When observed in the beginning of the year, 20 female students who subscribed to the math-is-for-boys stereotype showed no difference in test scores. However, by the end of the school year, their average test scores were 102.5 compared to 107.8 for the remaining 45 girls, and 107.7 for the 52 boys not taught by a math-anxious teacher.
This study also revealed that female teachers were more likely than male teachers to be anxious about math. Psychologist Sian Beilock said she was not sure how exactly the anxiety was transmitted from teacher to student, but assumes several possibilities. She suggests that math-anxious teachers might call on boys to solve math problems more often than girls, praise boys more effusively, or simply imply that it’s not important for girls to be as good at math as their male peers.
How is math-anxiety defined? Beilock defines it as “a condition in which the prospect of doing math evokes unpleasant physiological and emotional responses.”
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