Translating Gender Equity Discourses into School Interventions: Conflicts between Gender Visibility/Invisibility and Mathematical Abilities' Construction

Abstract

Problems of gender equity in Science, Tecnology, Engineering and Mathematics (stem) and different campaigns, policies and interventions targeting school age students, teachers and educational institutions are part of strong public discourses both internationally and in Chile. In this country policies targeting these issues are young and do not necessarily reach schools in small cities/towns, leaving them with little guidelines on how to implement local interventions towards gender equity in mathematics. This study explores how the problem of gender equity in mathematics is constructed in a coeducational school that spontaneously decided to implement mathematics lessons in single- sex classroom with the purpose of improving girls' attainment and attitudes in this discipline. In particular, it analyses teacher, students and head team's perceptions, exploring discourses that are voiced regarding mathematics, gender and the intervention in this school. Conflicts emerged in the implementation of the intervention following the intense visibility and invisibility of gender as a relevant category to understand local constructions of abilities to learn and teach mathematics, and to understand students' general attitudes and dispositions. Exploring these conflicts offers supporting evidence about the relevance of critical gender reflection in collective environments and the development of interventions with constant revision of how problems and solutions are defined.