Doing gender in mathematics. Indications for more gender equality in German universities?

Autor/inn/en	Mischau, Anina; Blättel-Mink, Birgit; Daniels, Judith; Lehmann, Jasmin
Institution	Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung (Bielefeld)
Titel	Doing gender in mathematics. Indications for more gender equality in German universities? Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Doing Gender in Mathematik. Hinweise auf mehr Geschlechtergerechtigkeit an deutschen Hochschulen?
Quelle	Bielefeld: Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Frauen- u. Geschlechterforschung (2004), 65 S.Verfügbarkeit
Reihe	IFF-Forschungsreihe. 16
Beigaben	Tabellen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie; Graue Literatur
ISBN	3-932869-16-8
Schlagwörter	Gender; Frau; Gleichstellung; Geschlecht; Geschichte (Histor); Mathematik; Technologie; Ungleichheit; Karriere; Studium; Wissenschaft; Studienwahl; Studienfach; Hochschule; Geschlechtsspezifik; Studentin; Deutschland
Abstract	"On exploring the gender imbalances in German higher education, two paths can be deduced from the empirical data. The higher the status, the lower the female participation ratio ('vertical gender inequality'); and there is 'horizontal gender inequality', i.e. with the exception of medicine and economics, women and men choose different subjects. When it comes to deciding on courses of study, men prefer science and engineering, and women prefer the humanities and social sciences, i.e. men prefer to take courses leading to graduation in the German system with a 'diploma', i.e. courses in theoretical mathematics, while women prefer courses leading to the 'state examination' and a teaching certificate, i.e. mathematics education. The ratio of women students of mathematics - a former men's domain - has more or less continuously increased over the past 25 years, without being followed by higher numbers of women in the higher status positions of the academia. With a survey (standardized questionnaire) issued at three German universities, the situation and perspectives of students of mathematics has been explored. A follow-up in-depth survey gave insight into the individuals' experiences during their studies of mathematics. The goal of these surveys was to ascertain whether the increase in female participation in mathematics has led to changes in the issues surrounding gender imbalance. We take an organizational theory approach, arguing with Joan Acker (1992) that universities are gendered organizations where gender imbalances exist and are reproduced on the structural level, on the symbolic level, on the level of interactions and, finally, on the mental level. Our assumption is that gendering also occurs within scientific disciplines. The question that we try to answer runs as follows: once structural processes of gendering begin to diminish - as is the case with mathematics - can we observe processes of de-gendering on the other three levels as well? The paper starts with a short overview on gender relations in german academia, with the main emphasis on mathematics and science & technology. In the second part of the paper, we explain the theoretical framework of the project as well as the methods applied. We then present the main results of our study and finally discuss whether our assumption proves to be right or has to be modified." (extract).
Erfasst von	GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim
Update	2007/4