Sex differences in mathematical performance : what do we know about them?

Abstract

It is generally accepted that mathematics is one academic field where male superiority of achievement is well-established. Far fewer women than men go into careers as mathematicians and those who do, generally do not reach equal employment status with men. Such facts seem to be the culmination of sex differences in mathematical performance which begin to appear around the age of 12 to 15. Up till then, the mathematical performance of boys and girls seems to be fairly equal at any of the three cognitive levels of computation, knowledge of concepts and problem-solving ability on which mathematical achievement is most common:y gauged. The change in performance at the secondary level of schooling tends to be in favour of males who are seen to perform better than females particularly on tasks involving visual spatialisation ability and mathematical reasoning. The girls' discontinuity of performance, even when they have had an identical learning background, has prompted researchers to investigate possible explanations for a phenomenon which Walden and Walkerdine (1982) stress should not be confused with an "overall failure."