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9.2.2002In Defense of Math
In one of the last Ann Landers' columns before her death, she was advising an older woman who had gone back to school and was having difficulty with her degree requirements that perhaps she could perhaps look into getting the mandatory math classes waivered, because the woman in question found the math terrifying and too difficult. Ann did her reader a disservice. Math knowledge is key to mastery of most other subjects and leads to increased opportunity and drastically improved pay levels. Steering women away from math class is irresponsible at best.
Starting with children at their earliest age, math knowledge is key. This is because learning math is really learning two things. The first and most ostensible result of learning math is the ability to calculate. You can add, subtract, etc. and use the knowledge in a functional way. However, you are really learning something else, a hidden track, when you learn math. The second algorithm you are learning is "the pattern". It's the ability to place things in a logical sequence, or to apply the underlying rules of sequencing to new and unfamiliar territories. This is why programming computers is often so difficult for women, especially. You are trying to acquire two algorithms simultaneously, i.e. the logic of how to give a machine instructions and the complexities of the coding language itself. Ever notice that certain people "get" new programs/operating systems much more rapidly than others or are noticeably more "mechanically inclined" with computers? They have completely internalized "the pattern" and use it to leverage new technologies quickly.
Using the concept of digital noesis, you do not remember events until you learn to speak. Logic and time elude you until you learn to write and read. The more logic-based a learning track you lay down, adding layer upon layer of complexity and knowledge, the more efficient and useful your mind becomes. This is why so many people play chess as a means of sharpening their reasoning ability. The earlier math knowledge is introduced, the better your reasoning ability will become. This translates into increased pay later, because the career fields that tend to pay better are based on technology and reasoning ability, i.e., science, medicine, engineering, information technology.
Boys are either naturally more adept or more likely, socialized more heavily towards logical thought. More math exposure feeds the cycle. Increased involvement in science and mechanically oriented hobbies and other activities are a natural result and enhance the self-selection process. This snowballs on itself until critical mass is reached about the beginning of high school, peaking during higher education. This is why there are so few women in computer science, engineering of any flavor, and medicine (surgeons and researchers as opposed to nurses and CNAs).
How can this be mitigated? Women must be steered onto an educational track from their preschool days that involves as much math as possible. What is needed is not so much the ability to manipulate numbers in various arcane ways as it is needed to be able to lay down a strong base of logic from which increased knowledge in other disciplines can be more easily acquired. It is also helpful to add instruction in things like pseudo-coding, before children are actually capable of programming, but being able to structure an efficient sequence of events is dependent on acquiring layers of knowledge that sequentially build from those layers of logic with which you have to work.
For more information, see The Women's Foundation of Denver, and the American Association of University Women for related articles.
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