女性不擅長理科的十大原因(下)

View Science in a Rigid Way

5.科學給人的固有印象

When we think of the word "science," it is likely that images of beakers, oversized goggles and blown up images of cells beneath a microscope are conjured. In reality, the field of science is much broader than the biological and chemical components. As noted by The Guardian:

當我們想到"科學"二字，腦海裏就會蹦出燒杯、大框架眼鏡還有顯微鏡下的細胞等諸如此類的畫面，但實際上科學範疇十分寬泛，不僅僅是生物和化學元素。《衛報》指出：

"'Science' is not just something taught at school. Teachers at a science conference in New York a couple of years ago said that while girls are increasingly resistant to the idea of "science" as a standalone subject when they reach middle school, they are invariably receptive and energetic students when the same scientific principles are presented to them as 'social studies'. The weather forecast, climate change, what we eat, illnesses and allergies, methods of transportation, the electronics that fill your house – are all areas of science that surround your daughter. Scientific theory fires her imagination when connected to current or domestic affairs, or when she can empathize." FurtherMore, there are several degrees within the field of "science" that create more of a draw for women. Women looking to become dietitians will study a variety of scientific principles and many women who enter the field of health education receive a Health Science degree. The curriculum for these types of degrees involves a confection of sciences that blend psychological and emotional principles, which are often more appealing to women, hence the prevalence of female nurses, dietitians and teachers.

"科學不只是在學校裏學的那些。"幾年前在紐約科學研討會上的老師如是說。剛剛踏入中學的女生越來越反對"科學是一門獨立學科"的觀點，把科學理論作爲"社會研究"教給她們時，她們都無一例外地充滿了好奇與激情。天氣預報、氣候變幻、食物、疾病、過敏症、交通工具、家用電器都屬於科學，都和您女兒生活息息相關，只要她關注這些大大小小的事情並心領神會，科學理論便能點燃她想象。與此同時，一些科學範疇的學位也會吸引到女性。立志成爲營養師的女性就會研習大量科學知識，而很多接受健康教育的女性最終也取得了健康科學學位。這些學位涉及一系列課程的研究，包括心理學、情感學，這都是女性的興趣點，所以，纔有了女護士、女營養師及女教師的崛起。

are On Both Ends of the Bell curve

4.處於鐘形曲線兩端的男人

For every man that demonstrates superiority and the upmost in excellence when it comes to math skills, there is another one that may incur a panic attack at the very sight of an integer.

每一個在數學上展現超凡才華的男人，都有一個一看見數字就驚慌失措的男人與其對應。

At least that's what some have argued while debating the reasons for men garnering the top spots when it comes to mathematics and science professions. According to PsyBlog, "The argument has been that these talented individuals who lie at the extreme end of the bell-curve distribution of mathematical ability are more often men. It's this extra talent at the extreme high end of ability that is thought to account for the fact that men dominate in fields that require advanced maths skills." Still, several other noted studies have shown little difference between male and female mathematical ability overall, which leads researchers to believe that—you guessed it—environmental factors such as cultural bias and stereotypes are the main culprits leading to the disparities between men and women within mathematics and science fields.

至少有人在討論男人在理工類職業的領先地位時，會給出這樣的解釋。據心理博客稱：這種說法認爲，"盤踞在數學能力鐘形曲線兩端的天才大多是男性"。正是這種位及兩端的能力，使他們在需要高端數學能力的領域中一統天下。但其他幾項研究還發現了一些男女整體數學水平的差異，因此研究人員還有一個觀點，你可能已經猜到了：引起男女在理工類領域中差異的主要原因是環境因素，如文化歧視、刻板印象等。

le Feel Mathematical Ability is Innate

3.人們認爲數學的能力是與生俱來的

Both men and women have questioned whether genetics are at play when it comes to math and science skills. A piece by Miles Kimball and Noah Smith in The Atlantic, however, cites the authors' personal experiences and various studies that negate any theories regarding math being an innate ability.

