Wanna Do Math?

Recently, a lot of focus has been directed to addressing the gap between boys and girls when it comes to their interest in math. General knowledge makes us believe that boys are more likely to pursue topics in math because boys are better at these topics than girls. In order to explain this, many believe that society is responsible for teaching girls not to embrace math. Society teaches girls that math is not for them while boys are encouraged to continue pursuing these topics. An example of this is the video below of Barbie where one of the phrases Barbie is programmed to say is: "Math class is tough!"

So if girls have toys like this at an age when all kids are sponges, why do we wonder where this gap in interest comes from? Toys that boys play with don't tell them that "math class is tough". All in all, it isn't that girls can't perform as well as boys, but rather that girls live in a society where the gender gap reflects itself from an early age. There is a high relationship between the gender gap in math ability and gender inequality in societies.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet most girls would disagree with anybody who claims that boys are better than they are at anything at all. That's why I decided to actually look into the topic to find out if boys are truly better than girls at math and if so, then why. Below are the results of what I found out:

• Boys and girls are equally as good in math up until age 7. This means that something happens near the age of 7 that causes a difference in preference towards math. Around age 7, most children are in the second grade and many scholars believe that the gap in preference for math is actually a reflection of teachers who take more time explaining and engaging the boys in the classroom than the girls.
• The way in which people measure mathematical ability is extremely biased. When comparing average mathematical ability, the reality is that boys and girls score about the same.
• In Iceland, girls consistently outperform boys in topics of math.
• Even though boys outperform girls in math, boys also do worse on math topic than girls.

So the next time somebody tells you that you ARE NOT able to do something, do your research. You might find out that what they are saying isn't exactly correct.