RUTHFULLY YOURS

Apparently, some tutors are concerned that an SAT math question with a chart showing more boys than girls in math classes may have made taking the test too difficult for females to handle emotionally.

According to an article in the New York Times, the content of the question is an example of what’s called a “stereotype threat.”

“When people are reminded during a test of a negative stereotype about their race or sex, psychologists say, it creates a kind of test anxiety that leads them to underperform,” the article explains.

According to the article, the question was one of two that some people in the test-prep industry felt fell into this category. The other one was a verbal question that included a historical passage from the 19th century that argued that a woman’s place was in the home.

Now, the article does admit that, according to the College Board, “No differences in the scores of boys and girls of comparable ability were found on the questions in dispute.”

So, what’s the problem? Well, according to the article, the issue isn’t really about scores on specific questions. Rather, the tutors are concerned that the very presence of “stereotype threat” questions may be a reason why males score better than females on the SAT in general.

Personally, I find that idea to be much more offensive than the questions themselves. It’s saying that female test-takers are so fragile that they’re seeing these questions and, overrun with emotion, becoming far too distraught to remember how to multiply and divide on a calculator. It’s saying that female students are so weak that all test questions they might encounter must first be specifically, carefully, sensitivity tailored to their delicate, impossible-to-control feelings in order for them to have the same chance at achieving factual correctness as a male student.

Oh, and speaking of “factual correctness,” it’s also important to note that the content of the “objectionable” questions is also literally, objectively true. There are more boys than girls in math classes overall, and some people in the 19th century did believe that a woman’s place was in the home. It may not be the way that things should have been, but shielding people from reality doesn’t make it any less real. In fact, I’d say it’s always better to approach the world with as much knowledge of the past as possible — even if it’s uncomfortable — because that knowledge gives you a better understanding of the way things are now.

Of course, there are certain people who may have been upset by the questions. But literally anything could be potentially upsetting to a test-taker, depending on that test-taker’s individual experiences. For example, a test question could contain a passage describing a city where a test-taker had lost a loved one or had some other kind of personal traumatic experience. It’s absolutely impossible to guarantee that the content of a standardized test question will affect every single test-taker in the same way — just like it’s impossible to guarantee that anything will.