Teachers unconsciously put girls off math and science by marking down their work in comparison to boys, a new study finds.
An Israeli research has shown that teachers of 11-years-olds graded a math test lower, on average, for girls than boys. However, if the same math test is graded anonymously by other teachers, the girls generally performed better than the boys. The research was tested on other subjects, however the same effect was not seen.
The unconscious effect is a discouragement which has implications. Boys who were encouraged when they were younger performed a significantly better results than their female counterparts. Girls were also significantly less likely to participate in more advanced math and science class later on.
The consequences of this action could lead to a gender gap in achievement. Therefore teachers are the crucial point to changing the confidence level of their students, which could impact on their futures.
Category(s):Child Development, Teenage Issues
Source material from PsyBlog
