I use my math brain every day, whether I’m analyzing TV viewership numbers across different countries, putting together multi-currency budgets, or working on episodes of Ubongo Kids, which teach just about any math topic you can come up with. I thoroughly enjoy all of this work, and even all the math that comes with it. But when I was a kid, I hated math.
I was actually quite good at the subject, and I was always put into accelerated classes or even bumped a year up. But my “math identity” had issues, and the mindset I formed about “not being a math person” shaped my performance in school, my motivation to do my work, and even my class choices once I got to college. Why didn’t I think I was good at math?
It’s scarily simple: I’m a girl. And girls receive subliminal, usually unintentional, messages all the time, which shape a negative math identity.
Thankfully this completely changed for me when I pursued a degree in biology (which is often stereotyped at the most “female” of the sciences). I got deep into ecology, making mathematical models of ecosystem dynamics, and then studied animal behaviour through game theory. I even grew to love statistics, when it was applied in a space where I have deep passion, and a subject area where I felt secure.
What shapes a person’s math identity? Merle Froschl says that it’s: “The belief that you can do the math,” and “The belief that you belong.” The myth that girls and women are “worse at math” was exploded over a decade ago, and it’s very well documented by now that there is no genetic difference between the sexes in math ability. In countries like Sweden with high levels of gender equality, girls perform just as well as boys in math, but in countries with high gender inequality, girls lag in math performance. Numerous studies have also shown that being reminded of negative stereotypes about women in math negatively affects women’s math performance. The video below from FHI 360 does a good job of exploring these biases… and shows how even small changes can make a big change:
Small shifts in the messages that we communicate to girls’ about their ability and belonging in the world of math can make a huge difference in their interest and performance in the subject. One study (explained in the video above from FHI 360) found that adding a simple sentence to teachers feedback on their math work, “I’m giving you this feedback because I believe in you,” let to significantly higher achievement rates.
I find that result incredibly exciting! A tiny tweak in the message can have a truly impactful result. As adults and teachers and education professional, we know that girls already have it in them. Now we just have to make sure that they know we know it.
In our math and science cartoon, Ubongo Kids, we stuff our stories with girl power messages, but we also make sure to treat girls who are good at math as the norm. No one’s surprised when it’s the girls, Kibena, Kiduchu and Amani, who calculate how many monkeys and elephants they can fly to the market hot air balloon, or find the right number pattern to get through a secret passage to Dr Nundu’s lair. The message is subtle, but it’s clear: there is NO difference in girls’ and boys’ ability to do the math. And we all belong in the math world.
It seems to be working. Girls who watch Ubongo Kids are significantly more likely to say that math is their favourite subject. And a 6-month study showed that kids in rural Tanzanian communities that held weekly public screenings of Ubongo Kids improved significantly more in math that kids in control communities that didn’t have the show. To me, one of the most exciting results from this work was that kids improved on a number of math topics that weren’t even taught in the show, which suggests that beyond teaching specific math skills and knowledge, the show may be helping to shift students’ math identities.
I’m excited to explore this even more in our coming season, and also to apply what we’ve learned to build positive mindsets and “learning identities” for girls in other areas beyond math. We’re working with diverse partners from the Goodall Foundation to the International Rescue Committee to help girls (and boys) transform their learning through growth mindset, social-emotional learning games and more.
Whether you’re a parent, a teacher or just someone who uses math here and there in life, I encourage you to think about your own math identity and choose your words, to make sure that the girls in your life know you believe that they belong in the world of math.
To find out more about how Ubongo is working to change gender representation in media and education, check out our blog.
