Common Beliefs
In the United States, many people believe that only a few "gifted" individuals have "what it takes" to learn math, and that hard work cannot compensate for this. Studies have shown "When asked to explain why some children do better in math than others, Asian children, their teachers, and their parents point to hard work, their American counterparts to ability."
Women mathematicians in the United States have almost always been a minority according to Margaret Murray. Although the exact difference fluctuates with the times as she has explored in her book . "Since 1980, women have earned over 17 percent of the mathematics doctorates.... ". The trends in gender are by no means clear, but perhaps parity is still a way to go. Thus parity will take more work to overcome mathematical anxiety and this is one reason for women in mathematics being role models for younger women.
Read more about this topic: Mathematical Anxiety
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or beliefs:
“It was common practice for me to take my children with me whenever I went shopping, out for a walk in a white neighborhood, or just felt like going about in a white world. The reason was simple enough: if a black man is alone or with other black men, he is a threat to whites. But if he is with children, then he is harmless, adorable.”
—Gerald Early (20th century)
“We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)