Originally Posted by ultramarina
Oh yes, of course, individual brain development is very plastic. But that is not the same thing as saying that within 20 years, the female brain has been able to evolve so drastically such that while very high-scoring boys once outnumbered girls 20 to 1 on math tests, they now outnumber them only 3 to 1.

You may find interesting the article

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/education/10math.html
Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds
By SARA RIMER
New York Times
October 10, 2008

The United States is failing to develop the math skills of both girls and boys, especially among those who could excel at the highest levels, a new study asserts, and girls who do succeed in the field are almost all immigrants or the daughters of immigrants from countries where mathematics is more highly valued.

The study suggests that while many girls have exceptional talent in math � the talent to become top math researchers, scientists and engineers � they are rarely identified in the United States. A major reason, according to the study, is that American culture does not highly value talent in math, and so discourages girls � and boys, for that matter � from excelling in the field. The study will be published Friday in Notices of the American Mathematical Society.

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The report being discussed is

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/10math_report.pdf
Cross-Cultural Analysis of Students with Exceptional Talent in Mathematical Problem Solving
by Titu Andreescu, Joseph A. Gallian, Jonathan M. Kane,
and Janet E. Mertz


"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell