High School Girls' Perceptions of Gender Bias in Math-Related Vignettes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess girls' sensitivity to the actions and motives of characters in vignettes that depict differential treatment in a math-related event. Research questions asked in this study included girls' awareness of gender bias, girls' perceptions of the causes of any differential treatment, and girls' perceptions of differential treatment in their own experiences in the classroom. A comparison was also made between the girls' responses in this study to the American Association of University Women findings in Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America(1991). A projective device was used to survey 20 high school girls who were chosen using a stratified random sample. A descriptive analysis of the survey data was performed by aligning themes from the review of literature. Subjects' responses were categorized and summarized using those themes. The study found that girls were aware of gender bias and merely accepted as normal.