The Myth of the Mathematics Gender Gap

Coryoth writes "The widely held belief that there is disparity in the innate mathematical abilities of men and women has been steadily whittled down in recent years. The gender gap in basic mathematics skills closed some time ago, and recently the gap in high school mathematics has closed up as well, with as many girls as boys now taking high school calculus. Newsweek reports on a new study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that begins to lay to rest the remaining argument that it is at the highest levels of mathematics that the innate differences show. Certainly men dominate current academia, with 70% of mathematics Ph.D.s going to men; however that figure is down from 95% in the 1950s. Indeed, while there remain gaps in achievement between the genders, the study shows that not only are these gaps closing, but the size of the gap varies over differing cultures and correlates with the general degree of gender inequality in the culture (as defined by World Economic Forum measures). In all, this amounts to strong evidence that the differences in outcomes in mathematics between the genders is driven by sociocultural factors rather than innate differences in ability."

Comments

Of course

[Anonymous Coward]

...genders are equal. A real interesting comparison would be percentag of black mathematicians. I mean, how many black mathematicians are there? Probably like two, and they're half white. Just sayin'.

Re:Of course

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Thank you for showing the reality of the attitudes held by bigots on this subject. Most of them try to disguise their sexism, racism, etc. You come right out with yours, and reveal the thinking which underlies all such claims.

...or maybe

[Anonymous Coward]

we've just beaten men down so much that we've lowered the bar on everything?

Re:Ok I can't resist

[Anonymous Coward]

That's why I tell women that I have a small penis and then enjoy their pleasant surprise after my trousers drop.

If a woman scoffs walks away after I tell her I have a small one, then she's a niggerlovin' size queen and would be best left to a life of disgusting obese breeding anyway.

Re:The real question...

[morgauxo]

Who told you that YOU are eye candy?? Sry, couldn't resist, go ahead and mod me down!

Re:Another one bites the dust

[Anonymous Coward]

Then the males you're referencing are dumb for not taking advantage of the tutors available.

The male is himself.

He couldn't get a merit scholarship, so he had to get a job and couldn't go to office hours regularly. Then some damn girl who got some Encouraging Women in Sciences scholarship comes in, attends tutoring sessions, and gets an A in the class while he gets an F (even though they obviously should have gotten the same grade). After soaking in bitterness for a while, he comes to represent all boys and she comes to represent all girls. "Boys" get the finger, "girls" get free As.

Re:the biggest gaps seem to be in interest

[jmorris42]

> Not letting women opt to choose the very subjects they're interested
> in is, uh, the *opposite* of freedom for women.

Oh you silly silly person. These things are done in the interest of higher morality than what some woman thinks she wants. First and foremost is the self esteem of the progressives dictating the politically correct rules. If they feel better about themselves, for demonstrating their higher moral development and general superiority, then the project is a success. It is about our betters guiding us inferior creatures into a better world in spite of us being unworthy worms that counts. We will be told what do do, nay even what to WANT and we will be grateful to bask in the glow of our betters, knowing that they care for us even though we are unworthy, that they will be our shepherd and show us how to be obedient to their will.