Jenna Coffee

1
Gender Differences

• Jenna Coffee
• November 2, 2007
• Multicultural Education - Dr. Beth Christian

2
Introduction

• Gender inequalities can be described as unfair
  treatment of students based on their sex. All of
  us have different ways of communicating with
  different people. It depends on a lot of factors
  like where were from, our upbringing, age,
  educational experience, and even gender. Gender
  differences and assumptions affect and influence
  learning in more ways than one. One of the old
  sayings is that boys are better at math and
  science, and girls are better at language arts.

3
Overview

• Academics boys excel in science and math and
  girls excel in language arts
• Male Characteristics
• Female Characteristics
• Teacher Characteristics
• Extra Information
• Effective strategies to equalize genders
• Summary

4
Academics

• Boys are believed to excel in math. The belief in
  the gender difference in math has caused lots of
  research to be carried out. There have been tests
  that show that males outperform females on
  standardized tests of mathematical ability.
  However, the gender difference is extremely
  small. Some think that a reason for this
  difference is that boys grow up in more spatially
  complex environments. Boys play outside, and they
  are also given more freedom to explore. They play
  with more spatially complex toys, such as
  building and construction toys.

5
Academics

• Boys are also believed to excel in science. There
  is no posited explanation thats been found for
  this difference. What is known is that females
  enroll in fewer science courses than males. One
  thing that can convey the message that math and
  science is for males is that more males than
  females teach math and science, although the
  majority of school teachers are female.

6
Academics

• Girls are believed to excel in language arts,
  such as reading and writing. Girls are said to
  read earlier, have fewer reading problems, and
  respond more easily to instruction dealing with
  reading. Also, girls spell better, and recognize
  correctly spelled words more often.

7
Academics

• Although you hear all these things about boys
  being better at math and science and girls being
  better at language arts, research has shown very
  small differences in these areas.

8
Boys

• Are more physically aggressive than females
• Engage in more fantasy about fights and
  mock-fighting than girls
• Pose a greater behavior problem in the classroom
  than girls
• Are referred more often for serious behavior
  problems in the classroom
• Are praised for their knowledge and for giving
  the right answers
• Are reprimanded for misbehavior
• Are more easily distracted than female students
• Are more likely than girls to be suspended,
  expelled, or placed in special education

9
Girls

• Are commonly seen as more influenceable
• Are more capable seeing other peoples emotions
  than males
• Show better language skills and reading
  comprehension than males
• Are praised for obedience and compliance
• Are reprimanded for not giving the right answer
• Are thought to be more passive and more willing
  to wait for recognition
• Mature physically and emotionally at an earlier
  age
• Are more motivated to perform well in school

10
Teachers

• Reprimand boys a lot more often than girls
• Praise boys more often than girls
• Are giving boys more attention than girls
• Sadker found that teachers praise-and
  criticize-boys far more than girls. She also
  found that boys call out for the teachers
  attention eight times more than girls do, and
  that teachers accept boys unsolicited remarks as
  contributions. When girls do the same, they are
  told to raise their hands.
• There are ways to diminish these differences.

11
More Information

• If individuals believe they will fail at a given
  task, they will be less likely to opt for that
  task. Conversely, individuals will be more likely
  to choose tasks in which they believe they will
  be successful. (Golombok and Fivush, pg. 179)
• It is found that males call out more answers than
  females and that more male answers are accepted
  by teachers than female answers.

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Effective Strategies

• There are effective strategies that can help
  teachers equalize discussions. Teachers can
  develop a card system for calling on students.
  When teachers need a volunteer they can just draw
  a card and let the student with the name on the
  card answer. Also, teachers can use wait time.
  After a student answers a question, they have to
  wait so long before answering again.
• Teachers need to build confidence and appeal to
  female interests.
• Parental support is also very important. Parents
  should visit their childs classroom. They should
  encourage their children to participate in all
  academic areas girls should be encouraged to
  participate in science and math and boys should
  be encouraged to participate in reading and
  language arts. They should be encouraged to do
  what they like whether it is against the norm or
  not.

13
Summary

• Gender inequalities still exist today. It is said
  that boys excel in math and science, while girls
  excel in language arts. Research shows that there
  isnt a significant difference. There are lots of
  stereotypical views of how boys and girls are and
  should be. Teachers treat boys and girls
  differently whether they realize it or not. There
  are effective strategies that can be used to
  reduce the inequalities. Parents play a major
  role in these issues also. They can help
  encourage their children to strive to reach their
  goals no matter what it may be, even if it is
  against the norm.

