Secondary science and mathematics teachers and gender equity: Attitudes and attempted interventions

✍ Scribed by Jonathan A. Plucker

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 967 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4308
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2736(199609)33:7<737::aid-tea3>3.0.co;2-o

✦ Synopsis

Although the literature documents the potential impact of teachers on the achievement of young women in science and math, few studies investigate teacher attitudes and the use of teacher interventions. A survey containing both fixed-response and open-ended questions was administered to 56 teachers from eight high schools. Open-ended questions were content analyzed, and log-linear modeling and chi-square tests of independence werc used to analyze relationships between categorical variables representing demographic characteristics, teacher attitudes, and teacher use of interventions. Results provide evidence that teachers, regardless of demographic characteristics, are concerned about gender inequity in their classrooms, although they are generally not familiar with the wide range of possible causes (including their own actions). Reported interventions are consistent with those recommended in the literature, although teachers are not familiar with the effectiveness of their interventions, and numerous teachers feel that attempting interventions is a form of reverse discrimination.