Perspectives On Women And Mathematics

Through the prism of gender, this text explores the contrasting cultures and practice of mathematics and science and asks how they impacted on women. Claire Jones assesses nineteenth-century ideas about women's intellect, femininity and masculinity, and assesses how these attitudes shaped women's experiences as students and practitioners.

Papers presented at a symposium held during the Sixth International Congress on Mathematics Education, Budapest, Hungary, in 1988.

Females consistently score lower than males on standardized tests of mathematics - yet no such differences exist in the classroom. These differences are not trivial, nor are they insignificant. Test scores help determine entrance to college and graduate school and therefore, by extension, a person's job and future success. If females receive lower test scores then they also receive fewer opportunities. Why does this discrepancy exist? This book presents a series of papers that address these issues by integrating the latest research findings and theories. Authors such as Diane Halpern, Jacquelynne Eccles, Beth Casey, Ronald Nuttal, James Byrnes, and Frank Pajares tackle these questions from a variety of perspectives. Many different branches of psychology are represented, including cognitive, social, personality/self-oriented, and psychobiological. The editors then present an integrative chapter that discusses the ideas presented and other areas that the field should explore.

THE REAL WORLD OF MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION In this Preface, I would like to focus on what I mean by “education” and speak about the models and metaphors that are used when people talk, write, and act in the domain of education. We need to look at the assu- tions and processes that the models and metaphors implicitly and explicitly contain. I feel we should explore whether there is a specific thrust to mat- matics education in the here and now, and be very practical about it. For me education is the enhancement of knowledge and understanding, and there is a strong and unbreakable link between the two. There seems l- tle point in acquiring knowledge without understanding its meaning. Nor is it enough to gain a deep understanding of problems without gaining the appropriate knowledge to work for their solution. Thus knowledge and understanding are each necessary conditions for the process of education, but only when they are linked will the process bear fruit. Only in the b- anced interplay of knowledge and understanding can we expect to achieve genuine education.

The first World Meeting for Women in Mathematics - (WM)2 - was a satellite event of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2018 in Rio de Janeiro. With a focus on Latin America, the first (WM)2 brought together mathematicians from all over the world to celebrate women mathematicians, and also to reflect on gender issues in mathematics, challenges, initiatives, and perspectives for the future. Its activities were complemented by a panel discussion organized by the Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) inside the ICM 2018 entitled "The gender gap in mathematical and natural sciences from a historical perspective”. This historical proceedings book, organized by CWM in coordination with the Association for Women in Mathematics, records the first (WM)2 and the CWM panel discussion at ICM 2018. The first part of the volume includes a report of activities with pictures of the first (WM)2 and a tribute to Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to be awarded the Fields medal. It also comprises survey research papers from invited lecturers, which provide panoramic views of different fields in pure and applied mathematics. The second part of the book contains articles from the panelists of the CWM panel discussion, which consider the historical context of the gender gap in mathematics. It includes an analysis of women lecturers in the ICM since its inception. This book is dedicated to the memory of Maryam Mirzakhani.