I disagree with the myth of men being better than women at mathematical thinking. Society has been stereotypes about math and that men are naturally better than women in math. This has led to unequal outcomes for women and men in math areas. Additionally, this type of thing has greatly affected women’s confidence in math-related careers since they already believe they cannot be good at math. However, there are no sex-related differences in math or cognitive disabilities linked to mathematical abilities for men and women (Chestnut and Markman, 2018).
Considerably, research has shown that there are no cognitive, biological differences between women and men in math. This means that the idea that males have a math brain is not valid. Some researchers have considered this myth as one of the most self-destructive misconceptions. Everyone can learn high math levels, which means a gendered math gap does not exist as perceived by most. One of the reasons why the myth seems true is due to the gendered gap created by the stereotyped society. Ideally, although men and women have equal abilities, the math gap grows with time because girls are discouraged by the misconception.
Math anxiety is linked to emotional feelings of helplessness, fear of getting things wrong, and lack of confidence. I always experienced math anxiety whenever doing my assignment. I used to feel extremely nervous when doing my math assignment. I was never confident of what I was doing, which made me nervous. Math never comes easy for me due to my math anxiety. Throughout this course, I have focused on boosting my confidence and push out the stereotypical thinking in my mind. I have struggled to comprehend and retain math concepts. I have focused on working hard and creating more time for math. The most effective mechanisms to cope with math anxiety are calming nerves to retain information, feel more confident, and say I am strong in math.
