CE 103 Dr.

Edwards
Why Gender Matters
Gender Issues in Teaching
Who are my students? Age, Stage, Development and Gender
1. Gender D!!eren"es n the #nature$ "amp
%. Gender D!!eren"es n the #nurture$ "amp
3. Cauton& 'erl o! the 'endulum (E)treme deologes*
+. ,esear"h -rea.through
1
Research findings:
Grls/ hearng s su0stantally more senstve than 0oys/ espe"ally n the 10001 to +,000123
range, and these d!!eren"es n"reases wth age.
1
Women hear 0etter than men.
4he male retna s su0stantally th".er than the !emale retna 0e"ause the male "ells have
mostly larger, th".er 5 "ells whle the !emale retna has predomnately smaller, thnner '
ganglon "ells. As a result, grls see r"h te)tures and varan"es n "olors whle males are
nsenstve to these varan"es and are drawn to moton. ,esear"hers at Cam0rdge 6nversty
!ound grl 0a0es would respond !rst to a young woman/s !a"e whle 0oy 0a0es loo.ed !rst
at a mo0le.
%
-oys and grls may pre!er part"ular .nds o! toys 0ased on the way they see.
Women typ"ally navgate usng landmar.s whle men are more l.ely to use maps, a0solute
dre"tons l.e north and south. 7euros"entsts have learned that the d!!erent genders use
d!!erent areas o! the 0ran when navgatng. 8emales use the "ere0ral "orte) and males use
the hppo"ampus, a nu"leus deep nsde the 0ran that s not a"tvated n women/s 0rans
durng navgatonal tas.s.
3
A 2arvard study usng 5,9 magng sought to understand how emoton s pro"essed n the
0rans o! "hldren. Chldren pro"ess emotons n the amygdala, a prmtve area deep n the
0ran !ar !rom the "ere0ral "orte) where language s pro"essed. Seven year olds o!ten "an/t
tell you why they are !eelng sad. -ut as grls mature, 0ran a"tvty asso"ated wth emoton
moves out o! the amygdala and nto the "ere0ral "orte):n grls, 0ut not n 0oys. 9n !a"t,
even n adult men, mu"h o! the 0ran a"tvty asso"ated wth emoton remans n the
amygdale, ma.ng t d!!"ult and un"om!orta0le !or many men to tell how they !eel.
+
A 6C;A study !ound that women/s se)ualty tends to 0e strongly ln.ed to a "lose
relatonshp, n 0oth straght and gay women. 4hs was less true !or men, gay or straght. As a
result, !ewer women 0uy pornography 0e"ause t s mposs0le to have a "ommtted
relatonshp wth a p"ture n a maga3ne or onlne. 5ost men/s se)ual sel!1"on"ept has an
aggressve dmenson< rape s a "rme "ommtted almost e)"lusvely 0y men:0oth gay and
straght. 4hey "on"luded that, n general, male1!emale d!!eren"es are more !undamental than
d!!eren"es n se)ual orentaton.
=
-oys and grls assess rs. d!!erently, wth 0oys more l.ely to report !eelng e)hlarated 0y
the poss0lty o! danger, whereas grls were !ar more l.ely to report !eelng !ear!ul. -oys
systemat"ally overestmated ther own a0lty whle grls are more l.ely to underestmate
ther a0ltes. And a 0oy s mu"h more l.ely to do somethng dangerous when he s n a
group than when he s alone.
>
1
8or more n!ormaton a0out hearng d!!eren"es, see www.genderd!!erenes.org?hearng.htm.
%
@enn!er Connellan, Smon -aron1Cohen, #Se) D!!eren"es n 2uman 7eonatal So"al 'er"epton,$ Infant Behavior
and Development, %3&11311A, %000.
3
Georg Gron, 5atthas ,epe, #-ran A"tvaton durng 2uman 7avgaton& Gender1D!!erent 7eural 7etwor.s as
Su0strate o! 'er!orman"e,$ Nature neuroscience, 3&+0+1A, %000.
