Biology may have little effect on the math achievement gap between the two sexes
In 2005, when Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard University at the time, hypothesized that the reason for the lack of women in senior positions in science and engineering might lie in an innate difference between men and women (and subsequently resigned), he meant the hypothesis that men have a great difference from women. According to this hypothesis, on average, women are just as gifted in mathematics as men, but the dispersion of mathematical abilities in men is wider than birth. That is, more men have difficulty with math, but also more men excel at it and this is due to the way the male brain has developed over the generations. The hypothesis explains, so to speak, why boys participate more in math competitions and win them and why the prestigious math faculties have more male students than female students. Since then, scientists have tested this hypothesis, and found it flawed.
Jonathan Cain, professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater and Janet Mertz, professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison conducted the most ambitious study to date and published its results in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Mathematical Society. They analyzed data on math achievement in 52 countries, including the results of well-known competitions such as the International Mathematical Olympiad. And in particular, they tested the variance, which is an estimate of how spread out the results are. Among other things, two findings emerged from the analysis: one is that there are countries where the diversity among men is basically equal to the diversity among women. And the other is that the ratio between the variance in men and the variance in women varies considerably from country to country and its value is between 0.91 and 1.52 (when the ratio is 1, the variance in men is equal to the variance in women. If the ratio is greater than 1, the variance in men is greater).
The fact that the difference in men is greater than the difference in women in some of the countries and smaller in others, and that the results of both sexes are spread over the entire range, "teaches that the reason for the gap cannot be biological, assuming that the genetics of humans also do not change from country to country," asserts Mertz. "The vast majority of the gender achievement gap surely reflects social and cultural factors."
like for instance? The study also suggests possible examples. The researchers compared two indices and found a correlation: one is the "global gender gap index", a very common index that examines gender equality in different countries, and the other is the ratio between boys and girls in the top quintile of math results in the PISA tests. There are countries, such as the Czech Republic for example, where the gender gap index is very low, and also the distribution of boys' math achievements is almost the same as that of girls. Another confirmation of the belief that the gender gap is not an inherent feature is the fact that it is shrinking. In the 70s of the 20th century the ratio between the number of boys and the number of girls among those who obtained more than 700 points on the quantitative part of the SAT exams in the United States was 13:1, while in the 90s it dropped to 3:1.
Stephen Ceci, a professor of psychology at Cornell University, calls this new analysis "a very important argument" in the debate about the reasons for the differences in the mathematical careers of the two sexes. But, he says, one should not conclude from the findings that biology has no effect at all; The fact that a person's diet affects their height does not prove that "nature is not important." But now that the hypothesis of great variation in men has not been proven, nature seems less important than scientists previously thought.
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house arrest
And refrain from reminding religious people that even today (yes in 2012), they want to make women housebound and deny them any chance not only for achievements, but even just to enjoy the sunlight.
Every time when a certain claim is disproved, men come up with another claim and it is also disproved. Of course there are differences, just not the differences that men invented and continue to invent, but others that of course are still very difficult to define.
If we once claimed that women were unable to read and write (because they were forbidden to learn to read and write), this was refuted when they were allowed to read and write and it was even proven that they actually tend to be better in everything related to it.
Then came the claim that they are allowed to study, but they must not study higher subjects or things that are too complicated, because "it will harm their fertility and shrink the uterus" or similar nonsense that of course has been refuted (like the nonsense about menstrual blood that poisons plants).
Then they came and claimed that it must be! that they are better in most professions, but they do not have the character and the desire to achieve achievements and they do not have the head for it (ignoring here of course the exhausting occupation of raising children which prevents them from achieving greater achievements above a certain age)
After a few more theories, they got fed up, so they talk about a similar average, but statistical variation (men are either retarded or geniuses and women tend to be average or good), but this too was disproved when you look at the variation between countries.. (at least in some areas.. Meanwhile)
What will they invent next?
After all, it is clear that the things that prevent them from succeeding at a high rate, at a genius level, etc., are the family obligations and the multitude of menial jobs that fall upon them and leave them no time for such impressive achievements. In addition, there is endless empowerment of men in every corner (mainly from the direction of religion and popular culture: movies, series, humor) and oppression of women in every corner in the most distorted and false way.
There are differences in certain areas. For example, men have an easier time in two- and three-dimensional geometry.
But there is more weight to education and learning.
Also for the culture itself.
The day is not far when we will see equality in the percentage of women teaching in mathematics departments.
Maybe, but most likely not. Contrary to Eli's response, I have no doubt that there are genetic differences. So what?… It doesn't make men more successful. Only for more mathematicians.
It is clear that there is no difference in mathematical abilities between men and women, but there is a big difference between the male and female character
The feminine nature is more connected to feelings and feminine beauty, therefore women have a tendency to turn to professions in more humane fields.
On the other hand, the masculine nature brings many men to engage in the scientific and mathematical fields and therefore also to higher success than women and higher percentages of employment as well.