New study suggests girls learn math anxiety from their teachers

I have been saying for years that students are influenced by American society to think math is hard. People tell them math is hard, so they think math is hard, so they don’t do well in math. I even remember writing an essay on a college math final in which I ranted about this very topic.

I collected anecdotal evidence to support my theory when, as a grad student, I tried to teach elementary education majors some rudimentary physics labs. The class, which was a light version of Physics 101, designed just for elementary education majors, was required for the degree. Many of the students would put the class off until their final semester, and viewed it as a major obstacle to graduating. They had poor attitudes, because the subject was “so difficult”, and besides, “when would they ever use it”? They came into the class convinced that the subject, and the necessary math, was too hard, and they couldn’t do, and they’d never use it as a teacher. Let me rephrase that: they thought that physics, the basic science behind everything in the universe, was not only impossible, it was unnecessary, to learn. These people now teach our children.

Now I have some research to back me up in what I have always found fairly obvious. Sian L. Beilock, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago, headed a study which suggests that a teacher’s own anxiety about math can influence students, and even cause them to have math anxiety as well. Worse, there seems to be a gender bias, which causes young girls with female teachers who have math anxiety to buy into the stereotype that girls aren’t as good at math as boys, and to be more likely to develop math anxiety themselves than their male classmates. It gets worse:

Girls who grow up believing females lack math skills wind up avoiding harder math classes, Hyde noted.

”It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology,” she said.

Holy cow, do you see what’s going on here? Young girls develop math anxiety, then grow up to be elementary education majors, then pass on that same math anxiety to other young girls, who then avoid studying science and engineering. This is a vicious cycle!

What can we do? One idea might be to recognize that this cycle doesn’t necessarily exist in all countries. Asian students have outperformed Americans in math, which could, in part be due to the way they are taught. In some Chinese elementary schools, students are taught math by specialized math teachers. That makes sense to have math taught by teachers who specialize in, and are therefore good at, it. But in the current American elementary school model, all subjects are taught by a single teacher, with the occasional exception of art, music, and/or phys ed.

Another option would be for American elementary schools to stress math more, and to spend more time on it, sooner. My Little Skeptic Boy loves math, and is pretty good at it (for a 6-year-old) but his math papers from Kindergarten contain no real math. Lots of pattern recognition, and sorting, and groups, but apparently they are saving the actual math of 1 +1 = 2 until they are older and “can handle it”. My opinion is that math isn’t hard, it is just new. Just like learning a foreign language, it can seem an insurmountable task at first, but over time, with enough exposure and practice, it can become second-nature. If our kids were exposed to math early, and repeatedly, it would become familiar and comfortable.

Since changing the American education model is a big task, probably our best option, as parents, is to work on math at home. Helping with homework is key. Reviewing homework, to make sure your child understands what they are studying, is a must. But, beyond that, let’s make math part of everyday life, instead of just that one subject we dread at school. Here’s how:

• Watch your language. Don’t talk about how bad you are at math, or how impossible math is. Never say, “Your math homework is too hard for your old Mom.” Kids might think, “Gosh, if my folks can’t do it, I’ve got no hope!” Instead, you might say, “I’m not sure how to do that problem since it has been so long since I was in your grade, but I’m sure I could do it back then, and I can probably look it up on the internet to remind myself now.” If it is truly beyond you, approach it from the angle that it is new to you, and you and your child need to seek help from a tutor or teacher who is already familiar with that subject.
• Show kids that math is everywhere. Handsome Skeptic Husband explains to our kids what baseball batting averages mean, he tells them how soon we will be somewhere based on how fast we are driving, and if we will be there in 15 minutes, he asks them to figure out what time it will be when we get there. When at the grocery store, he asks Little Skeptic Girl to tell him which is the better buy: a 12-pack of 12-ounce cola, or an 8-pack of 16-ounce cola if they are the same price. At dinner, we ask Little Skeptic Boy how many rolls we can each have if there are four of us, and eight rolls.  We point out math in everyday life.
• Make math a multimedia experience. There’s a lot more music, videos, and books about math than you might at first realize. In the music category, you can’t beat  They Might Be Giants’ Here Come the 123s, but there are many other options for songs about numbers, counting, addition, etc., to be found at Songs for Teaching. Educational videos about math are abundant, as well, and I love the classic Schoolhouse Rock videos. Two of my favorite kids’ books are Sir Cumference and One Hundred Hungry Ants, but middle-school kids should all read Math Doesn’t Suck, and Kiss My Math by TV’s Danica McKellar.
• Make a game of it. Play games with your kids and let them play games by themselves that either use math, or teach math-related skills. Kids can play Sudoku and Leapster Jedi Math by themselves. You can play Set and Mastermind with them.
• Get advice for more. Go to The Math Mom website, to get ideas for how to “present math to your kids as candy”.

This new study helps explain why there might be more math anxiety among girls than there ought to be, but maybe we can help repair the damage at home.

More ideas on what we can do? Leave them in the comments!