Failing at fairness

Failing at Fairness is a powerful indictment of sexism in America's classrooms. The findings from twenty years of research by two of America's most distinguished social scientists show that gender bias in our schools makes it impossible for girls to receive an education equal to boys'.

Girls are systematically denied opportunities in areas where boys are encouraged to excel, often by well-meaning teachers who are unaware that they are transmitting sexist values. Girls are taught to speak quietly, to defer to boys, to avoid math and science, and to value neatness over innovation, appearance over intelligence.

In the early grades girls, brimming with intelligence and potential, routinely outperform boys on achievement tests, but by the time they graduate from high school they lag far behind boys - a process of degeneration that continues into adulthood. By the time girls enter the working world, the damage has been done. Our daughters, tomorrow's women, learn that to be female is to be passive and deferential: We have, effectively, made girls second-class citizens in a world whose survival will depend on their contributions.

The implications are devastating: If the cure for cancer is incubating in the mind of one of our daughters, we may never find it. Professors Myra and David Sadker have produced a comprehensive, compelling, and essential resource.