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The HILDA survey gained attention last week when it revealed that only 50% of men and 35% of women could answer five financial literacy questions. Several people asked me if I believed the survey could be true and were shocked when I stated that I did. I was ready for the next line of questioning …is our education system failing? Does a gender divide really exist in Mathematics?

What does explain results like this? Firstly – Mathematics is not a compulsory course for the HSC. In the 2016 HSC, 77.6 % of students studied one Maths course out of a total of about 70,000 students. This is in comparison to 95% who studied Maths in 1986. From these figures you may be interested to know that the most popular of the Mathematics courses is the General Mathematics course.  Only 4.18 per cent of HSC students did the highest-level maths subject Maths Extension 2 last year, while 41.3 per cent of students did the non-calculus course Maths General 2.

The push to get students to study STEM subjects is well founded and a necessity. In another article in the SMH this week the problem of finding qualified teachers was discussed.  “Teachers qualified in other areas being asked to teach STEM subjects has been prevalent in Australian schools for some time, with more than a quarter of year 7 to 10 teachers and 15 per cent of year 11 and 12 teachers taking classes in subjects they have not studied above first year at university, according to a 2016 Australian Council for Educational Research report. The shortage in subject-qualified teachers has also been linked to a decade-long decline in the proportion of students choosing high-level maths and science subjects for the HSC.” (www.smh.com.au/education)

Secondly, despite studying financial literacy at school in subjects such as Maths and Commerce, many people do not get to use their Mathematics on a frequent basis post school. We know that over time ‘if we don’t use it we lose it’ -Mathematical understanding falls into this hole. 

Finally- is there a gender divide? Research has shown Boys and girls approach Mathematics differently- for girls it’s about feeling confident and building a relationship with their teacher. The more relaxed approach by boys works for them in Maths. Surveys and reports have looked at gender differences in attitudes towards and performance in Mathematics and examined features such as early approaches to mathematics, teacher bias, career opportunities and the brain and spatial skills. Many reports do not find there are major differences in ability- but in the way men and women respond to competitive test taking environments. 

Surprisingly, in a 2017 research project examining gender inequities in mathematics achievement and expectations in Australia, Canada and the UK, there is a clear indication that stereotypical attitudes towards mathematical aptitude, ability and career relevance continue to exist in Australia, and that these attitudes are held more strongly by younger people.