Falta de participación del asesor de menores

Before the 1980s, Sutherland (1981) found that the concept of gender has not only identified that there was bias in the educational system towards males, but also that certain school subjects were dominated by males. Even though Sutherland's assertion was in the ‘80s, the 2009/2010 GCSE results in the UK show that, for non-compulsory subjects, more girls chose languages (e.g. Spanish, French, German) than boys and more boys chose Physics and Chemistry than girls (JCQ, 2010). The concept of gender has thus been an influential part of education where certain subjects have been associated with either males or females.

The concept of gender equity in education seeks to tackle the social reproduction of gender inequalities in education. Equity in education aims to ensure that both males and females are given equal access to education (Equality Act 2006). The Equality Act 2006 also implies that both boys and girls should have equal opportunity to choose any school subject in the UK, but to be equipped equally for that subject is another matter. One of the enemies of equity in education is the social construction of gender. Haywood and Mac an Ghaill (2011) argues that before the child is born and reaches school age, certain gender norms have already been established in them. Changing this process is very slow, as it has been set in motion very early in a child’s life (Haywood and Mac an Ghaill, 2011). This means that achieving gender equity in education is a Herculean task, which goes beyond just giving equal access to education.

31 The position on equity in Mathematics education held by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is that equitable practice should encourage both teachers and students to value, respect and believe in the work of the classroom community. The main aim is for each individual to build a positive image about Mathematics based on their own roots and cultural background (NCTM, 2008). The NCTM makes the assumption that irrespective of one’s roots or cultural background, Mathematics has always been in existence and has always been used by both males and females. The NCTM identified different factors contributing to achieving gender equity in Mathematics education. These include incorporating individuals’ roots and cultural backgrounds in the learning process. The NCTM's position does not however explain situations where a person’s roots and cultural background do not encourage them to study Mathematics. In this situation, the cultural background of a person could therefore be a disincentive to achieving gender equity in Mathematics.

There are different aspects to the achievement of equity in Mathematics education. Fennema (1990) argues that equity does not mean using the same teaching method for everyone in the class, but varying the approach to suit individual students in order to achieve the goals set for the class. These include equity through separation and differentiation as a teaching style. Fennema’s views are still relevant today, because the uniqueness of a person cannot be ignored and this can be the basis for forging equity in education. Equity in this situation is ensuring that learning opportunities and educational treatment are applied equally. More importantly, there should be no significant differences in what students of either sex have learned by the end of the specified period of schooling, (Fennema, 1990).

In some situations, achieving equivalent outcomes in Mathematics education may mean that teachers actually need to treat male and female students differently (Fennema, 1990). This could even lead to separating the female students from the males. Raynor (2008), on the other hand, suggests that rather than establishing equity by separation, effort must be made to establish equity in co-educational schools without separation. In her view, even though individuals may have their preferred style of learning, they can still learn other

32 styles from mixed-gender classes. Having a supportive educational environment tailored towards the need of both sexes at all levels irrespective of institution can bring about equity in learning Mathematics. There are instances of single- sex schools having been found to perform better in Mathematics than co- educational schools (Rex, 2009; Aldridge, 2011). There are also studies that have found that women from single-sex schools are more likely to pursue further education in Mathematics-related subjects than women from co- educational schools (Phillipps, 2008; Picho and Stephens, 2012). According to Drury et al. (2013), single-sex schools are more important in the countries of the global South (e.g. Nigeria, Columbia, Mexico) for bridging the gender gap in education enrolment and Mathematics in particular. This view seems to suggest that introducing more single-sex schools in developing countries could address the problem of gender gaps in education. However, it would not be wise to increase the number of single-sex schools with the sole purpose of ensuring gender equity. Besides being an expensive venture, other subject areas may not need such intervention as a way of ensuring gender equity. For instance, Aldridge (2011) found that in the US, the performance in reading attainment lessons of female students taught in co-educational classes was higher than those in single-sex schools. The males in single-sex classes, on the other hand, performed better in both Mathematics and reading than those who were taught in co-educational classes. This shows that instead of single-gender institutions, single-gender classes could be another option for achieving equity in Mathematics education.

In conclusion, the concept of gender consists of socially constructed roles attributed to males or females, socially reproduced through different means including culture, identity and class. These roles take into consideration personality, behaviour, attitudes, values, career and relative power. Gender construction starts from birth and schooling should be a place to halt gender reproduction, but this is not the case (Paul, 2014).