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10 The Impact of Early
Intervention Programs Upon
Course-Taking and Attitudes
in High School
Lynn H. Fox, Linda Brody, and Dianne Tobin
The Johns Hopkins University
Introduction
Concern about sex differences in mathematical achievement has become
more acute in recent years as modern technology has made mathematical
understanding essential for many of the high-level careers available to-
day. Sells ( 1980) points out that the avoidance of high school mathe-
matics, not ability, is the critical filter that keeps many females from
pursuing mathematically oriented careers. Comprehensive reviews of the
literature on sex differences in mathematics prepared for the National
Institute of Education ( Fennema, 1977; Fox, 1977; Sherman, 1977) sup-
port this as well. Girls who do not study mathematics on advanced levels
are limiting their course-taking options in college and thus their career
options as adults.Efforts focusing on biological differences between the sexes have not
shed light on why many females who do have aptitude and ability in
mathematics do not take advanced mathematics or enter mathematically
related fields ( Ernest, 1980; Fox, 1974a, b; 1975 a, b, c; 1976 a, b, c, d;
Haven, 1972; Sells, 1980). Several social and educational explanations for
the differences in course-taking behavior have been postulated ( Fox,
1977; Fox, Tobin, & Brody, 1979):
1. Girls receive less encouragement than boys from parents, teachers,
guidance counselors, and peers to pursue advanced mathematics courses
in high school;
2. Girls are less likely than boys to perceive the usefulness of high
school mathematics courses to their future goals, perhaps partly because,

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Publication Information: Book Title: Women and Mathematics: Balancing the Equation. Contributors: Susan F. Chipman - editor, Lorelei R. Brush - editor, Donna M. Wilson - editor. Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Place of Publication: Hillsdale, NJ. Publication Year: 1985. Page Number: 249.
    
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