MAA Calculus Study: Women Are Different

MAA’s study of Calculus I, Characteristics of Successful Programs in College Calculus (CSPCC) revealed some interesting and important differences between the men and the women who study calculus in college. The most dramatic of these is the intended major, but the study also revealed differences in preparation (women calculus students have taken more advanced mathematics courses in high school), standardized test score (women score slightly lower on SAT and ACT Math), persistence (women are less likely to continue in mathematics), and reasons for not continuing (women performing at the same level as men are more likely to consider their grades and understanding of calculus to be inadequate). The overall impression that emerges is that women are much more reluctant than men to pursue a mathematically intensive major, and that any indication that they may not be up to the task is much more influential for them than for men.

Even though women make up the majority of undergraduates, CSPCC found that they account for only 46–47% of the students in Calculus I in four-year undergraduate programs. Even once men and women enter calculus, they do not necessarily have the same goals. Most of the women (53%) in Calculus I intend to pursue the biological sciences or teaching, with only 20% heading into the physical sciences, engineering, or computer science. The situation is reversed for men, where 53% intend to major in the physical sciences, engineering, or computer science, and only 23% are going into the biological sciences or teaching (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Career goals of all students in Calculus I, by gender

phys sci = physical sciences; eng = engineering; comp = computer and information science; geo = geo sciences; bio = biological & life sciences, including pre-med; social = social sciences

We did find interesting differences in the backgrounds of women and men taking calculus at Ph.D. granting universities (see Table 1). Women calculus students are more racially and ethnically diverse and noticeably less likely to consider themselves to be math people. Women who take Calculus I in college are slightly more likely than men to have been on an accelerated track: Algebra II by 10^th grade, Precalculus by 11^th, and Calculus by 12^th. Their SAT Math scores are slightly lower (about a quarter of a standard deviation) than those of men, echoed almost precisely in their ACT Math scores. It has been documented (Strenta et al, 1994) that even when women and men have comparable high school backgrounds and records of performance, women do tend to score lower on standardized tests in science and mathematics.

Table 1: Characteristics and background of students entering Calculus I

at Ph.D.-granting universities, by gender (N = 3125 women, 3824 men)

		women	men
White		72%	81%
Asian		18%	12%
Black		6%	4%
Hispanic		10%	8%
Algebra II by grade 10		87%	83%
Precalculus by grade 11		85%	79%
Calculus by grade 12		74%	70%
SAT Math	mean (SD) 3rd quartile median 1st quartile	654 (70) 700 660 610	670 (69) 720 670 630
See self as math person		42%	55%

Women were almost twice as likely as men to choose not to continue in calculus, even when Calculus II was a requirement of their intended major. Of the men who began the fall term intending to continue on to Calculus II and who successfully completed Calculus I (C or higher), 11% changed their mind by the end of the class. For women, the figure was 20%. We found that the difference between women and men over whether to continue was present irrespective of grade or intended major (see Table 2). In general, bio-science majors are much more likely to switch than are engineering majors, almost certainly because Calculus II is less essential to their intended field. Yet whether the intended major was in the bio sciences or engineering, women were consistently less likely to continue to Calculus II. What was striking was how discouraging a C in Calculus I was to a woman’s intention to pursue engineering, while it barely dented a man’s confidence.

Table 2: Switchers at Ph.D. universities, organized by grade in Calculus I and intended major

		women	men
Grade in Calc I	A	10%	6%
	B	13%	6%
	C	24%	12%
Bio Science Majors Grade in Calc I	A or B	19%	13%
	C	29%	26%
Engineering majors Grade in Calc I	A or B	4%	2%
	C	19%	7%

Note: Among all students who entered Calculus I with a definite intention to continue on to Calculus II (N = 988 women, 1476 men), percentage that had decided not to continue or were undecided whether to continue to Calculus II by the end of that term.

Table 3 looks at the reasons that students gave for switching. The first two reasons, "Too many other courses I need to take," and "Have changed major," are not necessarily indictments of calculus instruction, but they do point to missed opportunities. We see that women and men are equally likely to believe that calculus "takes too much time and effort." A fifth of the A and B students in Calculus I gave a bad experience in the class as one of their reasons for switching. For those earning a C in the class, this was by far the most popular reason for women to switch out, and close to the most commonly cited reason for men to switch out. But the most striking gender differences occur for the last two reasons. Only 4% of the men earning an A or B were dropping calculus because they did not understand calculus well enough to continue its study, but this was true of almost a fifth of the women earning an A or B. Even more notably, not a single man earning an A or B felt that this grade was not good enough to continue the study of calculus, but this was true of 7% of the women who were switching out of the calculus sequence. This is consistent with the findings of Strenta et al (1994) that found strongly significant differences (p < 0.001) between women and men: Women were much more likely to question their ability to handle the course work, and women were much more likely to feel depressed about their academic progress. They also found that women were more likely than men to leave science because they found it too competitive (p < 0.01).

Table 3: Reasons for switching at PhD universities, by grade in course and by gender

(N = 143 women, 109 men)

Reason for switching	Gender	Students earning A or B	Students earning C
Too many other courses I need to take	Women	43%	33%
	Men	42%	16%
Have changed major	Women	40%	43%
	Men	33%	39%
Takes too much time and effort	Women	33%	25%
	Men	29%	26%
Bad experience in Calculus I	Women	18%	53%
	Men	19%	35%
Don’t understand calculus well enough	Women	18%	38%
	Men	4%	26%
Grade was not good enough	Women	7%	15%
	Men	0%	13%

Note: Students could select multiple responses.

The picture that emerges is one of women who are as well prepared as men for the calculus sequence but less attracted to the most mathematically intensive fields and much more easily dissuaded from continuing the study of mathematics. The amount of work required to succeed in college-level mathematics is not a factor in the gender differences, but women are bringing a more self-critical attitude toward what they understand.

Reference

Strenta, A. C., Elliott, R., Adair, R., Matier, M., & Scott, J. 1994. Choosing and leaving science in highly selective institutions. Research in Higher Education. 35 (4), 513–547.

With thanks to Cathy Kessel for bringing this reference to my attention.