14 DAY TRIAL // Far from saying that girls do not get math, a new scientific study actually shows that females have just the same amount of inclination towards understanding complex equations and fractions as males do. The paper proves that it's culture that prevents women from having about the same presence in the field of exact sciences as men. Researchers rightfully point out that mathematics can be learned to the same extent by anyone, and that inclination towards it has been perceived on the part of girls as well, in numerous relevant studies.
Over the years, some top researchers said that boys were innately more prone to mathematics and exact sciences than women, and president Barack Obama's current economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, said in 2005, while still president of Harvard University, that men were smarter than women in these areas. “I have to say that Larry Summers' comments in 2005 inspired me,' for this research,” LiveScience quotes University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of psychology Janet Hyde as saying.
Working together with UW-Madison professor of oncology Janet Mertz, Hyde looked at a number of relevant studies on mathematics performance and gender inequality, all part of the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index. The WEF index measured the gap between men and women as far as a few important socioeconomic indicators go, including economic opportunity and educational attainment. If the previous held idea had been right, it should have shown in the statistical correlations.
However, it did not. Rather than the so-called gap between men and women in exact sciences remaining the same for all countries analyzed, it varied considerably from country to country. Some very low numbers – as in fewer females attending the disciplines – were recorded in countries such as India, whereas very high numbers were recorded in the developed world. Indeed, fewer women than men were present at the International Mathematical Olympiad, but they were there nonetheless, and competed strongly against their opponents.
“There's a gender stereotype that boys are better at math than girls are, and stereotypes die very hard. Teachers and parents still believe that boys are better at math than girls are,” Hyde stated.