Self-Esteem

Math Anxiety

In 1992, the American Association of University Women published How Schools Shortchange Girls, drawing attention to classroom disparities in treatments of girls and boys. Attention soon focused primarily on two elements: “the fall,” a phenomenon first asserted by Carol Gilligan, referring to a precipitous drop in self-esteem for adolescent girls, and a gender gap in which boys outpace girls in math and science curricula. Self-esteem was soon tied directly to academic performance for girls, especially to “math anxiety.”

What is known now? Most studies agree that the gender gap is narrowing in both self-esteem and math performance, the result, perhaps, of a host of [Page 742]factors including gender-sensitive curricula, testing standards, and more sophisticated analysis. However, despite a meta-analysis by Janet Hyde that showed no huge gap in self-esteem for girls and boys, boys still outperform girls on SAT math scores by more than 30 points. Further, the link between self-esteem and math accomplishments differs by sex. A recent University of Texas study demonstrates that girls adjust their self-perceptions with relation to math through internalization of negative feedback from others (such as grades or comments by teachers), whereas boys respond to status-oriented feedback (such as a learning-disability diagnosis). The pathways are gendered. Even more important, the drop in self-confidence precipitated a truncated math trajectory for both boys and girls. When students internalize negative feedback, they lose important resources to success, including motivation and enrollment in demanding curricula.

How does the self-esteem/math connection become gendered? Actors engage in interaction with other actors, all of whom respond to gendered expectations. Rewards and sanctions reinforce these interactions, slotting boys and girls into gendered pathways, which take place within institutions that also exhibit gender-stratified patterns. For example, mathematical reasoning is seen as a male domain and, in turn, its adherents become channeled into relatively lucrative career tracks such as computer science. Higher rewards in male-dominated careers then reinforce self-perceptions of worth for men and women.

Sexual Permissiveness

The popular book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus characterizes women as centered on relationships (and not sex) and men as incommunicative (except when seeking sex). Such generalizations reinforce the idea that men are more sexual by nature and that women, on average, are less interested in sex. Similarly, girls who are sexually permissive are characterized as “bad,” but boys who engage in sex are rewarded status as “studs.” Both connect to self-evaluation.

...