Sex Differences in Math Test Performance What Do They Mean? Caitilyn Allen Professor of Plant Pathology and Women’s Studies U. Wisconsin-Madison

1.Just how differently do males & females perform on math tests? 2.Is there evidence that differences in test performance are innate? 3.Does math test performance reliably predict success in science & engineering?

1.Just how differently do males & females perform on math tests? By “math tests”, we really mean the SAT-Math exam ~1.3 million high school seniors take the Scholastic Aptitude Test each year; it’s a major determinant of college admission Over the past 33 years, the average male score on SAT:M has consistently been around 35 points higher than the average female score Males are over-represented among the very highest scores (nearly twice as many boys score over 700)

The SAT-Math gender gap is significant, but not large: female distribution, average=501 male distribution, average =537 Educational Testing Services data, at

Why is there a consistent gender gap in SAT-Math? Fewer boys take the SAT, and they are a more select group (higher income, SES, more from private schools). Private high school students get higher overall scores, and have only a 17-point gender gap on the SAT-Math. The SAT tests speed as well as problem-solving; giving the SAT:M without a time deadline eliminated the gender gap in one study. Question content has gender bias (more math questions framed with business, military, & sports, fewer with relationships, arts, cooking). Question content is known to affect test performance. Hyde JS et al Gender differences in mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 107: Rosser P The SAT Gender Gap: Identifying the Causes. Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington DC.

2. Is there evidence that differences in test performance are innate? It might be the test…Other US tests do not agree with the SAT:M -the ACT has a much smaller gender gap in math scores (0.2 points on the 36-point composite score) -the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) standardized tests found no gender difference on math scores in a large sample of US 12th graders

2. Is there evidence that differences in test performance are innate? It might be cultural…not all countries have this difference: No sex differences on standardized high school math tests in Russia, India, & Japan (girls in Japan scored much higher than boys in the US & many other countries) Icelandic girls significantly outscored boys on high school math tests

2. Is there evidence that differences in test performance are innate? Other measures don’t find large cognitive differences between the sexes. For example: There is no sex difference in IQ test scores Males outperform females in some tests of “spatial skills” … but after training, the sex differences disappear (i.e., they are learned, not innate) Females on average earn higher grades than males in college in all majors

2. Is there evidence that differences in test performance are innate? Innate differences are not compatible with the large recent increases in women scientists, mathematicians, & engineers in the US. For example: In 1970, women earned 0.3% of B.S. degrees in engineering In 2001, they earned 17% of engineering B.S. degrees Have women become 56 times smarter in just 31 years?

3. Does math test performance reliably predict success in science & engineering? Here’s the theory… “Individuals with the most potential for mathematics and science are those students who represent the top few centiles in mathematics ability.” -Benbow & Arjmand Predictors of high academic achievement in mathematics and science by mathematically talented students: a longitudinal study. J. Educational Psychology 82: “Substantially fewer females than males score in the upper tails of the math ability distributions and hence are poised to succeed in the sciences.” -Hedges & Nowell Sex differences in mental test scores, variability, and numbers of high-scoring individuals. Science 269:41-45.

3. Does math test performance reliably predict success in science & engineering? Not in college…. The SAT-Math is “designed to predict students’ first-year college grades” However, the test is a poor predictor of college math course success: A study of 47,000 students found that women scored about 33 points lower on the SAT:M than men who took the same college math course and received the same grade. Wainer H and LS Steinberg Sex differences in performance on the math section of the SAT: a bidirectional validity study. Harvard Educational Review. 62:

3. Does math test performance reliably predict success in science & engineering? Not after college… Fewer than 1/3 of engineers & scientists in the workforce had SAT:M scores over 650. Higher SAT:M scores did not predict higher earnings for either sex High-scoring girls are only 60% as likely as high-scoring boys to pursue SEM careers “Women at all levels of achievement are underrepresented in the SEM workforce relative to men with the same test scores.” Weinberger, CJ Is the science and engineering workforce drawn from the far upper tail of the math ability distribution? NSF working paper

Conclusions 1.Males outperform females on some math tests (like the SAT:M) but not on all 2.Sex differences in math test performance do not appear to be innate 3.Math test performance does not reliably predict success in science & engineering coursework or careers

Hyde JS et al Gender differences in mathematics performance: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 107: Wainer H and LS Steinberg Sex differences in performance on the math section of the SAT: a bidirectional validity study. Harvard Educational Review. 62: Rosser P The SAT Gender Gap: Identifying the Causes. Center for Women Policy Studies, Washington DC. Leonard DK and J. Jiang Gender bias and the college prediction of the SATs: a cry of despair. Research in Higher Education 40: Benbow CP et al Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability at age 13: their status 20 years later. Psychological Science 11:474 Weinberger, CJ Is the science and engineering workforce drawn from the far upper tail of the math ability distribution? Working paper for NSF,