Comments on: Girls are just as good at math as boys

By: arborman

arborman — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Well, this boy is over here holding down the back end of the curve in math.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m not sure I’m ready to believe this study until I know the genders of the people who ran the statistics. (Kidding!)

By: ill lich

ill lich — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wait. . . did a female come up with these statistics? ;-)

By: mdh

mdh — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gender is also weak predictor of sexual preference.

By: rydz

rydz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Stereotype threat is a little weird. The most interesting example is when a researcher took a large group of Asian women and reminded some of them that they were Asian, some of them that they were women, and the control group were reminded of how old they were. The ‘women’ group performed the most poorly, whereas the ‘Asian’ group performed better than the control group on identical, difficult math tests. The current hypothesis is that awareness of a negative stereotype increases nervousness and apprehension, which in turn negatively impacts performance.

And thank you Boing Boing for letting me practice for next month’s Psych final. :)

By: Kiramain

Kiramain — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I’m confused. Surely if boys and girls preform equally well, then gender is not a predictor at all.

By: Aloisius

Aloisius — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Comparing the math performance of prepubescent children is nice and all, but I thought it was well established that the differences come in *after* puberty?

By: Owen

Owen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If it’s well-established, can you link us to some evidence?

By: Ashley Y

Ashley Y — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“variance ratio = 1.08, indicating nearly equal male and female variances”

Watch out for that “nearly equal”. Assuming a Gaussian distribution (might not be true), a variance ratio of 1.08 is enough to explain why the great majority of mathematicians are male, and why there hasn’t been a female Fields Medalist.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

20 years ago, one of the authors wrote “Gender Differences in Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis”; that paper found females better at computation, males better in samples of “highly precocious persons”, and that gender differences start favoring males in high school.

http://www.gl.iit.edu/reserves/docs/psy504n.pdf

But I want to know, who ENJOYS math more, men or women?

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

rydz, if you have a link or reference info to that Asian women study, I’d appreciate it.

By: Aloisius

Aloisius — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Actually, looking at a recent meta-analysis, it looks like the gap closed sometime since 1995 when another meta-analysis was done showing boys outperforming girls in high school. Though it also mentions that this was likely because more boys than girls enrolled in advanced math and sciences and now they’re at parity.

http://www.pnas.org/content/106/22/8801

By: Baldhead

Baldhead — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I think stereotyped gender roles is a big factor. “Math is hard!” wasn’t just something I heard from a plastic doll on Simpsons. Real girls were saying it as well, but the guys usually weren’t, even when they thought it was true. I understand one of those girls is now an accountant doing much harder math than I ever do.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That’s great. Now when do we get to enjoy more females going into math, science, and engineering fields? Because I’m tired of working in an office that is 90% dudes and 10% secretaries.

By: Owen

Owen — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Interesting. It’s hard to tell, in the absence of a society with complete gender equality, if there is any biological difference, but the fact that the gap varies greatly and is strongly correlated with cultural attitudes makes me skeptical.

And I have to say, Aloisius, badgering someone for links to support their evidence is fun, but it’s rare that someone comes back with links and refines their initial statement based on the evidence they found. Kudos to you.

By: monopole

monopole — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Math class is tough!” -Barbie

Would Barbie promote gender stereotypes?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

So in other words, this is just another self-fulfilling prophesy? But it’s nice to hear that a good outcome could be just as self-fulfilling.

By: smgrady

smgrady — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Which one is it? Are both equal or is one condition a predictor? Your headline has been rendered useless by your first two sentences.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

There are a number of studies showing that how you present a test to a member of a perceived outcast group can significantly affect their score. For example, if immediately before the test you make a woman/girl conscious of the fact that she’s female, or a person of color conscious of the fact that they’re a member of a minority group, they will do worse on the test, “proving” their relative incompetence vs. the “norm” of a white male. If instead you do something to bolster an individual’s sense of their own competency just prior to the test, they will score much higher.

The fact that girls are equal to boys in math until high school and college, when social pressures about gender roles are acute, seems to be a perfect example of this.