Improving adolescent girls' math self-perceptions.

Abstract

Research suggests that gender differences in participation rates in math-related careers arise during middle school. Significant drops in girls' mathematical self-confidence, interest, and aspirations occur in this period even before academic grades or achievement test scores decline. We developed an educational intervention program for seventh-grade girls to encourage mathematical interest using relevant real-world examples, small-group experiences, and mentoring by school teachers and graduate students. Participants showed higher mathematical self-perceptions after the intervention while maintaining high career aspirations. These findings have implications for K-16 educators.

Introduction

Women are clearly underrepresented in mathematics, science, and engineering careers in the United States (National Science Foundation, 2000). Disproportionate male participation in these fields also exists at the undergraduate level. Gender and ethnic gaps are found in self-perceptions of ability in and attitudes towards math and science and on "high stakes" tests such as the SAT and Advanced Placement tests (Bae et al., 2000). Gender disparities persist despite similar course-taking patterns in high school math and science courses (Hill, 2002: National Science Board, 2002). Researchers have found that adolescents' perceptions of math and science predict the pursuit of careers in these fields (Collier et al., 1998; Farmer et al., 1999). Academic self-concept predicts academic achievement and the selection of challenging high school math courses (Hernandez, 1998; Koeller et al., 2000). The middle-school years are particularly important for addressing gender differences, since significant drops in girls' mathematical self-confidence, interest, and aspirations occur in this period (Henderson et al., 1999; Jacobs et al., 2002; Watt, 2000) before academic grades or achievement test scores decline (Campbell, 1995). African-American, Latina, and lower-SES girls are considered to be at greater risk because of the achievement gaps in mathematics for students from these groups (Coley, 2001). Thus, to address the gender imbalance in math- and science-related fields, targeting adolescents seems essential.

Factors that contribute to gender differences in self-perceptions include parents' lower mathematical expectations for their daughters (Fredricks, 2000); instructional approaches that favor buys (Hoffman & Haussler, 1998); math anxiety (Tobias, 1995), and differences in children's own belief systems, e.g., confidence, attributional style, usefulness of the subject (Fennema, 1996; Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). These findings have led to the development and assessment of intervention strategies to address gender, ethnic, and socio-economic gaps. Elements of effective strategies include: Developing mathematical concepts and skills using "girl-friendly" examples (Gilbert, 1996); role modeling by women in math and science fields (Reid & Stephens, 1985); targeting youth at critical times during their development (Reid et al., 1995); utilizing small-group learning (Campbell et al., 2002); and providing adult mentoring (Nation et al., 2003).

Current Study and Hypotheses

Reid and Stewart (1999) integrated several intervention strategies to design a ten-day program for at-risk seventh-grade girls. The program sought to develop mathematical concepts and skills using relevant real-world examples in small groups facilitated by trained graduate student mentors and middle school teachers. We predicted that this intervention would encourage these girls to: (1) perceive themselves as more able to succeed in math and (2) give greater consideration to careers that require strong math and social science backgrounds.

Program Description

Using Math--Girls Investigate Real Life (UM-GIRL) was a 10-day intervention program targeting girls who were identified by their school counselors as "at risk" for dropping out of advanced mathematics courses due to under-achievement, poor family circumstances, economic status, or ethnic background. The intervention reinforced a mathematics curriculum used in Southeast Michigan, the Connected Math Project (CMP) (Lappan et al., 1998). The UM-GIRL curriculum extended a sixth-grade CMP unit in which students gather, analyze, and explain data concerning a hypothesis of their choice. UM-GIRL was designed to deepen students' understanding about these ideas, and to prepare them for seventh-grade CMP concepts such as sampling, probability, and prediction.

Over the ten days, a university professor or advanced doctoral student, serving as the UM-GIRL instructor, presented lessons to the entire set of participants, focusing on various statistical concepts (e.g., measures of central tendency, correlation, probability values). Each concept was reinforced by small-group activities that included worksheet and computer applications of the target concept. Each small group consisted of 3-4 girls from different schools, a teacher from one of the participating schools, and a graduate student mentor. The program, held at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (UM), also included a daily segment that focused on career development activities. During UM-GIRL, participants learned to use the SPSS statistical software package and analyzed data from several UM research projects. The projects examined issues relevant for many at-risk adolescent girls, e.g., teenage pregnancy, body image, and dating violence. Finally, the girls worked in their small groups to conduct a social science research project. They formulated research questions and hypotheses, designed and conducted analyses, interpreted the data, drew conclusions from their findings, and prepared presentations of their results.

