Outcomes & Future Directions:
Overall
Teaching
Advertising
The Student Home PageThe main
goal of the EWOMS project was to expand the opportunities for
women by helping female college students realize their potential
in mathematics. As a student, you may wonder what are stereotypes about women and math, or maybe, how did this project help women realize that they could be successful in Calculus I? An important overall question is: why is success in math so important for female students? This page is intended to help answer these types of questions in a format that is designed specifically for students. Click on one of the following questions to learn more about its topic. Why is math success so important for female students? Evidence shows that women drop out of mathematics at a higher rate than men, even when they are equally well prepared, particularly in the early years of their undergraduate careers. Women cite a variety of reasons for dropping out of mathematics and related fields. Some women report being turned away by the very qualities that attract them in the first place (Stage & Maple, 1996). According to the 2001 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary for computer and mathematical occupations is $60,350 as compared to a mean annual salary of $34, 020 for all occupations (http://stats.bls.gov/oes/2001/oes_15Co.htm as cited on June 4, 2003). Although increasing one's salary is not the only reason for women to succeed in math, based on this statistic alone, it is obvious that women are disadvantaged by their limited participation in mathematics and related fields. What are the stereotypes about women and math, and do they even really matter? Overall, the gender stereotype is that girls' mathematics capabilities are inferior to boys' (Spencer et al., 2002). As a result, parents, teachers, and even girls themselves expect lower performance for girls than for boys in math. Often, people believe that girls do not even have mathematical ability. (Stipek & Granlinski, 1991). Consequences of this negative stereotype begin when girls internalize their teachers' and parents' negative expectations. Often these expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies. Because girls believe that they cannot achieve in math, they do not achieve in math. Also, when girls do poorly in math, they attribute their poor performance to their inability to do math rather than to the stereotypes they have been taught to believe. Even highly talented females report less self confidence than males when completing mathematical tasks (Seegers & Boekaerts, 1996). In other words, stereotypes have an enormous impact on girls performance in math. (Gutbezahl, 1995). How did the project help women succeed in Calculus I? As previously stated, the EWOMS project involved a teaching intervention, which consisted of a special section of Calculus I designed around the way women learn, together with an additional weekly meeting that combined university orientation information and problem-solving. The teaching intervention in detail...The special section of Calculus I was called a FIG (Focused Interest Group). Although this class was open to all students, as anticipated, the focus on women's issues drew only female students. The FIG had several goals. The central focus of the course was to establish a community based on our knowledge of how women learn best. Mathematical concepts were connected to students' interests, experiences, and relationships (e.g., world population growth, populations of endangered species, spread of infectious disease, and rate of absorption of drugs into the bloodstream).
As
part of the FIG, the women were also enrolled in an orientation
course, UNIV 101. Here, a female doctoral student acted as both
an instructor and as a mentor by focusing on issues particularly
pertinent to women and by helping to develop a support group.
Students
also viewed videos on famous women in the field. Additional enrichment
occurred when the women in the FIG went on a field trip to the
Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and attended a performance
of the Tony award-winning play, "Proof," about a woman
mathematician. Results of the Teaching Intervention... Prior to our intervention, the percentage of freshmen women at NIU continuing from Calculus I into Calculus II was about 30%. In Fall 2001, after we began our experimental grant, we were able to retain 82% of the freshmen women from our Calculus I intervention into Calculus II, and all the women made a C or better in Calculus I. Richard Blecksmith, the professor who taught the FIG course, said he was surprised by the program's across-the-board success. "With every test I gave, the scores on average were 20 points higher than other semesters," he said. "I actually made the class much more rigorous than I usually do, almost to the level of an honors class. By the end, the students had a better grasp of some of the concepts than any class I've seen in a long time. . . . I've never had a calculus class outside of honors where everyone has passed the course with a C or better." According
to the literature, many women change their majors in such a way
to avoid taking additional math classes, but only one of the women
in the FIG did so. Instead, two students who were undecided signed
up to major in mathematics education. Two students decided to
minor in mathematics. Two students also enrolled in Women’s
Studies classes, and one declared a Women’s Studies minor,
suggesting that the focus on women was also important in their
success. The success of the support/study group indicated the
importance of the women’s commitment to helping the entire
group succeed in mathematics. How did the project help change stereotypes about women in math?The
EWOMS second project was the advertising campaign. Advertisements
ran in the campus newspaper to educate the entire community about
women's potential, contributions, and successes in mathematics.
