] report of a
commission of Dublin physicians on the effects of the Intermediate
Education system in Ireland, which has broken down many more girls than
boys.
Apart from the question of over-pressure it is generally recognized--let
it be said again, by those who have not a position to defend or a theory
to advance in the matter--that the aptitude of girls for mathematical
work is generally less than that of boys, and unless one has some
particular view or plan at stake in the matter there is no grievance in
recognizing this. There is more to be gained in recognizing diversities
of gifts than in striving to establish a level of uniformity, and life
is richer, not poorer for the setting forth of varied types of
excellence. Competition destroys cooperation, and in striving to prove
ability to reach an equal standard in competition, the wider and more
lasting interests which are at stake may be lost sight of, and in the
end sacrificed to limited temporary success.
The success of girls in the field of mathematics is, in general,
temporary and limited, it means much less in their after life than in
that of boys. For the few whose calling in life is teaching, mathematics
have some after use; for those, still fewer, who take a real interest in
them, they keep a place in later life; but for the many into whose
life-work they do not enter, beyond the mental discipline which is
sometimes evaded, very little remains.
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