Girls Do Have a Math Problem: Teacher Bias

Girls Do Have a Math Problem: Teacher Bias

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Bias on the part of high school math teachers is hampering girls who want to study mathematics, an analysis of a U.S. educational study found. Researchers analyzing data collected in a national Educational Longitudinal Study in 2002 said teachers tend to rate white girls’ math abilities lower than those of white male students even when the girls’ grades and test scores are comparable to boys.

Reporting their findings in the journal Gender & Society, researchers from the University of Texas found “evidence of a consistent bias against white females, which although relatively small in magnitude, suggests that teachers hold the belief that math is just easier for white males than it is for white females.”