Surveying the Public: Revisiting Mathematics and English Stereotypes

Abstract

Historically, mathematics has been viewed as a male domain and English as a female domain. In the longer term, female exclusion from mathematics and male exclusion from English because of societal expectations can only be detrimental to the diversity and creativity of the nation’s future citizenry. In Australia, national achievement data indicate that males outperform females in mathematics, and females do better than males in English. Grade 12 high stakes testing data from Victoria, Australia, show that more males than females achieve the highest grades in the most challenging mathematics subject offered and also for English literature. The social milieu and societal beliefs are included as contributing factors in explanatory models of gender differences in mathematics learning. The views of stakeholders in children’s learning (students, parents, teachers, educational leaders, etc.) are frequently sought: rarely, however, are the views of the general public gauged. Thus, we were interested to know if Australians held stereotyped views about mathematics and English. We report the findings from two online surveys—one focussing on mathematics, the other on English. Members of the general public aged 18 and over were recruited using the social media site, Facebook. Our findings indicate that many in this group do not gender stereotype mathematics or English. Among those who do, however, the traditional stereotypes persist. Thus challenges remain to counter such stereotyping and enhance the perception, and reality, of mathematics as an inclusive field appropriate for all.