Math just doesn’t click with me. I don’t know . . . it just isn’t my thing. ~ Barbara
Teaching young women to have a growth mindset about their intelligence is one way to increase a young woman’s self-efficacy. Dweck (2006) posited that when middle-school girls believe that their intelligence is a gift, when these girls face struggles in learning they give up and begin to underperform when compared to boys.
Viewing intellectual ability as a gift (a fixed entity) led students to question that ability and lose motivation when they encountered setbacks. In
contrast, viewing intellectual ability as a quality that could be developed led them to seek active and effective remedies in the face of difficulty. (Dweck, 2006, 49)
Girls who have a growth mindset about their intellectual ability do better than girls who view their intellectual ability as a gift (Dweck, 2006).
Dweck (2006) equates thinking about intellectual ability with coping with stereotypes. She claims that if a girl believes that her intelligence is a gift she will be more susceptible to stereotypes. “After all, stereotypes are stories about gifts – about who has them and who doesn’t” (Dweck, 2006, 50). Dweck (2006) studied a group of women who were taking a Calculus course in college and she found that the women who viewed their intellectual ability as fixed were more susceptible to the
stereotypes about women in math than those women who viewed their intellectual ability as growth mindset - something that could be developed. Both groups of women were aware of the stereotype and behavior stemming from the stereotype but had different reactions to the negativity. Dweck reports that the women with the growth mindset about learning had little impact to the stereotype.
In contrast, feeling surrounded by a negative stereotype had a strong impact on women who thought of the math ability as a gift. Over the course of the semester, their sense of belonging eroded and remained low. They no longer felt accepted and comfortable in their math environment, and as a result, we found, many did not intend to pursue math in the future. (Dweck, 2006, 50) By viewing intellectual ability as a gift, students do not develop the coping
mechanisms necessary to push through challenges. While students who view intellectual ability as something that can be developed create coping mechanism that allow them to rise above difficult situations to meet their potential.
Participants described a natural ability in math class. Ariel stated that her favorite class was math because numbers make sense to her. “My best classes would be math just because I like working with numbers. And they make sense to me. And I can logically figure them out.” Ashlyn explained that she was good in math because her innate ability to understand math concept. Science was also easy for her because of the connections that the two content areas have. “Math comes really easy to me. Numbers. And science is closely related to it.”
One participant discussed how she did not like math because it was not an easy subject for her. Barbara described her difficulties in math, as math just didn’t
click for her. Because she did not feel that she had a natural ability in math, math was not her thing. “I do not like math because I just struggle with math. I think that’s the only reason why I don’t like it. Math just doesn’t click with me. I don’t know . . . it just isn’t my thing.” Participants tend to view learning in science and mathematics content areas as something they can learn naturally or something that is not suited for them. The participants exhibited what Dweck described as a fixed mindset when discussing their learning in math and science.
SUMMARY OF MAJOR POINTS
Societal beliefs and learning environments influence young women’s
perceptions about science courses and STEM careers (AAUW, 2010). The six major points summarize the major interpretations from the study of how eighth grade young women perceive science courses and STEM careers. These interpretations were the impetus of the following recommendations and their discussion.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In this study, the participants’ interests, misconceptions of STEM, and gendered stereotypes influenced the participants’ perceptions of STEM careers. To engage young women in pursuing STEM courses and careers, educators need to provide students opportunities with meaningful work. Dweck posits meaningful work as promoting academic achievement and nurturing a growth mindset (2010). I will take this idea a step further. I believe that meaningful work in the science classroom can provide students opportunities to master science content, promote a
growth mindset, challenge gendered stereotypes, and broaden students’ horizons about STEM careers. Meaningful work are tasks that are authentic in nature,
provide opportunities for students to construct knowledge, and provide reflection of the learning process. My recommendations for teachers to engage young women in opportunities that show STEM careers as possibilities for them are 1. Provide meaningful work, 2. Promote a growth mindset, 3. Challenge gendered stereotypes, and 4. Broaden young women’s horizons.