所有人都懷疑基因是否影響理科能力。然而，邁爾斯·金伯兒和諾亞·史密斯在《大西洋月刊》刊載了一篇文章，文章借鑑了他們的自身經歷和各項研究結果，最後證明：所謂數學能力並非與生俱來。

Furthermore, Kimball and Smith note that mathematics taught in high schools do not require the type of genius that is evident in such anomalies like Terence Tao, a "virtuoso mathematician" whose ability probably surpasses most women's and men's. "Essentially none of us could ever be as good at math as Terence Tao, no matter how hard we tried or how well we were taught. But here's the thing: We don't have to! For high-school math, inborn talent is much less important than hard work, preparation, and self-confidence." Indeed, the general math classes offered in schools are not intended for prodigies—if that were the case, there would be nary a student passing SATs and moving on to college. However, the stereotypes and self fulfilling prophecies that continue to abound on math, gender and genetics could possibly dismantle the strides made by would-be prodigies—particularly if they are female.

邁爾斯·金伯兒和諾亞·史密斯還指出：吸收中學那點數學知識並不需要如陶哲然那般的天分。陶哲然是一位數學天才，他的數學能力是許多男男女女不能企及的。"而且，無論我們多努力，老師教的有多好，我們都不可能像陶哲然一樣出色。更重要的是，我們也不需要比他好，在高中數學裏，努力學習，課前準備，自信，這三樣比天分重要得多了。"當然，學校裏那點數學知識也不是爲奇才準備的，如果有特例，即使那個學生沒有通過標準成績考試（SATs），也會被送去上大學。然後，那些陳舊觀念、自我實現預期仍在泛濫，而性別和基因之說也可能使未來的天才們望而卻步——特別是一些人的性別還爲"女"。

hers Treat Male and Female Students Differently in Math and Science

2.教師在理工課堂進行男女差別對待

The job of a teacher is to nurture the minds of students and provide guidance to help them grow and excel in both their scholastic and professional careers. Unfortunately, when it comes to the existent gender biases within math and science, some teachers may be unconsciously perpetuating stereotypes along with everyone else.

教師的職責是培養學生的心智，提供指導幫助學生成長，使他們在學術研究和工作中得心應手。不幸的是，當涉及數學和科學時，卻存在性別偏見，有的老師可能會不自覺地和其他人一樣陷入思維定式。

In the article Twenty Reasons Girls Don't Like Math, it is noted that a study by associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, Sian L. Beilock, "…suggests that female teachers anxious about their math skills pass on their anxieties to their female students. The more the teacher lacked confidence in her math skills, the more the female students adapted her insecure mentality." It doesn't stop there. A recent article from Smithsonian took note of these pernicious attitudes in classrooms by citing results of a study published in the National Bureau of Economic Research. "In math, the girls outscored the boys in the exam graded anonymously, but the boys outscored the girls when graded by teachers who knew their names. The effect was not the same for tests on other subjects, like English and Hebrew. The researchers concluded that in math and science, the teachers overestimated the boys' abilities and underestimated the girls', and that this had long-term effects on students' attitudes toward the subjects." More disconcerting was the fact that all teachers noted in the study were women themselves, demonstrating just how pervasive these biases have become (or perhaps have always been).

《女生不喜歡數學的二十個理由》一文中提到芝加哥大學心理學副教授希安·貝洛克的一項研究。"研究表明，懷疑自己的數學能力的女教師會把她們這種憂慮傳染給她們的女學生。老師越是對自己的數學能力缺乏信心，和她一樣不自信的女學生就越多。這還不是終點。通過引用國家經濟研究局的一項研究結果，史密斯最近的一篇文章也指出了這種課堂態度的害處。"如果女孩分數更高，老師通常都不知道她們的名字，而如果是男生分數更高，老師都知道學生的名字。而其他科目則不是這樣，如英語和希伯來語的測試。"研究人員得出結論，在理工類科目上，老師高估了男孩子們的能力而低估了女孩，而教師這種判斷會對學生對理科的態度產生長期影響。更令人不安的事實是，上述很多老師都是女老師，證明這些偏見是多麼普遍（或者也許一直是這樣）。

