Schools’ Strategies for Promoting Girls’ Participation in Mathematics

Fewer girls than boys in England participate in post-compulsory mathematics. Previous studies have shown the significance to girls of their mathematics lessons and teachers, of cultural constructions of gender and mathematics, of career perceptions A multiple case-study project investigated institutions with unusually high participation by girls in mathematics. Focus groups and lesson observations were used to explore school pedagogy and culture. Common factors were: early preparation for demanding mathematics, a departmental ethos which encouraged student-teacher interactions in and out of lessons, teachers who explicitly and repeatedly confirmed that girls would succeed at mathematics A-level, appreciation of mathematics as opening doors to many careers.