Unpacking the gender equality paradox: narratives about mathematics and gender among teachers

In school mathematics in Israel, there are contrasting trends in Hebrew-language and Arabic-language schools. In Arabic-language schools, girls consistently outperform boys in mathematics and are more represented in advanced coursework. This study explores the possibility that dominant narratives associating mathematics with boys and men might be less prevalent in Palestinian/Arab Israeli (P/AI) society. We surveyed 809 elementary, middle, and secondary teachers, including 457 teachers from Arabic-language schools and 352 from Hebrew-language schools, to assess their agreement with the Innate Ability in Mathematics myth (IAM) and the Boys’ Superiority Myth (BSM). On average, teachers from Arabic-language schools indicated moderate disagreement with BSM, but their responses to IAM items were symmetric, with an overall slight leaning towards agreement. Responses to IAM and BSM were positively correlated. Teachers from Hebrew-language schools disagreed more strongly with both narratives. These findings suggest that gender-related trends in school mathematics among P/AIs are shaped by factors other than societal rejection of or alternatives to narratives that associate mathematics with boys and men. The circulation of the IAM and BSM narratives likely influence trends for P/AI women in higher education and professional settings.