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Website 1

• WikEd. Gender Differences. Retrieved October 18,
  2007, from WikEd.
• Website http//wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Gender_
  Differences
• This article is an overview of gender
  differences. It mentions research that has been
  done and also gives advice on things that can be
  done to reduce the impact that gender stereotypes
  can have on children.
• This website is useful for teachers and parents.

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Website 2

• Gender Inequalities in the Classroom. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from University at Albany.
• Website http//www.albany.edu/az3902/
• This article is used to demonstrate how gender
  inequalities still exist even today.
• This website is useful for teachers and parents.

16
Website 3

• Contemporary Educational Psychology/Chapter 4
  Student Diversity/Gender Differences. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from Wikibooks.
• Website http//en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporar
  y_Educational_Psychology/Chapter_4_Student_Divers
  ity/Gender_Differences
• This article is about gender differences in the
  classroom. It also talks about physical
  differences in gender roles, social differences
  in gender roles, academic and cognitive
  differences in the genders, and how teachers
  influence gender roles.
• This website is useful for teachers and parents.

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Website 4

• Howe, Christine. Social Interaction in the
  Classroom Patterns and Implications. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from The SCRE Centre.
• Website http//www.scre.ac.uk/rie/nl60/nl60howe.
  html
• This article talks about the patterns of
  difference. It talks about some of the
  differences between boys and girls. It has lots
  of differences between the genders. It is very
  helpful.
• This article is useful for teachers and parents.

18
Website 5

• Gender Differences in Learning Styles. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from Buzzle.com.
• Website http//www.buzzle.com/articles/gender-di
  fferences-in-learning-style.html.
• This article talked about the gender differences
  in learning styles. It talked about some studies
  that have been done. There were also some useful
  strategies to help students succeed.
• This article is useful for teachers and students.

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Printed Resource 1

• Golombok, Susan and Fivush, Robyn. (1994). Gender
  Development. New York, NY Press Syndicate of the
  University of Cambridge.
• This book was very helpful. It went over
  teacher-student interaction, gender differences
  in academic ability, gender differences in
  language ability, gender differences in math and
  spatial ability, gender differences in computer
  literacy, gender differences in science, and
  expectations of teachers and parents.
• This book is useful for teachers and parents.

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Printed Resource 2

• Gullotta, Thomas, Adams, Gerald, and Markstrom,
  Carol. (1999). The Adolescent Experience.
  Academic Press.
• This book had lots of information in it. It had a
  chapter over gender differences and sex-role
  development.
• This book is useful to teachers and parents.

21
Printed Resource 3

• Landau, Barbara. 2004. The Art of Classroom
  Management Building Equitable Learning
  Communities. Prentice Hall.
• This book was useful in my research. It talked
  about gender inequalities. It also talked about
  some of the effective strategies that can used to
  help equalize classroom discussions.
• This book is useful to teachers and parents.

22
References

• Contemporary Educational Psychology/Chapter 4
  Student Diversity/Gender Differences. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from Wikibooks.
• Website http//en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Contemporar
  y_Educational_Psychology/Chapter_4_Student_Divers
  ity/Gender_Differences
• Gender Differences in Learning Styles. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from Buzzle.com.
• Website http//www.buzzle.com/articles/gender-di
  fferences-in-learning-style.html.
• Gender Inequalities in the Classroom. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from University at Albany.
• Website http//www.albany.edu/az3902/
• Golombok, Susan and Fivush, Robyn. (1994). Gender
  Development. New York, NY Press Syndicate of the
  University of Cambridge.

23
References

• Gullotta, Thomas, Adams, Gerald, and Markstrom,
  Carol. (1999). The Adolescent Experience.
  Academic Press.
• Website http//wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Gender_
  Differences
• Howe, Christine. Social Interaction in the
  Classroom Patterns and Implications. Retrieved
  October 18, 2007, from The SCRE Centre.
• Website http//www.scre.ac.uk/rie/nl60/nl60howe.
  html
• Landau, Barbara. 2004. The Art of Classroom
  Management Building Equitable Learning
  Communities. Prentice Hall.
• WikEd. Gender Differences. Retrieved October 18,
  2007, from WikEd.
• Website http//wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Gender
  _Differences