Gender Differences and Intellectual Ability - Essay Example

Name: Course: Course instructor: Date submitted: Boys and girls are different not only in their physical appearance but also in their psychological components such as intellectual performance, aggressiveness and empathy. According to Howard (371), as boys and girls grow they tend to display certain intellectual differences between them. In order to understand the intellectual differences shown by both boys and girls it is important we understand what gender imbalance is. Gender imbalance is defined as the inequality experienced between boys/men and girls/women. This inequality can be in the form of social, physical, emotional and intellectual adaptation defined in these two sexes. Normally, parents have been known anticipate about their child sex especially on their first prenatal ultra sound. Howard (374) asserts that, it is obvious that boys and girls differ in several ways, and it is evident that in most cases the gap portrayed between them seems stark. This gap has been a wide area of research in trying to understand intellectual differences normally displayed between boys and girls. Boys are often described as aggressive, independent and dominant in spatial and mathematical skills whereas girls are known to be empathic, dominant in verbal skills and social skills. Society dictates men as being more intelligent that women due to a variety of reasons usually not related to actual intellectual abilities. This perception may be a reflect of an actual slight in intelligence quotient advantage that men tend to poses over women. People have different conceptions of what intelligence is, as well as perceptions of what intelligent people look like. These perceptions have tremendously assisted in the constellation of cognitive abilities used in estimating difference in intellectual capabilities. Cognitive abilities have been used to explain why men are superior to women on science related courses and likewise why women dominate a lot on human related subjects (Langrock, 940). It is clear that possible reasons for intellectual differences between boys and girls emerge from the brain. According to Langrock (949), key fundamental brain differences exhibited by both male and females have been known to contribute to differences in cognitive learning and intellectualism. According to an article written by the council for exceptional children, girls tend to be left brain dominant whereas boys are right brain dominant. The right hemisphere of the brain is connected to visual-spatial abilities whereas the left is linked to language skills. This statement is used to define why men are usually active in science related courses and women to reading and human related subjects. Corpus callosum an area found in the brain responsible for producing emotions is larger in size in women than in men. Because of size variation, women seem to have better communication abilities which they rely on them heavily. On the other hand, boys tend to rely on their non verbal communications and that is why men are less likely to verbalize about what they feel. Release of testicular (androgen) in men and ovarian (estrogens) in women are known to cause variation of brain development between boys and girls respectively (Langrock, 947). Neurological disparity between boys and girls highly explains the intellectual imbalance experienced between these two sexes. Research indicates that there exist large scale differences in the brain structure and function displayed in both males and females. According to Langrock (949), boys usually have bigger brains as compared to their counterparts from their time of birth to old age. It has been experienced that a girl’s brain reaches a certain time when it stops developing much earlier than that of boys. This lack of development exhibited at the time a girl brain stops growing explains why boys are considered to be more active as opposed to girls both intellectually and physically. Parts of the brain which are involved in mechanical skills or projectile usually mature faster in boys as compared to girls. This factor explains why there is a large intellectual difference between the two sexes especially in science oriented subjects. For instance, girls show a consistent ability in verbal skills as compared to boys due to the organization of the girl’s brain (Langrock, 949). At puberty, sex hormones actively play a greater role in determining intellectual abilities exhibited independently by both boys and girls. At a younger age there is little difference in the performance of both boys and girls in science as mathematics. Once a boy hits puberty, the testosterone increases the ability to exhibits visual and spatial skills therefore increasing the gap between boys and girls in science and mathematics capabilities in school. The gap created by hormonal imbalance has caused discouragement within girls to excel in mathematics and sciences terming them as not important factors in their careers transformations. Thus, considerable boy-girl differences normally arise from elite performance even with the nonexistence of secured mechanism and advanced standards controlled or developed by men. Research indicates that girls’ who have been exposed to high levels of testosterone in utero, appear to display better spatial skills than other girls and they are likely to adapt boys behaviors more easily. Other than the brain structure