on this:
from the Science article:
"Does this greater variability translate into gender differences at the upper tail of the distribution (13)? Data from the state assessments provide information on the percentage of boys and girls scoring above a selective cut point. Results vary by ethnic group. The bottom table on p. 494 shows data for grade 11 for the state of Minnesota. For whites, the ratios of boys: girls scoring above the 95th percentile and 99th percentile are 1.45 and 2.06, respectively, and are similar to predictions from theoretical models. For Asian Americans, ratios are 1.09 and 0.91, respectively. Even at the 99th percentile, the gender ratio favoring males is small for whites and is reversed for Asian Americans. If a particular specialty required mathematical skills at the 99th percentile, and the gender ratio is 2.0, we would expect 67% men in the occupation and 33% women. Yet today, for example, Ph.D. programs in engineering average only about 15% women. "
What's your explanation for the very different ratios among Asians? (I am going to guess that it's because Asian families value and recognize math ability in both genders. But I don't know.)
Also:
"In contrast to earlier findings, these very current data provide no evidence of a gender difference favoring males emerging in the high school years; effect sizes for gender differences are uniformly <0.10 for grades 10 and 11 (see table, top left, and table S1)."
The gap has apparently closed dramatically when compared to, say, 20 years ago because girls now are much more likely to take upper level math classes.
