There is a maths gender gap in first grade

‘Watching the mathemtics gender gap emerge’: Implications for boys and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

Boys and girls receive similar maths scores at the start of school, but boys pull ahead of girls after just four months (see ‘Watch the mathemtics gender gap emerge’). A more dramatic gap in mathematical performance can be seen after 12 months of school according to the analysis.

The gender gap in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics is something that needs to be addressed. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 29, 119–140 (2017).

The first year of school can portray a gender gap between boys and girls. J. Dev. Psychol. 40, 504–519; 2022). The latest work shows how common this gap is. The authors used the power of their massive data set to show that the gap affects children from all socio- economic groups, as well as in all types of school. Moreover, by comparing children born just a few days apart who are in separate school years, the researchers show that it is the start of school, not age, that seems to be the trigger; another indication that biological factors are not the main cause. The study cannot explain what it is about starting school that prompts boys and girls to diverge. But the authors propose several possible explanations.

A report by Nosek and B. A. National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement. There is a Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 10593–10597 (2009).

To test such interventions effectively — and to ensure that the results benefit pupils and don’t just increase researchers’ understanding — it is important that schools and scientists work together, as was done during the latest study.

Researchers and schools should support teachers. Evidence-based changes are a sign of good teaching, and will require time and resources to be adjusted. Moreover, although the study indicates that formal education triggers the gender gap, stereotypes that manifest at school might not be born there, but be created in wider society.

Changing attitudes is a challenge. Society and educational systems should not make it more difficult for students to excel at a basic aspect of human endeavor. All children should be given the best chance to succeed, in line with the latest evidence.

The gender gap in spatial reasoning: from economics to science and technology, and from the perspective of gender in generalizations to sociology and economics

“Ethically speaking, we cannot do nothing when we see these results,” says study author and neuroscientist Pauline Martinot at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in Paris.

This “startling” universality suggests that policies aimed at reducing the gap have to target everyone, says economist Andrew Simon at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “The policy can’t be limited to a certain group if you really want to fix it.”

A meta-analytic review of the gender differences in spatial reasoning. Psychol. Bull. 145, 537–565 (2019).

Alan, S. & Ertac, S. Mitigating the gender gap in the willingness to compete: evidence from a randomized field experiment. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 17, 1147–1185 (2019).

Stout, J. G., Dasgupta, N., Hunsinger, M. & McManus, M. A. STEMing the tide: using ingroup experts to inoculate women’s self-concept in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 100, 255–270 (2011).

A study of gender achievement gaps in US school districts. Educ. There is a Res. J. 56, 2474–2508 was published some time ago.

Bailey, D. H., Littlefield, A. & Geary, D. C. The codevelop of skill at and preference for use of retrieving processes for solving addition issues with sex differences from first to sixth grades Exp. Child Psychol. There were 106, 78, and 92 in this edition.

How gender-equality paradoxes can be explained by beliefs about children’s learning in math from kindergarten to sixth grade? An article by Upadya, K. & Eccles, J. S

The gender-equality paradoxes can be explained by gender stereotypes. Proc. The National Acad. The USA’sSci. USA 114, 31063–31009 was published in 2020.

Upadyaya, K. & Eccles, J. S. How do teachers’ beliefs predict children’s interest in math from kindergarten to sixth grade? Merrill-Palmer Q. 60 was published in the summer of-2014.

Amalric, M. & Dehaene, S. Origins of the brain networks for advanced mathematics in expert mathematicians. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, 4909–4917 (2016).

Sex differences in spatial thinking advance the discussion. It was published by Wiley. Rev.: Cogn. An article in a magazine titled “Sci. 7, 127–155”.

Source: Rapid emergence of a maths gender gap in first grade

What’s Math Got to Do with It?: How teachers and parents can inspire math learning and success, by the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity

What’s Math Got to Do with It?: How teachers and parents can inspire math learning and success, by the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, 2015.