Don't believe what you've always read: girls aren't bad at math and science after all. In fact, they are even better at those subjects than boys. And the superiority is global.br
Researchers from the University Missouri have found that girls tend to get better grades in reading, math, and science than boys. “Even in countries where women's liberties are severely restricted,” explained study author David Geary, professor of psychological science at the university, “we found that girls are outperforming boys in reading, mathematics, and science literacy by age 15, regardless of political, economic, social, or gender equality issues and policies found in those countries.”
The researchers analyzed the grades of 1.5 million 15-year-old students from around the world between 2000 and 2010. The superiority was seen in 70 percent of the countries surveyed. Boys did do better than girls in only three countries or regions: Colombia, Costa Rica, and the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. The gender battle was a draw in the United States and England. Interestingly, girls were far ahead in countries with notoriously low gender equality such as Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
These findings could be a real game-changer for educators, policymakers, and the general public alike.
--Sarah Hagerty
