“Sugar, spices and everything good, that's what little girls are made of. » This is a famous nursery rhyme that is recited by loving parents almost as soon as a child comes home from the hospital. But does it serve as the basis for the gender stereotypes that permeate our society? Today, women make up more than half of college graduates, but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010), only 13.8% are engineers and 24.8% work in computer science fields and mathematics. The major question is why don't women choose these professions? On the one hand, there is the belief that it is a scientific fact that girls are simply not as good at math as boys, and on the other, there is the belief that girls are stereotyped into traditional female roles from a very young age. ultimately affecting their self-efficacy in mathematics-related topics and their choice to pursue employment in this field (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Vittorio-Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Geist, E., 2010). Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) asserted that three specific cognitive abilities, verbal, quantitative, and visuospatial, were at the heart of sex differences. Their findings sparked a whirlwind of studies designed to further research into cognitive thinking and its relationship to gender differences, including mathematical problem solving (Zhu, 2007). In a separate study, Fennema and Sherman (1976) took a different route and first introduced the topic of gender stereotypes in school by measuring a student's perception of their parents' opinions and his teacher on his ability to succeed in mathematics, as well as the student's attitude and self-confidence. , and anxiety about one's own ability to learn mathematics. They found that secondary school students believed that boys...... middle of paper ......80/01443410902971500Rochat, E. (2001). Dialogical nature of cognition. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 66 (2), 133-143. doi:10.1111/1540-5834.00146Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Spelke, E. (2005). Gender differences in intrinsic aptitude for mathematics and science? : A critical review. American Psychologist, 60(9), 950-958. Retrieved from http://content.apa.org/journals/amp/60/9U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010). Women in the labor market: a collection of data (Report 1026). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov Zhu, Z. (2007). Gender differences in mathematical problem-solving patterns: A review of the literature. Journal of International Education, 8(2), 187-203. Retrieved from http://iej.com.au