Quote from: T.K.G.W. on March 11, 2016, 01:55:59 PM
Well it's been proven that if you tell someone they're worse at something than the opposite sex and then run an experiment with people watching to test their performances against the opposite sex, that knowledge undermines confidence and ability. They might have the ability just fine but being told they don't or being told that men can't do this as well as women or women can't do that as well as men causes people to nudge themselves toward the stereotype a little more.
So my degree is in math. I agree with many here it has nothing to do with gender, it has a lot to do with confidence and foundation. Math is like climbing a ladder, you need every rung on the ladder to be successful and get to the top. Too often people are convinced they're no good at math because they miss or misunderstood a rung or two along the way. But if you have confidence you'll be able to fight to understand. If not, you'll likely assume that you're not good at math.
With so many people, including teachers falsely believing women are bad at math, that confidence can be very hard to attain if you're female.
I have two daughters, both struggled with math until I sat down and started helping them. You know what I found out. Many teachers aren't very good at math.
So here are my suggestions.
1) Look for videos on the topics you're struggling with. There are a lot of good ones on the internet.
2) Practice those areas you have trouble with. Math is a lot like learning an instrument. Practice really helps.
3) Don't be afraid to retrace your steps if there's something you just don't get. If you have to look at videos for grades below yours do it. It may just be that missing rung that stops you from success.
4) Remember not everyone struggles with the same concepts. Some people have trouble with trig, some people have trouble with algebra, some people have trouble with geometry, etc.
Good luck,
Paige