Skip to main content
  • About Us
  • Work at WestEd
  • Contact Us
  • Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Don't Miss Out!

Subscribe to the E-Bulletin for regular updates on research, free resources, solutions, and job postings from WestEd.

Subscribe Now

WestEd E-Bulletin

close

WestEd

WestEd
Improving learning, healthy development, and equity in schools and communities
  • Areas of Work
    • Areas of Work

      Building leadership, skills, and knowledge across critical topics.

      • Charters & School Choice
      • College & Career
      • Early Childhood Development & Learning
      • Economic Mobility, Postsecondary, and Workforce
      • English Learners & Migratory Students
      • Literacy
      • Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities
      • Schools, Districts, & State Education Systems
      • Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics
      • Special Education
      • Standards, Assessment, & Accountability
      • Teachers & Leaders
      • Featured Initiative
      • COVID-19: Accelerate Learning Recovery
      • Magnet Schools and Magnet Services
      • Strategic Resource Planning & Implementation
      • Trauma-Informed Practice & Resiliency
  • Professional Development
  • Research & Evaluation
    • Research & Evaluation

      Conducting research and evaluation studies to help improve education and other important outcomes for children, youth, and adults.

      • What We Do
      • How We Can Help
      • WestEd Insights
      • Reports & Publications
      • Other Pages of Interest
      • National TA Centers
      • Consulting & Policy Support
  • Technical Assistance
    • Technical Assistance

      Build systemwide capacity to plan and implement research-informed solutions that ensure positive outcomes.

      • Technical Assistance Services
      • National Support Networks
      • Policy Analysis & Other Support
  • Resources
    • Resources

      A rich portfolio of resources that promote educator effectiveness, inform policy, and support positive outcomes for all learners.

      • Resources Home
      • New Releases
      • Top Downloads
      • Podcasts
      • R&D Alert Articles
      • Research
      • Free Resources
      • Webinars
      • Best Sellers
      • Reprint Permissions
      • Customer Support
      • Contact Publications Center
      • Login/Create Account
  • Events
  • About Us
    • About Us

      Trust unparalleled expertise from WestEd to help all learners succeed.

      • Overview
      • Board of Directors
      • Leadership
      • Staff
      • Offices

      • Work at WestEd
      • Work with WestEd
      • News
      • Events
      • Subscribe
      • Contact Us
  • Work at WestEd
Menu

WestEd Insights / research and innovations

Read about significant research findings and impact from WestEd experts related to teaching, learning, and human development.

Insights & Impact

Getting and Keeping Girls Interested in Math and Science: Three Key Resources for Educators

The What Works Clearinghouse’s (WWC) Encouraging Girls in Math and Science IES Practice Guide provides educators with clear and practical evidence-based recommendations to inspire girls in science and math. This post provides a brief overview of the five strategies outlined in the guide and highlights supporting resources from REL West and the Doing What Works library.

Five Recommendations for Teachers and Other School Staff

WWC Practice Guides present evidence-based recommendations that teachers can implement without systemic change. Each recommendation is supported by various levels of research. The Encouraging Girls in Math and Science Practice Guide presents the following five strategies:

  1. Help students understand academic abilities are expandable and improvable.
  2. Give students prescriptive, informational feedback on their course performance.
  3. Introduce students to women who have made strides in the field to counter negative gender stereotypes.
  4. Create and sustain a classroom environment that sparks curiosity and long-time interest in math and science.
  5. Provide spatial skills training to increase test performance.

“These recommendations together form a coherent statement: To encourage girls in math and science, we need to begin first with their beliefs about their abilities in these areas, second with sparking and maintaining greater interest in these topics, and finally with building associated skills.” (Encouraging Girls in Math and Science, page 8)

A checklist of recommendations, suggestions for implementing them, and solutions to potential roadblocks are included in the guide. Download your copy to find out more.

Introducing Learners to Female Role Models

Parents and caregivers can take an active role in encouraging children’s interest in math and science. The WWC recommends introducing students to female role models as a way to counter negative gender stereotypes. Researchers at REL West created an activity sheet to assist educators with this goal.

The activity involves reading brief biographies of three female role models and discussing why they are inspirational. The biographies are of three women who made significant contributions to the field of technology — mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace, mathematician and computer scientist Grace Hopper, and mathematician Gladys West.

Teachers can give this activity to families and caregivers to do at home with their children.

Download the activity sheet to learn more.

A Library of Additional Resources

The Doing What Works website offers a variety of resources to help educators promote math and science for girls, including infographics, planning templates, and videos. The video below, for example, provides an overview of how to teach students that their abilities are not fixed, but expandable.

Visit the Doing What Works resource library to access more resources.

Posted on December 13, 2021

College & careerFamily engagementMathematicsResearch and evaluationResourceSchools and districtsScienceSTEM

View More

 

Contact Us

Ask a question, request information, make a suggestion, or sign up for our newsletter.

Areas of Work

  • Areas of Work
  • College & Career
  • Early Childhood Development & Learning
  • Economic Mobility, Postsecondary, and Workforce
  • English Learner & Migrant Education Services
  • Literacy
  • Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities
  • Schools, Districts, & State Education Systems
  • Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics
  • Special Education
  • Standards, Assessment, & Accountability
  • Teachers & Leaders

Professional Development

  • Professional Development

Research & Evaluation

  • Research & Evaluation
  • What We Do
  • How We Can Help
  • Reports & Publications
  • WestEd Insights

Technical Assistance

  • Technical Assistance
  • Technical Assistance Services
  • National Support Networks
  • Policy Analysis and Other Support

Resources

  • Resources
  • Resources Home
  • New Releases
  • Best Sellers
  • Top Downloads
  • Free Resources
  • Research
  • Webinars
  • R&D Alert Articles

About Us

  • About Us
  • Overview
  • Board of Directors
  • Leadership
  • Staff
  • WestEd Offices
  • Work with WestEd
  • WestEd Insights
  • News
  • Events
  • Making a Difference
  • Work at WestEd
  • Contact Us
  • FacebookTwitterLinkedIn
Also of Interest:
  • Doing What Works: Improving K-3 Reading Comprehension
  • Doing What Works
  • A Ticket for Success: Best Practices

Copyright ©1995 - 2022 WestEd | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Accessibility Statement