+
Wllam Bllgore, 5.a C., and De0orah Durgelun14odd, #Se)1Spe"!" Developmental Changes n Amygdala
,esponses to A!!e"tve 8a"es,$ NeuroReport, 1%&+%E133, %001.
=
Davd S"hmtt, #6nversal Se) D!!eren"es n the Desre !or Se)ual Farety,$ @ournal o! 'ersonalty and So"al
'sy"hology, A=&A=110+, %003.
>
;3ette 'eterson, 4ammy -ra3eal, Brsta Clver and Cathy -ull, #Gender and Developmental 'atterns o! A!!e"t. -ele!,
and -ehavor n Smulated 9nGury Events.$ @ournal o! Appled Developmental 'sy"hology, 1A&=311+>, 1HHE.
%
-oys !ght twenty tmes as o!ten as grls do, 0ut a!ter the !ght 0oys usually end up 0etter
!rends and are more l.ely to play together. Grls seldom !ght, 0ut when they do 0ad
!eelngs last.
E
Cn average, grls are 0etter at some aspe"ts o! math a0lty and 0oys are 0etter at others.
4hroughout the s"hool years, grls tend to get 0etter s"ores on the "al"ulaton and
"omputaton parts o! apttude tests, and 0oys on the parts reIurng mathemat"al pro0lem
solvng.
A
Women tend to ma.e moral de"sons on the 0ass o! who t mght help and who t mght
hurt. 5en tend to ma.e moral de"sons on the 0ass o! rght and wrong, regardless o! how t
mpa"ts others.
H
What differences might some of these findings make in the way we teach?
(;eonard Sa), Why Gender Matters*

8emales wll naturally see. to a!!late wth the tea"her and won/t hestate to as. !or help.
4hey wll 0e more open to motvaton !rom the tea"her and gve more weght to tea"her/s
opnons. 4hey are at greater rs. o! 0eng harmed 0y negatve assessment !rom a tea"her.
8emales tend to underestmate ther a0ltes, males overestmate thers. En"ourage grls and
0uld them up. 8emales respond 0etter to a less "on!rontatonal, n1your1!a"e ds"plnary
style. 5ales o!ten need a realty1"he"..
5ales are o!ten less motvated unless they !nd the materal ntrns"ally nterestng. 4hey
wll "onsult the tea"her as a last resort.
5ales respond 0etter to stress than !emales. E)ample& 0oys are energ3ed 0y tme1"onstraned
tas.s. 8ew grls !loursh n hgh1pressure, do1t1n1!ve1se"onds1or1you1lose1!ormats.
Compettve strateges are not as e!!e"tve wth !emales. 5oderate stress mproves male
per!orman"es on tests 0ut the same stress degrades grls/ per!orman"es. (why males do 0etter
on SA4 and !emales outper!orm males n s"hool and on grades*
5ales mature !aster n some areas, slower n others. Se) d!!eren"es n "hldhood are larger
and more mportant than se) d!!eren"es n adulthood. -y age 30 0oth males and !emales
have rea"hed !ull maturty n all areas o! ther 0ran.
-e"ause o! the d!!eren"es n male/s and !emale/s a0lty to hear, males should 0e sttng
"lose to !ront. 4yp"al, a"adem"ally g!ted men n !ront, women n mddle, males (wth
Iuestona0le nterest* at 0a".. (Some "onsderatons& ! all male auden"e, tal. louder,
!emales , don/t shout.*
E
@anet ;ever, #Se) D!!eren"es n the Games Chldren 'lay,$ So"al 'ro0lems, %3&+EA1AE, 1HE>.
A
Doreen Bmura, Sex and Conition, ;ondon, England& -rad!ord -oo.s, 594 'ress, %000, >A.
H
Carol Gllgan, In ! Different "oice, Cam0rdge, 5assa"husetts& 2arvard 6nversty 'ress, 1HA%.
3