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FREE! Girls in STEM | Gender disparity in education. Problem and Solution

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Flipped Homework⁠

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What are we going to do today?

In today’s class we are going to:

discuss the stereotypes around girls’ academic abilities and look for solutions to gender imbalance in education

work with ideas and topic-specific vocabulary from the video

learn how to plan and write a good Problem & Solution / Cause & Effect essay

brainstorm ideas for an essay on the topic of gender disparity in education and answer some Speaking pt. 3 questions

Warm up

Are you good or bad at Math? Why do you think that is? How has it affected your adult life?

Is it true that boys are generally better at Math than girls? Talk about your experience and observations.

What is the problem with labeling certain areas of knowledge as ‘feminine subjects’ and ‘masculine subjects’?

Let’s discuss!

Why Are Women Bad at Math?

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transcript⁠

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Are they? :) What really is different about boys’ and girls’ experience in Math classes at school?

What made this stereotyping pervasive?

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Why do you think the notions of raw, effortless brilliance and sustained hard work ascribed to girls and not boys? What is the consequence of this?

Why do women leave or never enter the STEM field after getting a degree?

What needs to be done to improve the situation? Who stands to gain from helping more women participate in STEM?

Vocabulary: Gender Disparity in Education

Topic-Specific Vocabulary

Use the vocabulary in the toggle below (click on the arrow to open it) to paraphrase the expressions in bold. You may need to change the structure of the sentence: For example:

enrollment

Even in countries like the US and Australia that have managed to get more girls to study Math and Science > increase women's enrollment in STEM subjects in college, work cultures often make them feel like they don't belong.

There are some expressions you don’t need.

frame

pursue

perceive

reinforced by

dominated by

subjected to

bias

inclination

performance

Experiments have shown that men and women see women as being worse at math.

Even today, there are so many more men in math-based careers. 85% of engineers in the world are men. Around 75% of people in the data and the industry are also men.

This stereotyping of men being naturally more gifted at math and science is pervasive. For the longest time, the trope of the genius scientist who is usually male, white and disheveled has been supported by popular culture.

Girls express far higher anxiety levels about their Math tests. This is a result of girls getting influenced by societal notions reinforced by their teachers, peers and parents that they are naturally bad at Math and Science, usually regarded as boys' subjects.

But it's not like women haven't been successful when they've tried to build a career in science and math, just that society has often failed to recognize their successes.

the answer key

perceive (women see>perceive women as being worse at math)

dominated by (math based careers remain dominated by men)

reinforced by (the trope of the genius scientist who usually male, white and disheveled has been reinforced by popular culture)

inclination (they don't have a natural inclination or talent for math and science)

pursue (they've pursued science and math)

IELTS Writing Task 2: Essay Structure

Problem & Solution / Cause & Effect Essays: The Deceptive Ease

What is the difference between the two essay questions? What do these essays ask us to talk about?

An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What can be done to deal with this situation?

Many offenders commit more crimes after serving their first punishment. Why is this happening, and what measures can be taken to tackle this problem?

Answer the questions:

Does the writer express their position in the essay (how they feel about the situation)?

What information does the writer include in the introduction?

What goes into each of the two body paragraphs?

How many different ideas are there in each body paragraph?

What information is given in the conclusion?

An increasing number of professionals, such as doctors and teachers, are leaving their own poorer countries to work in developed countries. What problems does this cause? What can be done to deal with this situation?

More and more professionals from developing and underdeveloped countries are choosing to live and work in richer countries. As a result, poorer countries will struggle to develop but this can be tackled by offering more incentives to stay and better living conditions.

The main problem faced by poorer countries due to the brain-drain, in fields such as medicine and education, is that they will struggle to develop and find it difficult to improve their economy as well as living conditions. One of the main ways that a developing country can better themselves is through the skills and dedication of the professionals which is negated when they choose to take their skills to benefit another country. Consequently, less developed countries will not be able to offer their citizens high level of education or health care, and this in turn will hinder their ability to compete on a global scale, to entice investors and ultimately to stop the poverty cycle.

