– Important factors include stereotyping by family, teachers, and peers; cultural roles; role models; competition and risk aversion; interests; and beliefs not directly linked to gender.
– Arguments for early biological differences are not conclusive and do not affect ability at kindergarten entrance. The literature is converging on a consensus that there are only small gender differences in mathematics tests scores at early ages, but the gender gap widens by middle and high school.
– More boys perform in both tails of the mathematics distribution with significantly more in the right tail than girls. To the extent that those who study STEM are drawn from the right tail of the math ability distribution, this may give rise to some of the gender differences we observe in STEM.
– Gender differences in mathematics test scores are mutable and can be influenced by family, teachers, culture, stereotypes, and role models throughout the schooling process.
– Teachers and to a lesser extent family are important contributors to gendered stereotypes and can have a negative influence on girls’ mathematics performance. Role models and gender equality in a given culture can decrease the gender gap in mathematics performance.
– The competitive nature of test-taking may understate girls’ true mathematical abilities. Changing the “growth mindset” belief that success in mathematics requires effort can improve girls’ performance.
2017 - Women and STEM
The authors examine gendered stereotypes, culture, role models, competition, risk aversion, and interests contribute to gender STEM gap, starting at childhood, solidifying by middle school, and affecting women and men as they progress through school, higher education, and into the labor market.
Sources come from economics, sociology, psychology, and other disciplines.
The authors start at childhood and then follow girls and boys as they progress through middle and high school, college and additional higher education, and then into the job market. At each stage, they describe overall gender differences before delving into their possible causes. The possibility of biological differences is addressed, but the main focus is on the environmental factors that have been shown to greatly affect measured ability, choices at every life stage, and the rewards and incentives for those choices.