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Making math fairer
考試時(shí)間也應(yīng)當(dāng)“男女有別”
It's been said by some people that men are better at math and science than women. And taking a look at the figures from college departments, it could be difficult to argue with that. However, one famous British university is trying to put an end to this theory.
有些人常說，男生比女生更擅長數(shù)學(xué)和理科。高校各系的成績數(shù)據(jù)也讓人很難反駁這一點(diǎn)。然而，英國一所著名大學(xué)正試圖終結(jié)這一說法。
At Oxford University, math and computer science are two subjects that have big gaps in terms of grades between men and women. For example, just 21.2 percent of women taking math graduated with first-class degrees in 2017, compared to 45.5 percent of men, reported The Times.
在牛津大學(xué)，數(shù)學(xué)和計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)是男女生成績差異顯著的兩門學(xué)科。比如，據(jù)《泰晤士報(bào)》報(bào)道，2017年，該校數(shù)學(xué)系只有21.2%的女生取得了一等學(xué)位，而男生的這一比例為45.5%。
The university believes that female students are more likely to be affected by "time pressure". So to solve this problem, female students at Oxford were given 15 minutes more than male students to finish their math and computer science exams in the summer of 2017.
牛津大學(xué)認(rèn)為，女學(xué)生們更容易受到“時(shí)間壓力”的影響。因此，為了解決這一問題，在2017年夏季學(xué)期的數(shù)學(xué)和計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)考試中，牛津大學(xué)為女生延長了15分鐘的考試時(shí)間。
The decision came not long after the university's history department allowed its female students to take exams at home in 2017, reported The Independent. The aim of that plan was also to close the gap between men and women in the subject's exam results.
據(jù)《獨(dú)立報(bào)》報(bào)道，在做出這一決定的前不久，該校歷史系允許女生在家中完成2017年的考試。這一做法的初衷也是為了消除男女生在歷史這門學(xué)科上的成績差距。
These changes were welcomed by some people, who saw them as a positive sign.
這些改變受到了一些人的歡迎，大家認(rèn)為這是個(gè)積極信號(hào)。
"I am happy when people see gaps between groups of people who should not reasonably have such gaps, such as between genders, races or classes, and take that as a starting point to think about the kinds of people they unintentionally are leaving behind," Antonia Siu, a representative from Oxford Women in Computer Science, told The Telegraph.
“我很高興人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了不同人群之間（如性別、種族或是階層等）并不合理的差距，并開始思考哪些人在不知不覺中落在了后面，”牛津大學(xué)計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)女學(xué)生代表安東尼婭·肖在接受《電訊報(bào)》采訪時(shí)表示。
However, others criticized the decisions, saying they suggest that females are the weaker sex.
然而，還有一些人對(duì)這些做法持批判態(tài)度，稱這么做表明女性處于弱勢(shì)。
"You are saying that the girls can't take the stress of sitting in the exam room, which does raise one's anxiety levels," Amanda Foreman, a research fellow at the University of Liverpool, UK, told The Telegraph.
“這表示女孩們無法承受考場(chǎng)壓力，反而讓她們更加焦慮，”英國利物浦大學(xué)研究員阿曼達(dá)·福爾曼在接受《電訊報(bào)》采訪時(shí)表示。
"I don't think girls are inherently weaker than boys and can't take it. Women are not the weaker sex."
“我并不認(rèn)為女孩天生就比男孩差，也無法接受這種說法。女性并非處于弱勢(shì)。”
Indeed, research from the US Department of Education suggested that girls are as good at math-based subjects as boys are, reported news website Quartz in January. However, they're prevented from cultivating an interest in math and science because of the bias that women aren't good at those subjects, a 2012 report by Forbes said.
新聞網(wǎng)站Quartz今年1月報(bào)道，美國教育部研究顯示，女孩和男孩一樣擅長數(shù)理學(xué)科。然而，《福布斯》雜志2012年的一份報(bào)道表明，人們認(rèn)為女性不擅長這些學(xué)科，這種偏見不利于培養(yǎng)女性對(duì)數(shù)理學(xué)科的興趣。
But according to Quartz, there are better ways to equalize education between the sexes, such as giving more resources to girls to help them fall in love with math and science.
但據(jù)Quartz報(bào)道，有更好的方法來均衡不同性別之間的教育，如為女孩們提供更多資源，讓她們愛上數(shù)理學(xué)科。
And for girls who think they're bad at these subjects, it could all just be in their imagination. "The truth is, you probably are a math person, and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own career," wrote The Atlantic.
對(duì)于認(rèn)為自己不擅長這些學(xué)科的女孩們來說，或許這一切都是她們的錯(cuò)覺。“事實(shí)上，你或許十分擅長數(shù)學(xué)，卻因?yàn)椴蛔孕哦璧K了自己的職業(yè)發(fā)展，”《大西洋月刊》寫道。
