Gender Roles, Competition and Mathematics

As a child, my parents never limited me to the “things girls should do”. I could climb trees, change tyres and use heavy duty power tools, on countless occasions nearly losing my fingers in the process. However, as I grew up, I was increasingly faced with society’s opinions around gender roles. From then on, being a young feminist, I made it my mission to do everything that boys did. As a result, I became competitive from a young age and felt compelled to be the best at everything I did. Having entered a largely male-dominated field like engineering, I feel a constant need to prove my capabilities as a woman.

This competitive nature filtered into my studies – more specifically mathematics – and as a result I’ve always been inclined to study on my own. It helps me learn better and understand concepts faster without any interruptions. With group study, I also tend to get distracted and end up conversing more than studying. I believe that studying on my own rather than in a group has enabled me to develop important life skills like work-scheduling, prioritising and self-motivation. When I entered university, I was placed in an environment where I was not unique in terms of my academic abilities. This made it difficult for me to identify a group of people to use as a target for my competitiveness.