I have been tutoring since my freshman year both math and physics, and I have come across a very curious phenomenon. My session with one of my students this evening really got me thinking.
Having grown up with two older brothers, I was never afraid to do things that were typically male dominated. Rather, I did what I wanted and didn’t consider whether or not it was a male dominated field. I play the drums. I majored in physics. I like hockey. However, having been a tutor for so long, I have noticed that about 80% of my students are female.
Now, I’ve considered that the female students call me because they feel more comfortable learning from another female. But why is that? An overwhelming majority of my female students are not doing as poorly as they think they are. They understand 90% of the subject and just need a little tweaking, which happens to everyone regardless of gender. Why do they feel more comfortable talking to a girl tutor?
Because they have been conditioned to believe that math and science are fields in which males excel and females are expected to do poorly or fail. Having gone through a physics major and math minor, I can speak first hand to this. The general attitude of the males in the classes are of automatic superiority. It wasn’t until I crushed the other grades in particle physics did the male grad students in the class start asking me for help. This is only because I was probably the curve killer on the midterm. Why didn’t they ask to study together to begin with? They asked my good friend whom I always studied with for that class for help, but not me. Clearly, they assumed he was doing well and I was struggling. I ended up scoring much higher than he did in the class (that does not speak to his intelligence, however, he had subjects he was much stronger in). But they assumed he would be better to help them than me.
My female students come to me with a complete lack of confidence in themselves, even though most of them are not too far off of the mark. More than anything, I find myself telling them “Yes, this is correct. You’re doing this right,” than actually reconstructing their learning model. Of course, to help them get to 100%, I do reconstruct it in my own way, which both genders have said is much easier to understand. I believe the majority of the problem with all of my students is that their teachers are not teaching down to the baseline, they assume everyone can make connections and assumptions simply because they’ve been doing math so long, it’s obvious to them. My students are either brand new at this or haven’t taken math or physics in years. My technique is to teach from the absolute ground up. This works very well, but my male students seem to come to me with an inherent confidence that my female students don’t have. Even though my male students have generally been an entire grade average below the females when the first come to me.
This implies two things: That males, in general, either assume they will understand better because males are more dominant in these fields, or just don’t care about their grade until it is make or break time. The females usually come to me with C to B averages. Almost all of them believe they are doing far worse than they really are. Perhaps they seek help earlier because they believe that a C in a calc class must be terrible, since the men must be getting As. Maybe they feel as though they cannot let the grade slip even slightly because they will be looked down upon by the men. I don’t know, from what I recall, physics and upper level math (if you’ve ever seen tensor math, you know why we cry) were difficult for EVERYBODY, not any gender specifically. My female students see my help more as a confidence booster than concrete help, since most of them aren’t really far off to begin with. Of course, they need tweaking. Of course, teaching the baseline and building helps them. But they generally are striving for the A instead of the C or B, whereas my male students are praying to God they pass.
Now, I don’t have an extremely large sample size, maybe 15-20 and these statements are sweeping generalizations. Certainly I have had male students who have a B and want that A. Certainly I have had female students who just want to pass. But, in general, my female students view themselves in a far more negative light in regard to math and science than the males. My student today, female, explained to me that she thinks in math and her brain enjoys and processes math and physics better than history and English. She knows that these subjects are her forte, yet she still asked for my help. Honestly, she did not need it. She maybe needed about 15 minutes of basic concept explanations that her teacher skipped and assumed everyone could figure out on their own. These are first time scientists and mathematicians (mathemagicians, am I right?), they are counting on these teachers to give them the basics. As much as it helps me financially, these students should not have to seek outside help to understand basic concepts. They should be taught first, solidified in math, not skipped over in favor of math.
I have absolutely enjoyed teaching every one of my students. Having lived what they’re living, I know how important it is to start with the bare bones and build up. I enjoy helping others understand the things I love, perhaps that is why I have had such a high success rate. I teach because I want them to learn and enjoy learning. There is nothing better than watching my students get excited because they finally understand. It builds their confidence. But almost all of them have been more impressed with me than I feel is warranted. They seem very impressed by my physics degree and math minor. Would they be this impressed if I were male? I will probably never know.
Teaching women math and science is not just teaching them concepts and math. It is teaching them that they are just as capable as the men, some even more. Getting them interested in it is not about showing them what cool things they can do with it, that comes by itself and with the confidence of showing them that they CAN do it. Everyone can benefit from this method of teaching.
Science and math aren’t about gender. They’re about discovery. There is absolutely no gender limitations on discovery. We need to start teaching that way.
