Why are boys outperforming girls in maths?
A major international test has revealed a concerning gender gap in maths among Australian school students.
In the 2023聽聽(TIMSS), Australia鈥檚 boys did much better than girls.
Year 4 boys outperformed girls by the equal highest margin out of 58 countries that did the test. The story is not much better for Year 8 students 鈥� Australia had the 12th-largest gender gap of the 42 countries.
This is out of character聽, such as literacy, where the gender gap is either much smaller, or girls outperform boys.
Why is there a gap?
International researchers聽聽of a gender gap in maths for decades and have been聽.
It has聽聽boys are just better at mathematics than girls. However, this has been thoroughly debunked, with聽聽finding no statistically significant biological difference between boys and girls in maths ability.
Yet figures聽聽girls are under-represented in the most advanced maths courses at school. For example, for the two most advanced Year 11 and 12 courses in New South Wales, girls are outnumbered by a ratio of roughly two to one.
NSW girls are less likely to study advanced maths subjects in senior high school than boys. Photo: Ben Birchall/ AAP.
A 鈥榖oys鈥� subject?
Studies suggest聽聽are playing a part in the maths gender gap.
Research has found聽, with maths been seen as a 鈥渂oys鈥� subject鈥�. These ideas start developing from an early age, even as聽.
These stereotypes can negatively impact聽聽in maths and their self-efficacy (their perception of how well they can do), which then impacts performance.
Girls are also more likely to聽, which may be due to lacking confidence in their ability.
Another possible reason for this gap is聽聽for girls themselves to be seen as skilled at maths as it is for boys. This has been linked to differences in subject engagement and subsequent performance.
Given how important聽聽are for workplaces today and in the future, we need to change these attitudes.
Girls can start seeing maths as a 鈥榖oys鈥� subject from early primary school. Photo: Adobe Stock.
What can we do?
Unfortunately, there are no simple answers. However, we recommend three strategies to help narrow the gap.
1. Treat boys and girls equally when it comes to maths
There is a聽聽to expect boys to engage in more challenging maths than girls. If parents and teachers expect less from girls, we are聽聽that maths is 鈥渕ore suited to boys鈥�. Simply holding beliefs that boys are better at maths can result in聽聽with or giving more attention to boys in maths. It can also be seen in behaviours where we think we are being supportive, such as reassuring a struggling girl, 鈥渋t鈥檚 ok if you鈥檙e not great at maths鈥�!
2. Talk to girls about maths
骋颈谤濒蝉听聽when correlated with their actual achievement. This means girls potentially have inaccurate beliefs about their ability. So we need to understand how they feel they are progressing and make sure they understand their genuine progress.
3. Make use of female maths role models
When girls see themselves represented in maths-intensive careers 鈥� such as engineers, actuaries, chemists, economists, data scientists, architects and software developers 鈥� they are more likely to see the importance and value of maths. We know this can聽聽young people.
Dr Ben Zunica聽is a lecturer in secondary mathematics education at the University of Sydney, and previously was a high school maths teacher. Dr Bronwyn Reid O'Connor is also a lecturer in secondary mathematics education at the University of Sydney and researches students' learning in mathematics and mathematics teacher education. This article was first published on . Hero photo: Adobe Stock.
