Abstract:

Today in most countries gender equality in education as well as in mathematics education is considered formally established and given. However, the reality is different because in practice girls and boys do not enjoy equal rights, which is evidenced by the under-representation of women in positions of power in education as well as by their under-representation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) studies and professions. Recent research shows that the girls' performance in mathematics is equal to or even better than that of boys, in secondary education. However, there is a significant difference between boys and girls in the continuation of their university and postgraduate studies in mathematics. The problem seems to have shifted from the reduced performance of girls to their reduced participation in studies and professions related to Mathematics. For this reason, the investigation of the gender dimension of mathematics is still of great interest today.

Pedagogical feminist research in recent decades has helped to understand the above issue approaching it using Foucault’s theory and exploring the ways in which girls and boys construct subjectivity. through Mathematics.

Thus, a small survey is presented which was conducted in an urban provincial city of Greece among four women, teachers of mathematics in a high school. Part of what was investigated through interviews, was the kind of regimes of truth which they reproduce in their discourse. The research was conducted in the school year 2017-2018. The teachers were asked about the ways in which girls and boys work in mathematics, the performance of boys and girls, the areas of mathematics that girls or boys can excel at and, finally, why they believe that boys choose to follow STEM studies while girls prefer the Humanities.Discourse analysis was used to analyze the empirical data, utilizing tools from Foucault's transformational theory.

Through their discourse, the investigated teachers seem to reproduce, albeit to a different degree, the most important ‘regimes of truth’ concerning girls and mathematics. They consider mathematical thinking to be an innate characteristic, which either only boys have or cultivate it more through their activities and games. A regime of truth which is most controversial to gender differences is the one which argues that girls have low visual-spatial ability compared to boys. Therefore, boys are better in geometry. This regime of truth is invoked by all four investigated teachers who refer to research findings and to biological differences of the sexes' brains.Moreover, Athena and Fotini give a different significance to geometry, which they consider requires higher level mathematical thinking. Finally, for both Fotini and Eleni, the girls lack a passion for mathematics.Therefore, they consider that the relationship of girls with mathematics is secondary and limited in the context of their school obligations. Concluding, we would claim that through their discourse, the investigated teachers reproduce, to a certain degree, regimes of truth, concerning girls and mathematics. Thus, girls are ranked as less able than boys in mathematics, as they lack an innate talent, experience and passion for the particular Subject. In this way, however, the myth of the incompatibility of women with mathematics is reproduced, which, leads, ultimately, to an incompatibility with the prestigious professions associated with them.

Keywords:

Gender equality, Maths, meta-structural analysis, regimes of truth.