24: Mathematics and Gender: Changing Perspectives

Gender differences in mathematics learning continue to attract much research attention. An in-depth appraisal of current findings, and in particular of shifts over time of accepted beliefs and of summaries of research, requires contemplation of factors well beyond the contemporary mathematics classroom. Learning is affected by many factors: personal, situational, and cultural. To appreciate at least some of the variables which have shaped the current milieu, it is helpful to sketch the broader educational environment over the past two centuries for females and males in three different western countries whose cultures have much in common: the United States, England, and Australia. One can then evaluate more recent work on gender differences in mathematics education against a broader context.