Equality in Education: Boys > Girls

June 2, 11:01 AMFatherhood ExaminerJoe Schatz

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As a father to three daughters, I found the following study to be extremely noteworthy.  It was assumed that men were just better than women at math and science, but a recent study suggests that the lovely ladies are equally equipped to dominate at these subjects.  A study, led in part by Kellogg School of Management Professor Paola Sapienza looked at over data from over 276,000 students in over 40 countries.  What were the results?  In a nutshell the study suggest that what we have come to believe about the differences in male and female inherent aptitudes can be discarded.  

For instance, the data from US schools showed that boys performed nearly 10% better than girls in areas like math and science.  That 10% disparity is actually the average gap worldwide between the genders.  The study also showed that US girls had to deal with the 23rd ranked GGI (gender gap index).  Being 23rd isn't anything to brag about since it placed the US in the lower half of the countries in the study.  The GGI is an important focus of the study.  The study points to the Index and makes a strong case that there is a direct correlation between the GGI and gender aptitude. 

Here is how the genders have been perceived for years:  Boys have a greater spatial awareness, which is just part of being boy (you know, built into our awesome boy brains), while girls are better equipped to read because of their legendary verbal recall skills (y’all gossip).   

These notions are now being scrutinized thanks to the recent study.  The study showed as equality increased in societies so too did the test results.  In countries with high GGI scores, like Iceland, Norway and Sweden, girls performed as well or better than their male counterparts in the areas of math and science. 

“Not only did average girls’ scores improve as equality improved, but the number of girls reaching the highest levels of performance also increased.”

The study wasn’t absolutely consistent as countries like Germany with high GGI scores showed a gender gap in math/science aptitude.  Also, the gender gap was more profound in favor of girls in the reading department in countries with high GGI’s.  On average, the test does show that when women are given equal opportunities in education they succeed at the same rate as men.

Do these test results surprise anyone?  Why is the US in the middle of the pack?  What does this say for the US?  Did you know that in the US, women still make 80? to every $1.00 a man makes.  Do you feel that girls are given the same amount of opportunities as boys?  Does our society still treat men and women differently?

Vote on what this study proves here.