Yes, we all have been affected by the cloud of confusion that accumulates over our heads and sometimes rains on our parade.  It creeps in softly like a quick passerby, then BAM—stops you in your tracks more abruptly than actual rain in I-95 traffic.  However, Dr. Carol S. Dweck argues in her article, “Is Math a Gift?  Beliefs That Put Females at Risk,” that females not only get this dark cumulonimbus-looking cloud, but it causes an outright flood that can sweep through their minds and take out any lasting remains of confidence.  Males on the other hand, may have a cloud of confusion resembling more like a flat, smooth nimbostratus, which merely produces a nice rain to make all the flowers grow.  So, what is with this gender splitting condensation?

 

I must admit, I personally identify with the content of this article.  As a matter of fact, I am currently struggling with confusion brought on by the college transition, and all of the lumps and bumps confusion causes in the road.  My confidence has definitely decreased.  In a way, my case fits the data provided in Dweck’s article.  However, the crucial point is missing—I am highly critical of Dwecks hard differentiation between considering intellect as a gift versus considering it as an expandable quality and how each viewpoint affects males’ and females’ performances through a “confusing” transition in life.  I believe intellect is expandable, and yet my confidence levels continue to deplete.  My confidence relies upon how accurately and timely I complete an assignment.

 

The key word is timely.  One can say intellect is expandable, but how long will that expanding take?  Perhaps we’re looking at tests’ results through too narrow of a lens.  Data collected by college board in 2013 shows “even though female high school students are better prepared academically on many different measures than their male classmates, both overall and for mathematics specifically, female high school students score significantly lower on the SAT math test, and the +30-point differences in test scores favoring males has persisted for generations.”  The SATs are timed tests.  I have yet to find data investigating this other outlook.

 

All in all, I believe supporting the belief that intellect can grow is important, rather than praising intellectual “gifts.”  However, supporting in the way that doesn’t own up to recognizing when someone takes an abnormally long time to learn the information, can be more damaging, for in the same vein, the one’s teaching and “encouraging” are providing false hope.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Ceci, Stephen J., and Wendy M. Williams, eds. Why Aren’t There More Women In Science. 1st ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2007. Print.

Perry, Mark J. “2013 SAT Test Results Show That a Huge Math Gender Gap Persists with a 32-point Advantage for High School Boys.” AEI, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.