Data Collection

To recruit at-risk girls to this free summer program, referred girls and their parents were invited to an informational meeting at their respective schools during the spring of each year (19982001). The pre-program survey was completed at this time while post-program surveys were administered on the last day of the program. Follow-up focus groups with the girls and teacher interviews were held at each school during the fall following each summer program.

Participants

Sixty-nine rising seventh-grade girls participated in UM-GIRL, with 15 to 20 girls participating in each of the four summers. The girls averaged 12 years of age. Most girls were African Americans (57%), European Americans (30%), or multiracial (10%). They represented eight middle schools and a range of social class groups from southeastern Michigan communities. The schools' free and reduced lunch rates varied; three had high rates (above 40%), three had moderate rates (21-40%), and two had low rates (below 20%). Over the four years, there was an excellent completion rate for participants; only one girl voluntarily withdrew from the program, one did not complete it because her family moved, and two left for disciplinary reasons. Five female doctoral students in social science fields, primarily psychology, were selected each year to serve as mentors. They received stipends for their participation. The total of 20 mentors were as diverse as the participating girls: 14 were African American, 3 Latina, 1 Asian American and 2 European American. Mentors had prior experience with statistics and research methodology and an interest in working with adolescent girls. Their pre-program training included a review of the curriculum and the datasets to be used as well as techniques for engaging youth and fostering positive inter-group dynamics. Four or five teachers were recruited each year from the same schools as the girls. Teachers were recommended by their principals and received stipends for their participation. Sixteen teachers participated across the four summers; two teachers participated twice. The teachers were female European Americans (9), male European Americans (4), or female African Americans (3). Years of teaching experience ranged from one to more than eight; areas of expertise included mathematics (5), social studies (5), and science (2). Most of the teachers (13) were scheduled to be the seventh- or eighth-grade teachers of the participating girls.

Assessment Tools

Self-Perception in Mathematics was assessed using questions developed by Reid and Stewart (1999). Self-perception in mathematics included three domains: Importance, ability, and expected future performance. The item for each domain was: "How important is it to you to get good grades in math class? "How good do you think you are in mathematics?" and "How well do you think you will do in your 7th grade math class(es)?", respectively. For each item, respondents used 7-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (Not too important/good/well) to 7 (Extremely important/good/well) with the midpoint 4 (Fairly important/good/well). Career Interests and Aspirations were assessed with two questions: 1) "How important is it to you to have a career in mathematics?" and 2) "How important is it to you to have a career in social studies?" Respondents used the same Liken scale of responses as described above for importance of good grades.

An open-ended question, "What would you like to be when you are an adult?" also elicited information about career aspirations. Responses were coded according to "Specific Vocational Preparation" (SVP) from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (1991). SVP refers to the "time required by a typical worker to learn the techniques, acquire the information and develop the facility needed for average performance in a specific job-worker situation," and ranges from 1 (short demonstration only) to 9 (over 10 years) (p.1009). A more advanced career thus has a higher SVP. Focus-group discussions with the girls during the subsequent school year provided further post-program feedback. These discussions, led by a doctoral student not involved in the administration of UM-GIRL or in mentoring the girls, provided information about participant satisfaction with the program, usefulness of various program elements, and areas of impact. The middle school teachers were also interviewed individually during the subsequent school year regarding the girls' self-perceptions in mathematics.

Self Perceptions in Mathematics

We predicted that participating in UM-GIRL would result in seventh-grade girls perceiving themselves as more able to succeed in mathematics. This hypothesis was supported for girls' perception of importance (pretest mean=6.27, SD=1.10; posttest mean=6.63, SD=.75; F (1, 61)= 7.66, p<.01) and expected future performance (pretest mean=4.95, SD=1.33; posttest mean=5.40, SD=1.17; F (1, 57)=7.35, p<.05), but not ability (pretest mean=4.83, SD=1.42; posttest mean=5.07, SD=1.35).

