Abstract
In this paper, we explore the issue of gender and mathematics participation, focusing on the ways in which “clever girls” self-author within the discourse order of a high ability group, which has particular significance in the Norwegian context in which this study took place. Contrasting the cases of three girls, only one of whom (Anna) chooses to continue with a higher level of mathematics (mathematics for science), we consider the ways in which they manage being members of the “smart group”. We analyse in particular the storying of Anna as a “nerd” and the social cost of being a “clever girl” against the backdrop of a public discourse of equality of opportunity in Norway.
Highlights
Until the mid-1990s, much research focused on the fact that girls scored lower than boys in mathematics (Paechter, 2001), but today we see no significant gender differences in international tests such as PISA
This paper explores the way in which three Norwegian girls self-author within the discourse order of a high ability group: this context has particular significance in equity-conscious Norway, where ability grouping has until recently been disallowed and even must only be temporary
Given girls’ lower participation in science pathways, higher performing girls are among those targeted by these suggestions, and we might ask whether they are well served by this legitimisation of ability grouping: how do they experience being in a high ability group in terms of their social positioning and the value for them of being “good at mathematics?”
Summary
Until the mid-1990s, much research focused on the fact that girls scored lower than boys in mathematics (Paechter, 2001), but today we see no significant gender differences in international tests such as PISA. Bartholomew (2005) noted how readily boys in higher ability groups enacted a role of “budding mathematician” equal to the teacher, a position which Black (2004) observed in nascent form in an English primary school, where middle class boys participated in dialogue with their teacher in contrast with the more didactic exchanges which involved girls Alongside these issues of classroom dynamics, peer and popular cultures contribute to girls’ potential (self) exclusion from mathematics by defining it as a masculine space, creating tensions for girls who are good at mathematics.
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