Ulterior Motives

How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior.

by Art Markman, Ph.D.

Why girls drop math II: Who wants to be alone?

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on August 22, 2008 in Ulterior Motives

We know that girls are less likely to go into math and "hard science" careers than boys. There are lots of reactions people have to this news. Some, like Lawrence Summers (who became the former president of Harvard in large part because this remark in 2005) suggested that women may not have the same innate abilities in math as men. Others suggest that the school system is somehow failing girls in school. Still others are concerned about social pressure that girls might feel to shy away from looking smart when there are boys around. Read More

mathophobia - more dominant in the fairer sex

Submitted by Makepeace Sitlhou on August 24, 2008 - 1:12am.

To add to the propositions in your article, I think there's a considerable degree of "elite" intelligence quotient attached to hard core sciences like physics and chemistry and logic and math. and women, around the world, are still socialized with the belief that boys are smarter. One may even plead the cause of sex hormones and its greater tendencies in leading to different lifestyles but the social forces more than mould the former belief.
I did my bachelors from an all girls institution and I understand the advantages in it, however, women do eventually end up in what they call a man's world. I do not think that the performance levels would take a drastic drop then.