In the focus groups, girls referred to benefits such as increased confidence, academic grades, mathematical skills, and interest. One girl explained, "I felt confident that we tackled math in the program so it would be easier to do in other places too." Another mentioned that, while she forgot what she had learned in UM-GIRL, when the same material was covered again at school, she remembered it and her grade increased because she could relearn the material quickly. One girl said: "I was really bad with decimals, and now I understand them and I can help people instead of being the one who others help." Another noted:

   I don't really like math, it was always hard for me, and numbers are
   so confusing ... but [UM-GIRL] helped me look at math in a different
   way. And it helped me see that math can be fun in some ways. It's
   just how you do it. And if you do it to make it fun, then it's
   easier to do.

Teacher interviews confirmed that participating girls were more likely to speak up in class and to volunteer to assist others with graphing calculators and other mathematics activities.

Career Interests and Aspirations

As predicted, following the intervention, participating girls placed greater importance on careers in math (pretest mean=4.92, SD=1.87; posttest mean=5.66, SD=1.40; F(1, 58)=13.11, p<.01), and social studies (pretest mean=4.63, SD=1.59; posttest mean=5.09, SD=1.58; F(1, 58)=4.46, p<.05). In focus group discussions, one student explained this finding, saying: "I think I take math a little more seriously knowing that it adds to almost everything you know ... think about it, math can go with anything. It's like blue jeans with any shirt." Participants' career aspirations as assessed by the SVP did not change (pretest mean=7.48, SD=.88; posttest mean=7.53, SD=.82). High-SVP careers listed by at least 10% of the girls on the pretest and posttest included doctor, musician/singer, lawyer, and teacher/librarian. While career aspirations did not change over the course of UM-GIRL, focus group discussions indicated that participants had begun to consider new career options. One girl said the program inspired her to become a researcher. Another said, "I never realized you could use math like that." Several shared that they learned that "I can be anything I want to ... I can he anyone I want to if I set my mind to it." Another reported: "My mentor has taught me that I should never give up my dreams."

Discussion and Conclusions

Our results show that the UM-GIRL program successfully integrated a variety of intervention strategies to increase at-risk adolescent girls' self-perceptions in mathematics while maintaining their high career aspirations. Their confidence and expectations of doing well increased as did the importance given to math-related careers. While our quantitative data did not show girls seeing themselves as significantly more able in math, their focus group responses suggest increased confidence in their math abilities after UM-GIRL. Our findings for career aspirations suggest that these participants seek careers that require substantial vocational preparation, emphasizing the importance of this type of intervention for their being able to attain their career goals. Finally, we are encouraged that our results suggest that UM-GIRL may have buffered these adolescent girls from the declines that other researchers have reported.

Our research has implications for K-16 educators and curriculum developers. While it is not possible to isolate the relative contributions of individual program components, our data indicate the effectiveness of an integrated approach. Our work suggests that the middle school years are the appropriate period for interventions occurring before students can self-select out of higherlevel math and science courses. We also show that embedding mathematical concepts and skills in a relevant real-world context enhances students' interest and confidence. We further demonstrated that trained mentors who are knowledgeable about the subject matter support student learning. Thus, pre-service teachers and other concerned adults can make an important contribution in the classroom by working with small groups of students to reinforce classroom lessons. Prospective teachers can have the opportunity for hands-on experience with intervention strategies they can later implement in their own classrooms. At the same time, even non-teachers can develop the kinds of personal mentoring relationships that have been shown to be effective with at-risk youth. Educators who incorporate these strategies into their mathematics instruction will assist their students, particularly at-risk adolescent girls, in demonstrating greater interest, confidence, and achievement in this subject.

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Melissa C. Gilbert, University of Michigan

Pamela Trotman Reid, University of Michigan

Katie Marzolf, University of Michigan

Gilbert, M.A. is a doctoral student in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology, Reid, Ph.D. is Professor of Education and Psychology, and Marzolf B.A. is a recent graduate.