14 DAY TRIAL // It is generally believed that boys are much better in math than girls, although a new study reveals that in countries with gender equality, girls are as good as boys in math, while in cultures where girls are not considered equal to boys the difference is obvious. This so-called gender gap was previously blamed on biologically inherited abilities in the brain, which gives boys better spatial awareness and girls a better ability to read and enhanced verbal recall skills.
But the study carried out by professor Paola Sapienza and her colleagues, targeting the validity of the gender gap, showed that such abilities are in fact conditioned by the social status of the culture in question. The study covered areas all over the world and involved investigating gender gaps when it comes to mathematics as well as the importance of biology and societal cultures for the development of mental abilities regarding mathematics and other science areas.
The study was based on the data regarding 276,000 children of fifteen years of age from forty countries of the world. All of the children participating in the study took the Program for International Student Assessment test in 2003, which evaluates the participant's abilities in reading, mathematics and other sciences.
Alternatively, the research team used four measurements to assess gender equality in the respective countries; the Gender Gap Index in 2006, the World Values Survey, the percentage of females allowed to work in the country's labor force at fifteen and the World Economic Forum political empowerment index, indicating the percentage of females in government positions.
The results show that boys are generally better at mathematics on a worldwide scale, with an average 10.5 points higher than girls. However, in countries with gender equality the difference is either inexistent or in favor of girls. In Sweden for example, the gender equality index is about 0.81, while the PISA test reveals that girls scored about the same as boys in mathematics.
In Turkey on the other hand, the gender gap index is of 0.59 and in concordance with the 23 point difference between boys and girls in the mathematics test.
"The so-called gender gap in math skills seems to be at least partially correlated to environmental factors. The gap doesn't exist in countries in which men and women have access to similar resources and opportunities. Our research indicates that in more gender equal societies, girls will gain an absolute advantage relative to boys", said Sapienza.