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C+The enactment of Title IX 25 years ago removed many barriers to women and girls in the non-traditional fields of math and science, areas critical to their success in an increasingly technological world. However, disparities based on gender still exist in achievement and participation rates in these disciplines. Gender differences in math and science start small and grow as students reach secondary school, where boys outperform girls on standardized tests and participate in math and science classes at higher rates. In postsecondary schools, young men go on to major in math and the sciences in rates that exceed those of young women, many of whom are shut of out of the career opportunities these fields can provide. Exclusion and Underachievement. Before Title IX, educators, guided by stereotypes that girls could not achieve in math and science, sometimes steered high school girls from higher-level math and science classes and frequently excluded them from extracurricular activities such as science and math clubs. Not surprisingly, girls' achievement in science and math courses was lower than that of their male counterparts.
Science: The 1969-70 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) of the country's students in science found grade school and middle school boys outscored girls by an average 5 points; in high school, the gap increased to 17 points. Today, the disturbing pattern persists, but the high school gap has shrunken to 11 points, thanks in part to Title IX.
Participation
Rates. Girls' participation rates have unquestionably
increased since the passage of Title IX. For example, as recently
as 1986, only 8 percent of high school senior girls had taken
physics compared to 14 percent of boys; 39 percent of senior girls
had taken chemistry compared to 42 percent of boys. By 1994, 16
percent of high school senior girls had taken physics and 55 percent
had taken chemistry. And schools can no longer stop girls from
taking part in math- and science-related extracurricular activities.
However, female students' participation rates decline once they enter postsecondary institutions, and steadily decrease as degree level increases. For example, in 1994:
As discussed in the section titled 'Access to Higher Education,' the drop in female students' participation rates in math and science likely is due, in part, to the hostile environment they encounter in these fields. Women students frequently are regarded as tokens in math or science and excluded from full participation in laboratory and field work, or experience sexual and gender-based harassment in these settings. In addition, research shows that girls lag behind in computer usage. Although more girls in school are using computers for homework and telecommunicating, extracurricular activities such as computer clubs and contests are still overwhelmingly male. Although software companies are now marketing to girls, the games often rely on sexist plots such as mall shopping and nabbing a boyfriend. Although more girls are taking lower-level computing courses, only 16 percent of Advanced Placement computer science test takers are girls. We still have a long way to go. Steps Forward. Teaching methods already exist to encourage and engage all students and to otherwise decrease or eliminate the gender gaps in math and science. However, educators and administrators must begin to employ these teaching methods in earlier grades if the gender gap is to disappear. Further, educators and administrators must look for ways to encourage girls to pursue math and science while in secondary school so that more women will enter these fields in colleges and pursue related careers.
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