Now, I wonder if the reason females are not as well represented in math is they are far more interested in other areas.
Certainly possible. I think one of the articles mentioned this. However, it has just been so easy for me to observe my DD being "guided" to showcase her verbal skills and away from math and science, perhaps because that is just what people expect from a bright girl. I do think math talent can be somewhat more difficult to assess in the early grades unless one is actively teaching the child at home, and maybe I will see the same thing when my boy is in school. It's just hard to ignore the fact that they give her books at her reading level (5th grade or so) in school yet maintain that she is doing "just fine" with the first-grade math curriculum (which she complains about to me--"boring baby math.") I mean, I suppose she is doing "just fine" in the sense that every test or worksheet is always correct. In K, her teacher remarked that she did not work ahead in her math book "like some other kids do" and chose to free-read instead during free choice, implying that she was not a "math kid." Well, the math book was K level...
