For many years, researchers have been documenting the multiple ways in which girls and women are “shortchanged” in their schooling experiences. Today, there continue to be differences in schooling access, experiences, opportunities, and outcomes for girls and women in this country, and gender inequities can be found from grade school to graduate school. In spite of many years and many attempts to eradicate these inequities, girls and women still receive less recognition and encouragement in the classroom, fewer questions from and interactions with their teachers, and less representation—on classroom bulletin boards as well as in the curriculum.

Over the course of their schooling experiences, these inequities take their toll on female students, combining to insure that they receive less support for their academic confidence and success ...