’s self esteem but also improve his or her overall performance.
Nonetheless, educators have to start to focus on both genders, male and female alike, in order to create true gender equality in the school system. It is our duty to understand the both genders are being affected and the both problems can be easily solved by simple routine changes. In order to see true improvement in gender equality, not only in the younger population but in the workforce and beyond, we must work to understand the root of our problems and work to fix them without the barrier of gender. ♥