By Afreena Hamid
Srinagar, Mar 24: Arithmophobia or Numerophobia is exaggerated constant and irrational fear of numbers and is mostly related to women. This is not the result of our biology (genes) but rather a social effect as exhibited in experiments.
Difference in mathematical abilities often explored in research concern gender disparities. There has been research examining gender difference on standardized tests across various countries.
Beller and Gafni have shown that children at approximately nine years of age do not show any consistent gender difference in relation to math skills, however in 17 out of 20 countries examined in this study, 13 year old boys tended to score higher than girls due to less confidence imposed in girls by the society.
Moreover, mathematics is labeled as a masculine ability. As a result, girls often have low confidence in their mathematical capabilities.
The gender stereotype can reinforce low confidence in girls and can cause math’s anxiety as research has shown that performance on standardized math tests is affected by ones confidence (Dar-Nimrod and Heine 2006).
As a result educators have been trying to abolish this stereotype by fostering confidence in students to study mathematics in order to avoid the anxiety usually associated with the subject. Stereotype threat can intercede with performance influencing men positively and women negatively.
Stereotypes are undoubtedly hard to break when it comes to education and gender. Parents and students stick with a firmly belief that girls do not do so well in maths while boys do not have great language and reading skills.
The researchers from the University of New Bruinswick in Canada were surprised by the results. “We didn’t expect to find that girls did better at mathematics,” says Daniel Voyer Professor of psychology who published their results in the American Psychological Association journal ‘Psychology Bulletin’.
In Kashmir, I have witnessed the gender disparity when it comes to mathematics from my school times. In my school male math teachers were preferred while female teachers were confined to language based subjects.
It was heartening when finally I had a female maths teacher (Rehana ma’am) in higher secondary Tral but this cheering couldn’t last long as she, in spite of being the best, was replaced by some other male teacher.
Then in my college and even in the University of Kashmir where I study now, there is no female faculty around.
This stereotype has so much influence in our minds that out of 70 (non-medical and compound arts) graduates from our college, we are only three girls who further pursued mathematics.
While discussing the issue with a female undergraduate math student, I was stunned when she said that she probably didn’t have a “math brain”.
We must not perpetuate the idea of “math brain”. If girls think that they don’t have the “math brain” and if mathematics is not a girly thing then it’s very important to pin some inspirations here:
Maria Geatana Agnesia (1718-1799). Italian mathematician and philosopher, possibly the first female mathematics professor
Beatrice Ailchison (1908-1997). American topologist who became a leading transport economist in the US civil service
Florence Eliza Allen (1876-1960) second female and fourth overall mathematics Phd from the university of Wisconsin
Sylvie Benzoni, French expert in fluid dynamics and partial differential equations director of the institute Henri Poincare
When will we have a deep look upon these examples? When will we come to know how important mathematics is and how these stereotypes have nothing to do with the reality and facts?
Mathematics is a subject that everyone has to study at one time or the other. Almost all academic disciplines include mathematics in one way or another but unfortunately students suffer from Arithmophobia fearing numbers, equations, integrals, and complexes.
But girls need to contemplate why this problem persists. Yes it’s not easy to deal with mathematical equations. Yes, we get stressed out when we have to spend hours on just one problem or constantly go to as many tutoring sessions as possible but we only have to heed about the root cause of our semiliterate mathematics.
One of the basic reasons responsible for this semi literacy is our overly procedural thinking. I have seen students who are extremely skilled at mathematics but have troubles when they connect and relate mathematical processes to the real world. The reasons also include lack of practice and practical uses of mathematics.
Educational institutes are mostly responsible for that. The importance and practical usage of mathematics has never been prominently and thoroughly explained to students.
Most university courses include some level of mathematics while almost every profession uses maths in some form on a daily basis.
To relish on core subject like mathematics, we must think where do girls get the message from that they are not supposed to be good at maths.
History is full of examples where females have made a lasting impact in mathematics. We have The Sophia Identity, The Noether Nornalisation Lemma, and Olga Lady Zhenskaya, who proved a result to Navier–Stokes equations.
To study mathematics and take it up as a career, girls should take inspirations from these and need to build a solid base of appropriate mathematical content coupled with an equivalent strong and stalwart set of mathematical process skills allowing them to apply their knowledge successfully. [Author is pursuing Masters in mathematics at Kashmir University. Feedback at afreenahamid3@gmail.com]
