Women in Math

After our gender discussion in class I started to think about my history with math. I was talking with the other people in my small group about my math history, but then I started thinking about it more at home. My senior class in high school had about 650 students in it and I won the award for best math student of the year along with 2 other students in my class. I was honored to receive this award, but it didn't mean much to me because I always tried hard in every class. I consistently got good grades, so being recognized was rewarding, but it never registered as something special. The fact that it was a math award didn't have an effect on me either, to me it was more of a general award for being a good student.

I remember when getting my Bachelor's degree at UW I kept trying to narrow down majors by avoiding majors that required a lot of math and science classes. I ended up choosing Spanish and Psychology (which by the way, psychology is a lot more math and science intensive than I had thought). When people asked me why, I always said because I didn't like math that much and I wasn't that good at it. After this gender class, I thought why did I tell so many people that I wasn't good at math. Obviously I was somewhat good at it if I got that award and have always received great grades in the subject. This makes me think that I've subconsciously learned that women (like myself) aren't supposed to be good at math and won't succeed in careers that are math-based.

This makes me wonder how my life would be different if I hadn't shied away from math so much. I wonder if I would have succeeded in higher level math classes. As a teacher, I will make sure that all students feel confident in math and I won't allow them to be afraid of it. I want my student's to own their successes and recognize their strengths as well as improve on their weaknesses.