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Article: Gender Differences in Mathematical Trajectories. (*).(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Social Forces
- Article date:
- December 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 University of North Carolina Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Whether boys' mathematical skills are superior to girls' has been a controversial topic among social scientists for decades. Strong evidence for a male advantage comes from Benbow and Stanley's Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), which began in 1972. Gifted 7th graders were invited to take the mathematics section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M), which is considered a test of reasoning skill for these children because it tests material the students have yet to cover in their coursework. The resulting gender differences are dramatic. The ratio of boys to girls among those who scored above 600 is about 4 and among those above 700, it ...