‘Difficult, cold and abstract’: Why girls feel helpless in this school subject

“While attitudes across society are difficult to capture and are not monolithic, studies have suggested that there is a prevailing perception in many Western countries that associates mathematics with being difficult, cold and abstract,” it said.

Thailand, Singapore and Korea were the only countries to see a decrease in maths anxiety over the period.

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Mathematics researcher Dr Greg Ashman said English-speaking countries had focused on teaching “problem-solving skills” and eschewed remembering procedures such as long division or memorising times tables – which he said was “fundamentally wrong”.

“Evidence suggests that teachers in East Asia want their students to understand maths just like we do. However, they also appreciate the fundamental importance of practising facts and procedures to fluency. Without this fluency, there is no strong foundation. Students are presented with problems they struggle to solve and this is what plausibly drives maths anxiety.

“When it comes to the gender gap, there are other factors at work, many of which are complex. However, if we taught maths better – if we taught it clearly and explicitly and asked students to practise to fluency – we may reduce the aversion to maths felt by some girls because they would experience more success as a result of this better teaching.”

Centre for Independent Studies policy researcher Kelly Norris said: “They don’t feel successful in maths and they get low self-esteem, which leads to avoidance, which leads to less practice and … more anxiety.”

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