When Bright Girls Decide That Math is a Waste of Time.

Answer any two questions from the essay below: "Susannah, a 16-year-old who has always been an A student in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in every subject from algebra to English, recently in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">informed her parents that she in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intended to drop physics and calculus in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in her senior year of high school and replace them with a drama semin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inar and a work-study program. She expects a major in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in art or history in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in college, she explain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ined, and "any more science or math will just be a waste of my time." Her parents were neither concerned by nor opposed to her decision. "Fin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine, dear," they said. Their daughter is, after all, an outstandin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing student. What does it matter if, at age 16, she has taken a step that may limit her understandin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing of both machin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ines and the natural world for the rest of her life? This kin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ind of decision, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in which girls turn away from studies that would give them a sure footin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the world of science and technology, is a self-in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inflicted female disability that is, regrettably, almost as common today as it was when I was in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in high school. If Susannah had announced that she had decided to stop takin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing English in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in her senior year, her mother and father would have been horrified. I also thin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ink they would have been a good deal less sanguin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine about her decision if she were a boy. In sayin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing that scientific and mathematical ignorance is a self-in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inflicted female wound, I do not, obviously, mean that cultural expectations play no role in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the process. But the world does not conspire to deprive modern women of access to science as it did in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the 1930s, when Rosalyn S. Yalow, the Nobel Prize–win" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing physicist, graduated from Hunter College and was advised to go to work as a secretary because no graduate school would admit her to its physics depart- ment. The current generation of adolescent girls—and their parents, bred on old expectations about women's in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">interests—are active conspirators in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in limitin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing their own in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intellectual development. It is true that the proportion of young women in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in science-related graduate and professional schools, most notably medical schools, has in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">increased significantly in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the past decade. It is also true that so few women were studyin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing advanced science and mathematics before the early 1970s that the percentage in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">increase in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in female enrollment does not yet translate in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">into large numbers of women actually workin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in science. The real problem is that so many girls elimin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inate themselves from any serious possibility of studyin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing science as a result of decisions made durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the vulnerable period of midadolescence, when they are most likely to be in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">influenced —on both conscious and subconscious levels—by the traditional belief that math and science are "masculin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine" subjects. Durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the teen-age years the well-documented phenomenon of "math anxiety" strikes girls who never had any problem handlin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing numbers durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing earlier school- in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing. Some men, too, experience this syndrome—a form of panic, akin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in to a phobia, at any task in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">involvin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing numbers—but women constitute the overwhelmin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing majority of sufferers. The onset of acute math anxiety durin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing the teen-age years is, as Stalin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in was fond of sayin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing, not by accident." In adolescence girls begin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in to fear that they will be unattractive to boys if they are typed as "brain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ins." Science and math epitomize unfemin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine brain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">iness in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in a way that, say, foreign languages do not. High-school girls who pursue an advanced in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in- terest in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in science and math (unless they are students at special in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">institutions like the Bronx High School of Science where everyone is a brain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in) usually fin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ind that they are greatly outnumbered by boys in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in their classes. They are, therefore, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intrudin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing on male turf at a time when their sexual confidence, as well as that of the boys, is most fra A 1981 assessment of female achievement in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in mathematics. based on re- 9 search conducted under a National Institute signifi- cant differences in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the mathematical achievements of 9th and 12th graders. At age 13 girls were equal to or slightly better than boys in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in tests in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">involvin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing algebra, problem solvin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing and spatial ability; four years later the boys had outstripped the girls. It is not mysterious that some very bright high-school girls suddenly decide 10 that math is "too hard" and "a waste of time." In my experience, self-sabotage of mathematical and scientific ability is often a conscious process. I remember delib- erately pretendin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to be puzzled by geometry problems in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in my sophomore year in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in high school. A male teacher called me in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in after class and said, in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in a baffled tone, "I don't see how you can be havin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing so much trouble when you got straight A's last year in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in my algebra class." The decision to avoid advanced biology, chemistry, physics and calculus in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in 11 high school automatically restricts academic and professional choices that ought to be wide open to anyone begin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">innin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing college. At all coeducational universities women are overwhelmin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ingly concentrated in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the fin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine arts, social sciences and traditionally female departments like education. Courses leadin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to degrees in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in science- and technology-related fields are filled main" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inly by men. In my generation, the practical consequences of mathematical and scientific 12 illiteracy are visible in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the large number of special programs to help professional women overcome the anxiety they feel when they are promoted in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">into jobs that re- quire them to handle statistics. The consequences of this syndrome should not, however, be viewed in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in 13 narrowly professional terms. Competence in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in science and math does not mean one is goin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to become a scientist or mathematician any more than competence in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in writin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing English means one is goin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing to become a professional writer. Scientific and mathematical illiteracy—which has been cited in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in several recent critiques by panels studyin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing American education from kin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">indergarten through college— produces an in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">incalculably impoverished vision of human experience. Scientific illiteracy is not, of course, the exclusive provin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ince of women. In 14 certain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intellectual circles it has become fashionable to proclaim a willed, aggres- sive ignorance about science and technology. Some female writers specialize in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in omin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inous, unin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">informed diatribes again" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inst genetic research as a plot to remove con- trol of childbearin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing from women, while some well-known men of letters proudly announce that they understand absolutely nothin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing about computers, or, for that matter, about electricity. This lack of understandin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing is nothin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in which women or men ought to take pride." "Failure to comprehend either computers or chromosomes leads to a terrible sense of helplessness, because the profound impact of science on everyday life is evident even to those who in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">insist they don't, won't, can't understand why the changes are takin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing place. At this stage of history women are more prone to such feelin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ings of helplessness than men because the culture judges their ignorance less harshly and because women themselves acquiesce in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in that in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">indulgence. Sin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ince there is ample evidence of such feelin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ings in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in adolescence, it is up to parents to see that their daughters do not accede to the old stereotypes about "masculin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine" and "femin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ine" knowledge. Unless we want our daughters to share our in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intellectual handicaps, we had better tell them no, they can't stop takin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing math- ematics and science at the ripe old age of 16." Questions: "COMPREHENSION 1. What reasons does Jacoby give for girls' deficiency in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in math and science? 2. Why does Jacoby call it a "self-in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">inflicted female disability" (paragraph 3)? 3. What are the consequences of bein" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing math- and science-illiterate? RHETORIC 1. Explain" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in the main" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in idea of Jacoby's essay in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in your own words. 2. Does the writer use abstract or concrete language in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in her essay? Cite examples to support your response. 3. What technique does Jacoby use in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in paragraphs 1 and 2? How does it aid in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in settin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing up her argument? 4. What rhetorical strategies does the writer use in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in her essay? 5. How does the use of dialogue aid in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in developin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">ing paragraph 10? What effect does the general use of dialogue have on Jacoby's poin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">int? 6. HowisJacoby'sconclusionconsistentin" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">in" rel="nofollow">intonewiththerestoftheessay?Doe a sense of unity? Why or why not?"