Just as boys tend to gravitate to toy trucks and girls usually prefer dolls, the gender differences in math performance have more to do with culture than aptitude. That’s according to a new review of relevant studies.
Such findings challenge the century-old idea that males are innately more capable than girls in mathematics. More recently, the gender bias showed up in the 1990s when Mattel introduced a Barbie doll that said, “Math is hard.” And in 2005, Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University and current economic adviser to President Barack Obama, brought the debate into the spotlight again.
While speaking at an event, Summers stated that males are intrinsically smarter than females in science and engineering.
“I have to say that Larry Summers’ comments in 2005 inspired me,” to complete the current study, said Janet Hyde, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of psychology.