Tell Us So

1.玩具的暗示

There may be no greater toy to perpetuate stereotypes and sustain archaic gender roles than Barbie. In 1992, Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, a gaudily dressed (I mean, weren't they all pretty gaudy?) platinum blonde bubblegum pop girly, who would actually talk to you at the push of a button. This Barbie offered a slew of profound musings, such as: "Math class is tough!" "Party dresses are fun!" and "Do you have a crush on anyone?"

在延續陳舊觀念和維持傳統的性別分工中，沒有什麼比芭比娃娃做的更好了。 1992年，美泰推出會說話的青少年芭比娃娃，這款娃娃是一個穿着浮誇（我的意思是，難道他們的穿着不是都非常豔麗嗎？），留着鉑金長髮，並深受兒童喜愛的少女，當你按下按鈕她就會和你對話。這個芭比娃娃能說出許多"意義深刻"的話，比如"數學課是很難的"，"舞會禮服是樂趣"和"你愛上過別人嗎"？

As an aside, I'd like to note that I actually had one of these dolls at the age of seven, and I am currently wondering if she had anything to do with all the red "Xs" I received when attempting to learn long division. Thanks a lot, Barbie! Oh, and I did have a crush on someone then, and according to Facebook he's married to someone now who isn't me. Whomp whomp! Anyway, in a hilarious twist of fate, the Barbie Liberation Organization (which is apparently a thing that exists) "…tinkered with the circuit boards of Barbie dolls and GI Joe dolls…so that Barbie cried, 'Vengeance is mine!' and GI Joe said, 'Let's plan our dream wedding.' This message spoke loud and clear to toy producers all over the world." On a more serious note, an aforementioned article expands on the fact that the introduction of certain toys can be the first steps in creating a gender divide when it comes to pursuits within the fields of math and science. "Toddler boys tinker and toy, while toddler girls are handed dolls. While this has steadily declined over the years, we still face a generation of young learners that believed Lincoln Logs, Legos, racing cars, and simple machines are the tinkering toys for boys, and dolls and coloring books are the artistic toys for girls. Research on the sociological differences in raising young girls and boys suggests that we hand toys to boys that get them revved for math lessons right from the start, while young girls enter the classroom without this upper hand." There you have it. Perhaps trading a Barbie for a toy truck or a GI Joe for a coloring book every now and again can create some balance.

順便說一句，事實上我7歲時也有一個芭比娃娃。近來我在想，她和我在學習乘除法時得到的紅叉是否有關。我謝謝你啊芭比！我的確喜歡過一個人，然而從他的臉譜網來看，他結婚的對象卻不是我! 心塞!不管怎樣，在極度扭曲的命運中，芭比解放組織（這顯然是一個真實存在的事物）"……將特種部隊玩偶的電路板與芭比娃娃互換……使芭比娃娃哭喊着，'我要復仇！'而特種部隊玩偶說，'讓我們規劃夢想中的婚禮。' 這條消息聲音響亮並讓全球的玩具製造商都聽清了。"更嚴重的是，上述文章中延伸出了一個事實，當涉及到理工類科目時，推出某些玩具是創造性別鴻溝的第一步。"小男孩的玩具是自己做的，而小女孩的娃娃是大人給的。雖然這種狀況多年來已穩步減少，面對年青一代我們仍然相信林肯日誌，積木，賽車及簡單的機器是男生該擺弄的玩具，娃娃和塗色本是女孩的玩具。一項關於培養女孩和男孩的社會差異的研究表明，我們將玩具交給男孩使他們一開始就在數學上努力，而女孩進入學校時卻沒有這種優勢。"到這你該明白了。也許偶爾將芭比娃娃換成玩具卡車或將圖畫書換成特種部隊玩偶可以創建一些平衡。

審校：西瓜 編輯：listen 來源：前十網