Selected Resources for Encouraging Females in Mathematics.

irls seem to do fine in mathematics until the middle grades, when a number of factors begin to influence their mathematics achievement and attitude negatively (e.g., NCES 1997). As Yusuf (1995) points out, “Gender differences in mathematics performance are predominantly due to the accumulated effects of sex-role stereotypes in family, school, and society” (p. 187). Unfortunately, research shows that schooling exacerbates rather than improves this situation, even in the classrooms of well-meaning teachers of either gender or any ethnic background (e.g., Sadker and Sadker [1995]). Women are less likely than men to earn mathematics degrees in postsecondary education, earning a smaller and smaller proportion of these degrees at advancing levels of education, in other words, from the associate through doctoral degree levels (NCES 1997). High school senior girls are more likely than boys to say that they did not take mathematics courses because they were advised that they did not need them or because they disliked the subject matter (NCES 1997). This situation points to the important role of social-support systems for females in the mathematical sciences. Educators have an important opportunity and responsibility to help all students within their charge succeed in their content area. To achieve equity, this role means expending extra effort on behalf of those students who have been marginalized or are underrepresented in a field. Girls and women need to see that mathematics is relevant to their lives and that it is something that they can do. Good resources to help educators integrate more information about female mathematicians into mathematics instruction have proliferated in recent years. The accomplishments of women in mathematics are the more remarkable because of intellectual and social barriers that they often overcame to achieve their success. The answers to such questions as the following are but a few of those that merit attention or incite interest: (1) Who was the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in mathematics? (The first black female or other first females of color might also be included.) (2) Why is eighteenthcentury mathematician Maria Agnesi’s solution curve for an algebraic equation called the witch of Agnesi? (3) Who invented the computer language COBOL and coined the term computer bug when she found that a moth had flown into, and shorted out, her computer system? (4) Which fourthfifth–century female mathematician was brutally murdered by an angry mob? (The answers to these questions can be found at the end of the article.) In this article, I offer selected resources that educators can use to (a) increase their knowledge of ways to help girls and young women succeed in mathematics, (b) integrate information into classroom instruction, and (c) bring self-help opportunities to their female students’ awareness. At the least, biographical information can be woven into instruction, and posters can be displayed and books made available in the classroom for student reference. Note that some resources may be out of print but are included here because some libraries may own them. Also note that on request, many school and public libraries will order books to add to their collections. Finally, one resource that is not listed below but that can be a continued source of information for educators is membership in Women and Mathematics Education, an affiliate group of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Women of college age and beyond might be encouraged to consider joining one of numerous organizations for women in mathematics, such as the Association for Women in Mathematics (301-405-7892; awm@math.umd.edu; www.awm-math.org), European Women in Mathematics (358-9-191-22853; ewm@sophie.helsinki.fi; www.Math.Helsinki.FI:80/EWM), or Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (604895-5814; scwist@sfu.ca; www.harbour.sfu.ca /scwist).