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No great surprisal , but the numbers in a new cogitation show mathematician are see as geek , a stereotype that keeps students from studying mathematics or using the topic later on in life .
The researcher paint a picture there is a link between popular culture ’s image ofnerdymathematicians and a lag in maths student .
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" Given the narrow , minus clichés associated with mathematics and mathematicians , it is hardly surprising that relatively few young people want to continue with the field , " said jumper cable research worker Heather Mendick of the Institute for Policy Studies in Education at the London Metropolitan University .
With funding from the Economic and Social Research Council , Mendick and her colleagues conducted interviews , focus groups and a survey of more than 650 individuals , with high - schoolhouse students and college undergraduates .
Male student were more than three time as likely as theirfemale counterpartsto look at themselves as excelling in math , with more than 10 percent of guys and 3 percent of girls reporting they are " very good " at math .
virtually all player , both maths - well-disposed students and those who steer clear of equation , think of a mathematician as a white male with white hair , who is haunt with the identification number - laden field to the exclusion of any social life . For case , participants labeled Albert Einstein and John Nash ( portrayed in the film " A Beautiful judgement " ) as lacking social skills and as weird or not normal .
" The prevailing epitome is a very traditional prototype — white male , middle class , " Mendick toldLiveScience . " When you go a bit deeper , you discover people are quite critical of that kind of image . "
Students who chose to study math once they entered college were more likely to reckon this mathematics - obsession as a sign of skill , commitment or devotion rather than madness .
A few math majors in college put a confirming twirl ongeek status , even though several of these individuals went to considerable lengths to take their own normality .
" Some citizenry did want to reclaim ' geek , ' and say ' I am a geek and I ’m quite majestic of it , ' " Mendick said .
