Global Math Anxiety Revealed In Survey – UAE Students Amongst The Most Stressed

The inaugural global student survey by leading global math EdTech, Cuemath, reveals that U.A.E. students are amongst the most stressed about math, with female students suffering the most anxiety – against a background of a third of students globally having a negative perception of their own math skills.

Key findings

• The UAE is one of the highest-ranking countries with negative perceptions;
• 33% of students believe they cannot do math;
• Female students have the highest math-related anxiety (25%), higher than males (20%); and
• 14-year-old students (Grade 9) fear math the most- 40%

Manan Khurma, Chairman of Cuemath, commented:

“These statistics should be of great concern to parents and children in the U.A.E. A subject core to tomorrow’s jobs, education generally, and to closing global inequality is creating high anxiety. Worryingly, girls are affected even more than boys, which gives little confidence that the career gender divide in math-related subjects will be closed anytime soon.

“At Cuemath, we have always believed that how math is traditionally taught contributes greatly to this anxiety. Innovation in math teaching is required; more fun, more gamified, and treating math learning as a human activity, not just an abstract subject.”

Cuemath’s survey on student math perceptions asked Grade 5-11 students from over 20 countries about their perceptions of math related to their own attitude, confidence and self-concept of math skills. The survey findings showed a negative perception of math is more common in female students (25%), than male students (20%), demonstrating much is still to be achieved boosting student confidence in the subject, and addressing the gender divide in STEM learning.

UAE students exhibit some of the highest levels of anxiety (25%)surpassing even the U.S. (23%). The data shows negative perceptions increase with age, peaking in Grade 9. Over 40% reported an overall negative perception at this time, before improving slightly in Grade 10 (34%).

Cuemath’s mission is to make math more fun for its students. Using gamification techniques and experiential learning methods, it takes a three-pronged approach that includes school math (workbooks and unlimited practice), mental aptitude, and creative learning.

Operating in over 20 countries, Cuemath is a one-on-one online personalised maths and coding tutoring service accredited by STEM.org and backed by Google.

With over 10,000 teachers and 200,000 students worldwide, Cuemath is bridging the growing math skills gap by offering access to guided math curriculum and exercises at no cost to qualifying K-12 students. The free program aims to grow math tutoring access and equity regardless of student location, economic ability or background, and hopes to boost math knowledge and ready students for the jobs of the future.