and function, it is evident that there is a greater connection between parental behaviors to intellectuality displayed by a child based on its sex. Parents display certain kinds of behaviors which are widely correlated to school performance exhibited by girls as opposed to boys. This is why girls are developing intellectually when there is absenteeism in maternal intrusiveness than boys. When close attentiveness and warmth is offered to a child, a boy will developed highly intellectually due to these factors enabling him to be mechanically ahead as compared to. Environmental events also contribute largely on the issue of difference between intellectual growths exhibited between the two sexes. While boys are actively responsive to environmental events happening around them, girls seems to have a generic component affecting her intellect. Normally, through comparing the parents and child I.Q., it is estimated that a girls I.Q. positively correlated to her parents as compared to that of a boy. Generic influences places the debate on how nature versus nurture affects a child intellectual based on gender displayed by the kid. Status and professionalism is also perceived to contribute to intellectual difference between male and females. People in high status fields are perceived to have higher intelligence quotient than those in low status fields. The characterization of the male gender to have a higher intellectual ability is due to co variation between sex and professionalism status. Men are known to occupy governing occupational roles which allow them to display their proficiency and intellect more often. This proficiency and intellectualism has made women under estimate their own intelligence, whereas men to overestimate theirs. These self perceptions may continue to influence the notions that men are highly intellectual than women. Due to this estimates women are known to look criticism of their abilities in a more serious way, whereas men discount such criticisms focusing on positive indicators within their abilities (Steele, 613). Women judge themselves as inaccurate in making decisions especially those considered to be typically masculine, while their counterparts will take up the challenge even in decisions considered to be female domains. In summary, it is evident that even with the intellectual gap between girls and boys, this gap widens when the two are exposed to the indifferences found within a gender-infused culture. According to Steele (619), children do not inherit intellectual differences; they learn them from what a society expects a girl or boy to be. It is expected that members of each sex within our cultures are encouraged or became proficient towards the roles they are expected to fulfill in future. That is why we find boys excelling more in maths and science related subjects since the society portrays them as engineers, whereas girls engage in humanities so as to prepare in their cultural occupation of been housewives. Adult women most of whom became house wives or work at jobs normally do not make intellectual demand due to decline in measures in their total intelligence. These test skills explained in intellectual demands are not used by most adult women as they are extensively used by adult men. It is very wrong as educators to assume that female cannot challenge males intellectually. A student sex should not be used to predict ones abilities or interests. It is evident that looking at a person may tell us more about his or her biological experiences but very little on their intellectual ability. Knowing someone is a woman doesn’t indicate that her athletic capabilities are closer to those of Martina Navratilova or if it is a man it doesn’t indicate that his skills in maths reflect to those of Einstein (Steele, 629). The intellectual differences are much wide based on individuality other than generalizing average boy or girl to individual. It is therefore essential that as educators we minimize the stereotype that there exist intellectual difference between girls and boys. This can be achieved through the provision of information of successful women and girls in sciences and mathematics. Boys and girls should be given chance to work collectively as a team so that they can be able to share ideas and encourage one another. It is a positive gesture that due to improved technology and globalization, women are now competing with their male counterparts. Fields that were initially perceived as male predominance are now been worked upon by women. This has seen the diminishing of a culture where men are termed as intellectually ahead as compared to women. The stereotyping surrounding gender imbalance within intellectual has minimized since the engagement of women in establishing careers that were termed as men careers. Currently, women are seen to excel in science related careers. Male on the other hand, have minimize chauvinism found within themselves and are now engaging in careers such as public relation, customer services and secretariat that initially were perceived to be women’s. Work cited Howard, Robert. Are gender differences in high achievement disappearing? A test in one intellectual domain. Journal of Biosocial Science, 2005, 37, 371–380. Langrock, Annette. Early sex differences in spatial skill. Developmental Psychology, (1999), 35, 940–949. Steele, Claude. A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 1997, 52, 613–629. Read More