ABSTRACT
Many approaches to the issue of girls’ performance in Mathematics imply that problems in early socialization may produce performance differences in adolescence. This link between early childhood and adolescence is not new; it is often assumed that ‘problems’ at this time have been caused by pathologies in the mother-child relationship. This argument is extended in two ways: to make early experiences salient in later educational success, and to suggest that children acquire roles from agents of socialization, particularly parents, and that early feminine stereotyping will later produce stereotyped performance. In this chapter we shall look at some of the arguments about mothers’ preparation of girls for school and for Mathematics. Much of the literature (see, for example, Hartnett, Boden and Fuller, 1979) holds mothers responsible for the provision of the correct early socialization environment for a daughter: one which will allow her to develop the propensities necessary for success in Mathematics and at school generally. The following account is taken largely from an analysis of transcripts of conversations between 30 white mothers and their 4-year-old daughters, the sample stratified by social class. The discussion is taken from a much longer and more detailed treatment of these cases (Walkerdine and Lucey, 1989). However, our account does not provide much support for commonly held views about stereotyping, play, conditioning and so on. It suggests a far more complex process, ensnaring both mothers and daughters, which offers no simple support for the ‘wrong experiences’ type of approach.
