Contradicting this assertion, the Wisconsin researchers show that girls' math scores are as variable as boys' in some countries and among some ethnic groups in the U.S., with as many girls as boys scoring above the 99th percentile in some cultures. Thus, greater male variability in math performance is not a ubiquitous phenomenon.
Having read the article, I think this point was well-supported.
As anyone on this board knows, tests aimed at the middle do a poor job of measuring the tails. If the claim is just that on some tests of math which are aimed at the middle, girls and boys have similar average performance and variability, then that claim may be well supported. However, to disprove the notion that boys have a greater likelihood of extreme mathematical talent, which seems to be the claim, you'd need data actually measuring that area of the curve and showing the similarity.
I make no claims that the opposite side of this issue is proven either. I'm simply objecting to what looks to me like junk science, by which I mean claims made or implied which are well beyond the support of the data.
