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Gender, culture, and mathematics performance

  1. Janet S. Hydea,1 and
  2. Janet E. Mertzb
  1. aDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; and
  2. bMcArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53706-1599

  1. Edited by Randy Schekman, University of California, Berkeley, CA, and approved April 2, 2009 (received for review February 5, 2009)

Abstract

Using contemporary data from the U.S. and other nations, we address 3 questions: Do gender differences in mathematics performance exist in the general population? Do gender differences exist among the mathematically talented? Do females exist who possess profound mathematical talent? In regard to the first question, contemporary data indicate that girls in the U.S. have reached parity with boys in mathematics performance, a pattern that is found in some other nations as well. Focusing on the second question, studies find more males than females scoring above the 95th or 99th percentile, but this gender gap has significantly narrowed over time in the U.S. and is not found among some ethnic groups and in some nations. Furthermore, data from several studies indicate that greater male variability with respect to mathematics is not ubiquitous. Rather, its presence correlates with several measures of gender inequality. Thus, it is largely an artifact of changeable sociocultural factors, not immutable, innate biological differences between the sexes. Responding to the third question, we document the existence of females who possess profound mathematical talent. Finally, we review mounting evidence that both the magnitude of mean math gender differences and the frequency of identification of gifted and profoundly gifted females significantly correlate with sociocultural factors, including measures of gender equality across nations.

Footnotes

  • 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jshyde{at}wisc.edu

  • Author contributions: J.S.H. and J.E.M. analyzed data and wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

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