Research Reports: STUDENTS' IDEAS ABOUT MATHEMATICS: A COMPARISON OF THE VIEWS HELD BY MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS IN A FIRST YEAR MATHEMATICS COURSE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Abstract

The 4 small scale studies reported here have been included to indicate some of the complex processes emerging as part of an engagement with gender equality concerns in Commonwealth universities and the potential for larger and more in depth examination of these issues. The studies, mostly conducted as projects for Masters degree dissertations, highlight the potential of qualitative methodologies in casting light on the multiple spaces in which gender inequality persists despite some considerable expansion of student enrolment to include women. A number of the authors as postgraduate students examining gender issues in higher education remarked on the dearth of studies on this theme outside the UK, Australia and North America. Their own work, published here, is an attempt to redress that balance.