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Ethnic and Gender Issues in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Courses: An Annotated Bibliography
American Council on
Education (2002). 2001-2002: Nineteenth
annual status report
on minorities in higher education excerpts from the executive summary. Retrieved
Examines high school
completion rates, college enrollment and graduation rates, and advanced
degree attainment and employment.
Found that stereotype
threat impeded women’s performance when completing difficult questions
on the fundamentals of engineering exam and recommends that educators
create learning climates where stereotype threat is diminished so that
more women may succeed
Beller, M. and Gafni, N. (2000, January). Can Item Format
(Multiple Choice vs. Open-Ended) Account for Gender Differences in
Mathematics Achievement? Sex Roles, 42 (1/2), 1-21, January 2000.
Investigated whether item
format accounted for gender differences in mathematics performance and
found results that suggest item difficulty, not format, may be the
underlying cause
Found that successful
interventions for improving student performance included weekly
workshop groups that were academically rigorous (non-remedial),
cooperative (not competitive), facilitated by trained student peers who
had successfully completed course and who provided encouragement and
guidance without giving answers, and expressed strong trust in
the ability of students to do challenging work.
Offers several strategies
for teaching problem-solving skills including modeling strategies,
solution-planning, and problem analysis
Identified departmental and institutional factors that contributed to the successful retention of female students in computer science
Duffy, J.,
Examined the effects of
gender on teacher-student interactions and found generally that males
interact more
with teachers and that interactions differed according to the subject
and
gender of the teacher
Suggests three areas for
teacher preparation for culturally diverse classrooms including knowing
students life experiences, researching literature on gender and
cultural issues in science and math education, and developing
strategies for dealing with student problems
Suggest that increasing
students' perceptions of self-efficacy and outcome expectations
positively impact math-related
career choices
Found that women’s test
performance decreased relative to the number of males introduced in the
testing environment and suggests that women may benefit from study in
single-sex math environments
Found that increasing the
applicability of negative stereotypes resulted in decreased performance
by female high school students on difficult math exam
Investigated stereotype
threat inducing conditions(e.g., difficult math exam) and found women
test takers “underperformed” , but performed well when threat was
removed (e.g., difficult literature exam, easy math exam, and/or
difficult math exam presented as gender fair)
Studied factors that
contribute to underperformance of women in science and engineering
including male participation and interruption patterns,
women’s distorted attributions
for personal success, and negative peer interactions
Found that interventions
designed to boost students’ self-efficacy and to increase women’s
access to role models
who successfully negotiate motherhood and careers related to higher
level
career achievement aspirations
Identifies obstacles for
women pursuing careers in computer science including issues of
self-esteem, access to role models and mentors, discrimination, and
role conflict
Investigated the dual
identities of Asian American women and found that activating the
positive stereotype (e.g., Asians excel in mathematics) countered the
stereotype threat of women as underperformers in mathematics
Found that stereotype
threat can only be diminished when threat is directly attacked within a
specific context (e.g., students told that a specific task is a fair
and unbiased assessment of their abilities)
Found that among the
highest achieving students (or those who had a stronger academic
identity and skills), the fear of being associated with a negative
stereotype impaired intellectual functioning and disrupted test
performance regardless of preparation, ability, self-confidence, or
motivation
Describes a collaborative
partnership between
Walsh, M., Hickey, C., and
Duffy,
J. (1999, August). Influence of Item Content and Stereotype Situation
on
Gender Differences in Mathematical Problem Solving. Sex Roles, 41
(3/4), 219-240, August 1999.
Found that the gender labeling of characters in the mathematical word problem was not the cause for performance differences between men and women on mathematical standardized tests, but that instead stereotype threat played a role.
Developed and annotated by
Lois Reddick









