Hypatia's Contributions And Gender Differences

“If mathematics is a male domain, where does this leave women who do mathematics?” (Solomon 1) For a long time, women have struggled to gain complete acceptance in the mathematics field. “Mathematics is seen as a male-dominated field and it has been an uphill battle for women trying to break into the field” (Solomon 172). Despite this, there have been several women throughout history who have made significant contributions to and impacts in the field of mathematics. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and experiences of female mathematicians, and gender differences in this field. This paper looks at the lives of one of many famous female mathematician named Hypatia, as well as female mathematician at New Jersey City University who was interviewed for this paper. Specifically this paper examines the discrimination they faced and how they overcame this discrimination, as well as the contributions they have made to the mathematics field.
Hypatia is recognized as the first woman to have a significant impact in the field of mathematics, and some have referred to her as the “mother of mathematics” (Koch 96). Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician and philosopher Theon of Alexandria and it is fairly certain that she studied mathematics under the …show more content…
“Affective variables include confidence and anxiety of the person, the stereotype of mathematics as a male domain, the belief in the personal usefulness of mathematics, and intrinsic motivation” (Fennema 84). “However, there is little evidence to show that intrinsic motivation in females is less than that of males” (Fennema 85). Educational variables include teachers and school organization. All of these variables can have an effect on sex-related differences both in mathematics achievement and the studying of