One effective solution to deal with professionals leaving their country is for their government to encourage them to stay by offering better working conditions. This can be done by increasing wages and investing in state-of-the-art equipment and training to tempt doctors and teachers to continue working there. Another possible answer is for poorer countries to offer better standards of living, more tolerance and a positive future as a way to entice their professionals back into their own country after they have completed their training abroad. However, these solutions are financially demanding which means poorer governments may have to look to developed countries for aid in order to implement these changes.

In conclusion, poorer countries are unable to develop due to the brain-drain which can only be tackled by enticing professionals to remain in their country of origin through better conditions.

Intro:

BP1 (body paragraph 1):

BP2: Conclusion:

Many offenders commit more crimes after serving their first punishment. Why is this happening, and what measures can be taken to tackle this problem?

A large number of offenders who serve their first prison sentence, leave prison only to reoffend. This is mainly because of the lack of rehabilitation and difficulty finding regular employment once released. There are a number of solutions which should be implemented to deal with criminals who reoffend.

Firstly, the reason for most first-time offenders committing crimes again, once they have been released from prison, is due to the lack of rehabilitation whilst in prison. In other words, offenders are not given a chance to retrain and learn new skills for their future to develop a deeper understanding of correct moral behavior and instead mix with other criminals, which only strengthens their criminal intentions. Secondly, repeat offending is also owing to the difficulty in finding employment after being released. As a result, many of them struggle financially which leads them back to crime, regardless of the consequences.

There are two effective solutions to the problem of repeat offenders. One way to tackle this is to ensure that all criminals entering prison are given the chance to retrain with useful skills which hopefully will ensure them a job after they have served their sentence. By doing this, it will help reintegrate back into society and give them some means of supporting themselves financially. Another method of dealing with criminals who reoffend is to have more supervision and checks in place when they are back in society. This solution would hopefully prevent them from taking any chances and deter them from reoffending because they are being so closely watched.

In conclusion, having training in prison and also close observation when first time offenders are released are effective in dealing with the issue. If governments implemented these solutions, crime figures would soon drop.

Intro:

BP1 (body paragraph 1):

BP2: Conclusion:

Write a plan for a Problem & Solution / Cause & Effect Essay:

Problem & Solution / Cause & Effect Essay Structure

Problem & Solution / Cause & Effect Essay Structure

o. Introduction:

Paraphrase the general topic + address all parts of the prompt specifically (NEVER: “This essay will look at some causes and give some solutions”)

Body Paragraph 1: Problems OR Causes (at least 2 DIFFERENT ideas)

1) Topic sentence = State what the problem is

2) Explain = so what does it mean? why?

3) Example (optional!)

4) Circle-back to the topic sentence (So this is why…)

Body Paragraph 2: Solutions OR Effects (at least 2)

1) Topic sentence = Suggest a solution

2) Explain = how will this work?

3) Example (optional!)

4) Evaluate the efficiency of the suggested solutions (how easy or difficult would they be to implement; who will benefit from these solutions)

Conclusion:

summarize the main points (from both paragraphs)

do NOT introduce any new ideas

(optional) give a projection for the future

Let’s write!

Planning the Essay

See if you can use the ideas from the video (as well as your own academic experience and our discussion today) to brainstorm ideas for the following essay:

In most science courses at university, there are significantly more male students than female students. What is the reason for this? What could be done to balance out the numbers?

Choose one of the tasks below:

write the intro: paraphrase the task + the thesis statement

write the topic sentence + 2nd sentence for either body paragraph

See if the same ideas could work for these Speaking part 3 questions:

Do boys and girls learn in the same way?

Do women and men have equal opportunities in the workplace these days?

Why is it important for teenagers to have good role models?

How does popular culture influence young people?

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