AWM Book Review

Gender and Mathematics Education: an ICMI Study in Stiftsgarden Akersberg, Hoor, Sweden 1993

Barbro Grevholm and Gila Hanna, editors, Lund University Press, Lund, Sweden, 1995. ISBN 91-7966-276-5.

From: AWM Newsletter, November/December 1996.

Reviewed by: Patricia S. Wilson, Department of Mathematics Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602; e-mail: pwilson@moe.coe.uga.edu.

"When thinking about the problem of gender and mathematics education, I see myself as a victim as well as a contributor. I am a victim because, like most of us, I had to go through the experiences of a woman as an outsider in mathematical studies during my entire education. On the other hand, we might well see ourselves as contributors to the problem, because nevertheless we were successful. As teachers of mathematics or as university professors we came integrated into the system, with all its opportunities but also with all its deficiencies and failures, and maybe we now contribute to its functioning or malfunctioning." (Christine Keitel, Germany, p. 371)

Christine Keitel's reflections captured many of my thoughts as I read the informative and thought-provoking Gender and Mathematics Education. As a woman and a mathematics educator, I could identify with several of the situations and statistics describing young women and their struggles to become part of the mathematics community. But I was even more fascinated by the discussion of factors that have contributed to the limitations imposed on women as mathematics learners and as professionals. Unwittingly, as mathematics professors and teachers, we probably have contributed to the very system that we are struggling to eradicate. Addressing a wide range of complex issues, Gender and Mathematics Education offers the reader thoughtful reporting and commentary from diverse international voices. Collectively they offer well-documented information, ways of thinking about gender issues, practical suggestions, and philosophical underpinnings for a shift in research about gender issues. Anyone teaching mathematics --- regardless of the gender of their students --- could benefit from the scholarship shared in this book.

Gender and Mathematics Education comprises the proceedings of a conference, funded by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), and held in Hoor, Sweden in October 1993, to discuss the gender imbalance in mathematics education that has been documented around the world. The book is divided into plenary addresses, research papers, panel presentations and working group reports. The collection presents voices from more than 18 countries and illustrates both the similarities and differences that exist internationally. For example, about 80% of mathematics majors in Kuwait are women; likewise, the majority of mathematics majors in Portugal are women. These statistics contrast sharply with the United States where about 50% of the mathematics majors are women, and Japan, where the figure is 20%. Researchers from Papua New Guinea, for example, are concerned with the low participation of women in mathematics in particular and school in general. All countries reported concern over the small numbers of women who continue to study mathematics in graduate programs, and the under-representation of women in mathematics-related careers.

This book is much more than a compilation of papers. All the participants started from the assumption that "there is no physical or intellectual barrier to the participation of women in mathematics, science, or technology"; but from there they took off in a variety of directions. Gila Hanna, from Canada, summarized the key questions and issues in the introductory chapter and captured the themes that permeated the book. She offered three categories: 1) Factors Creating Gender Inequities in Mathematics, 2) Manifestations of Gender Inequities, and 3) Foci for Change. Papers in the first category dealt with studies about attitudes, socio-cultural influences and the nature of mathematics and school mathematics. Studies in the second category reported girls' participation in both school and careers, discussing the relationship of girls and technology. Contributors to the third category addressed ways in which curricula, assessment, teachers, schools, and parents influence girls and how they can serve as powerful stimuli for change.

There was little overt disagreement in the book, but the contributors did represent different perspectives and used a variety of research techniques. Most of the studies were empirical and focused on the differences between girls and boys. For example, there were studies that discussed differences in achievement, different responses to assessment techniques, different approaches to open ended tasks, different enrollment patterns, different attitudes, different perspectives on the use of mathematics, and different confidence levels.

The study of differences has been a traditional approach in documenting gender imbalance and in measuring improvement, but one of the most exciting components of the book was the discussion of a major shift in the way we think about gender issues. Years of research in gender and mathematics has identified inequities, socio-cultural variables, and some approaches to addressing those inequities, but the problem seems to be much more complex. For example, research identified differences in achievement scores of girls and boys as well as differences in enrollment patterns. Through various programs, girls were encouraged to take more mathematics and the difference in achievement scores was almost eliminated. However, girls are still underrepresented in graduate mathematics programs and mathematics-related careers. The contrast between the increase in the number of women entering professions such as law and medicine, for example, and the relatively modest gains among women pursuing advanced degrees in mathematics and physical science, is quite striking.

We need to not only identify differences, but also to understand more about women as learners of mathematics. Elizabeth Fennema, who has lead the way in research on gender issues in mathematics for the last 20 years, explains: " ... I do not believe that we shall understand gender and mathematics until scholarly efforts conducted in a positivist framework are complemented with scholarly efforts that utilize other perspectives" (p. 28). Later in her paper she shares a vision of what future studies from a feminist perspective might contribute:

It appears logical to me that as I try to interpret the problem from a feminist standpoint, it is different from what I focused on earlier. Instead of interpreting the challenges related to gender and mathematics as involving problems associated with females and mathematics, I begin to look at how a male view of mathematics has been destructive to both males and females. I begin to articulate a problem that lies in our current views of mathematics and its teaching. I am coming to believe that females have recognized that mathematics as currently taught and learned restricts their lives rather than enriches them. (p. 34)

There are several feminist theories, each offering a different perspective and carrying different implications for research design. The shift that seemed to be advocated by many participants called for a better understanding of women's perspectives. Suzanne Damarin explained in her paper the possible contributions of a variety of feminist theorists, and contrasted the difference of feminist empiricism and feminist standpoint theory.

Feminist empiricism begins with the position that science and its global methods are basically sound, but some practices, procedures, assumptions, and, therefore, findings of scientists are biased against women; because these practices, or abuses, are detrimental both to women and to science, they must be identified and curtailed. In contrast, feminist standpoint theory argues that a less biased account of the world can and should be constructed by beginning investigations with the experiences of women (p. 129).

The paper by Damarin and several of the comments by panelists provided a vision of future research related to gender issues. The shift seemed to encourage new kinds of questions and consequently new or adapted theoretical foundations and methodologies.

An important point that was supported by all the contributors was the emphasis on women as individuals as well as members of groups. We know from empirical studies that the variance within the population of women is much greater the differences between genders. Perhaps it needs to be said more often. Throughout the book, there are implicit and explicit references to the need to avoid essentialism, or the tendency to assign a specific characteristic to all women or all men.

This collection of research and commentary reports where we have been with respect to gender issues and where we are beginning to plow new ground.