The advertising campaign in detail...Two graduate
student interns from the Department of Communication at NIU developed
a series of advertisements on women's achievements in mathematics,
and their ads were published once a week in the campus newspaper,
usually on Mondays, the highest circulation day. Poster sized
versions of the ads were also hung in places most frequently used
by mathematics students. Results of the Advertising Campaign... Evidence suggests that those who did see the ads took notice. In the Department of Mathematical Sciences, many professors discussed their varying reactions to the ads. The women in the FIG looked for the ads and especially valued one ad, which included a picture of them working and laughing together in their calculus class. Yet, the results were a bit complicated because the ads were not the only medium influencing students' perceptions about women's abilities in math. For example, meetings with advisors and discussions with other students also affected them. In fact, it appeared that perhaps only timing influenced perceptions of the 'math myths'. Over time, college freshmen appeared to become more accepting of the idea that women are less capable in math. At the same time, we wonder whether a more visible and widespread ad campaign might have affected attitudes more. What are female participants' reactions to the project? The students saw the benefit of being a FIG member... Allison,
a student in the FIG: Barbara
Ann, a student in the FIG: Josie,
a student in the FIG: [E]ven though, you know, women want to try to be able to be in the real world and be independent, you know, you need to have like a starting place, and I think like a small women’s group like this is a good starting place. . . . you can develop more self-esteem and then you can go out there and face the head guy honcho at whatever and not care so much. According
to a student, Liz Holden: How can the results of the EWOMS project affect me? We hope that by reading this page you have become more aware of misperceptions about women's abilities in mathematics. Furthermore, as a student, you may now be armed against some of these stereotypes. As previously stated, it appears that over time college freshmen become more accepting of the stereotype that women are inferior to men in math. This simple finding should help you stay tuned to outside forces that may be influencing both your perceptions of women in math and your peers' perceptions. Now, you should also know more about women's learning styles and about how women can and do succeed in mathematics. If you, or someone you know, is a female with interest in mathematics or a related field, stay encouraged! Read more about the project by visiting the other links on the left toolbar, and give your friends and instructors this web address. You may also send an email to one of the project's principal investigators (see the personnel page to find out more information about the project's team). Page Bibliography Gutbezahl, J. (1995). "How Negative Expectancies and Attitudes Undermine Females' Math Confidence and Performance: A Review of the Literature," Information Analysis General. Stipek, D., & Granlinski, H. (1991). "Gender Differences in Children's Achievement-Related Beliefs and Emotional Responses to Success and Failure in Mathematics," Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(3), 361-71. Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., &; Quinn, D. M. (2002).Stereotype threat and women's math performance. [Chapter] A. E. Hunter & C. Forden, (Eds.). Readings in the psychology of gender: Exploring our differences and commonalities. (pp. 54-68). Needham Heights, MA, US: Allyn & Bacon. xvii, 318pp. Stage, F. & Maple, S. (1996). Incompatible Goals: Narratives of Graduate Women in the Mathematics Pipeline. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 23-51. |
This
process was done in two parts. First, an advertising campaign
was created to target the student population's stereotypes about
women and math. Second, a specific course was designed to build
the success of female students in Calculus I. Calculus I was targeted
because it is considered a barrier course for female students.
In other words, even though fewer women than men enroll in Calculus
I, even fewer women than men continue on to Calculus II. 
The
teacher also listened more than in a traditional classroom, and
the students talked more. The teacher guided students through
a process of discovering mathematical concepts for themselves
so that mathematics made sense to them. The learning environment
was less competitive and more collaborative than in traditional
Calculus classes. The teacher used small groups in order for students
to communicate with each other about mathematics and to clarify
or justify their thinking. Thus, students talked about how they
solved problems and received feedback from other students as well
as the teacher. The
students even wrote narratives describing how and why they used
certain problem-solving strategies. These narratives included
explanations and mathematical computations. To try some calculus
problems, 
Students
learned how to read a mathematics book and how to organize their
study. In a weekly one-hour workshop, students collaborated in
solving enrichment problems (using more in-depth investigation)
in addition to those assigned in the calculus class. Notable women
spoke on campus, such as astronaut Mae Jamison, acting as role
models. 
The
portal to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences web page ran
different ads daily for several months in 2002. Ads like the one
shown here aimed to negate stereotypes about women's poor performance
in math. NIU
Math Department *
NIU Women's Studies Program *
NIU Home Page
NSF Home
Page *
Alvirne's Calculus Problems * Math
Forum
Women
and Mathematics Information Server
Association
of Women in Mathematics * Caucus
for Women in Statistics
**A project to increase women's participation and retention in mathematics at
Northern Illinois University (NIU) by improving the climate and, more generally,
reversing the negative value traditionally placed upon mathematics achievement for women.** Questions or comments? Send us an email.