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Today has reports of a study that not only do girls do as well as boys in math on average, but in some countries they do as well at the extremes, or have as much variability, contra the "males are more variable, with more geniuses and more morons" hypothesis. I shared this with friends on AIM, got different reactions, and figured I'd open a space for them to talk to each other, along with anyone else interested. Let me know if friends-locking this post would make it safer to talk openly.
The researchers speculate about cultural effects such as prejudice in teachers and guidance counselors; a friend thinks women keep each other down, by punishing exotic behavior.
I have little direct opinion or facts of my own to contribute, though my parents raised me with a belief that girls get told they're bad at math. A Texas girl at Caltech told me of her mother teaching her to play dumb to catch guys. A couple of female students at IU whom I tutored in "finite math" claimed they'd done okay in math until 5th grade (age 10); I think one mentioned discouragement from the teacher.) Me, I find "I'm bad at math" to be a big turn-off, especially if pitched as an inherent failing, rather than as a lack of practice a la my own minimal art skills. My default assumption is egalitarian, but "males are more variable" seems pretty plausibly on reproductive logic grounds; if you can manipulate a risk-reward tradeoff in one's offspring, it makes sense to roll the dice more for your sons than for your daughters. Though we're not a harem species, so that's somewhat bounded.
Tangentially, googling finds this article alleging Finnish girls get better math scores (grades?) but don't know it as well.
* "only eight of 180 tenured professors at the nation's top five mathematics departments, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, were women"
* "Math prepares you to do just about anything"
The researchers speculate about cultural effects such as prejudice in teachers and guidance counselors; a friend thinks women keep each other down, by punishing exotic behavior.
I have little direct opinion or facts of my own to contribute, though my parents raised me with a belief that girls get told they're bad at math. A Texas girl at Caltech told me of her mother teaching her to play dumb to catch guys. A couple of female students at IU whom I tutored in "finite math" claimed they'd done okay in math until 5th grade (age 10); I think one mentioned discouragement from the teacher.) Me, I find "I'm bad at math" to be a big turn-off, especially if pitched as an inherent failing, rather than as a lack of practice a la my own minimal art skills. My default assumption is egalitarian, but "males are more variable" seems pretty plausibly on reproductive logic grounds; if you can manipulate a risk-reward tradeoff in one's offspring, it makes sense to roll the dice more for your sons than for your daughters. Though we're not a harem species, so that's somewhat bounded.
Tangentially, googling finds this article alleging Finnish girls get better math scores (grades?) but don't know it as well.
* "only eight of 180 tenured professors at the nation's top five mathematics departments, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, were women"
* "Math prepares you to do just about anything"