 Are girls’ and boys’ brains fully developed at the age of 6?  YES/NO QUESTION1  No- A child’s brain, whether it be a girl’s or a boy’s, is built based on learning and experience in interaction with family, social and cultural environments  If you want to know more:  It’s « cerebral plasticity » that ensures nothing is fixed or programmed into the brain from birth. At all ages in life, the brain creates new connections between neurons and shapes itself according to the history lived by each one,  That is why we all have different brains, no matter what gender we are.

 Would girls have a literary mind and boys a scientific one because their brains are different? QUESTION2  YES/NO  No- Girls and boys have the same cerebral potential for learning and for success in their studies  Recent studies in MRI cerebral imaging show no differences between the sexes in the regions of the brain responsible for language and mathematics.

 YES/NO  Yes- Statistical studies on thousands of 15-year-old students from 70 countries showed that no difference in mathematical performance between the sexes across all countries QUESTION3 There are, on the other hand, strong variations between countries with differing cultures of equality. In Korea for example boys are more successful on math tests than girls, It’s the opposite in Sweden and Iceland where the girls are better than the boys  Do boys and girls have the same mathematical skills?

 Would women be better at multitasking (i.e doing several things at the same time) because of their brains?  YES/NO QUESTION4  No- Recent studies in MRI imaging show no differences between genders.  We often hear that women are better multitaskers because the bundle of nerve fibers which links the two hemispheres of the brain (the corpus callosum) is more developed in women than in men. However, MRI’s show no difference in the thickness of the corpus callosum between men and women.

 At the age of 16, are there more girls than boys in the scientific series?  YES/NO QUESTION5  No- Among the Baccaclaureat winners in 2010 in France, 64,6% of boys obtained a scientific Bac against 42,6% of girls, Even with identical school results, boys’and girls’paths diverge significantly,  In 2010, 14,5% of girls pursued a literary series against 43% of boys, while 27,5% of girls chose scientific series against 39,5% of boys.

 At the end of their studies, are girls less qualified than boys?  Yes/No QUESTION6  No- In 2010, among generations aged 25-34, the proportion of women having at least « a Bac+2 » is 47% against 38% for men.

 Out of 10 boys who are good at maths, 8 opt for scientific series.  YES/NO QUESTION7  Yes- 8 boys out of 10 who are good at maths choose scientific series

 Out of 10 girls who are good at maths, 8 of them opt for scientific series.  YES/NO QUESTION8  No- Out of 10 girls who are good at maths, only 6 choose scientific series.  At the time of making study choices, boys head for the most promising sectors of the job market. They represent 74% of enrollment in engineering schools.

 Are men better at controlling and using technologies?  YES/NO QUESTION9  No- When the content of their job becomes more technical, women acquire the necessary competences.  During the first World War, it was women who became the backbones of metallurgy industry, demonstrating that stereotypes could be overcome.  Another example: in 2001, the most prestigious prize of the Lépine contest was awarded to a woman for the first time, Florence Florit, engineer and electronics specialist of 30 years, for having finalized a universal infrared teletransmitter.