I think this applies across cultures too in that I find that Europeans and Far Eastern Asians (and to a lesser extent Americans) are far less likely to gauge their skills as excellent and that the ones that do are excellent. Whereas I have personally experienced (and have compared notes with colleagues that have had the same experience) offshore resources not only outright lying on their resumes but also self rating themselves much higher than they objectively turn out to be.
The cases where I run into that are usually from folks in countries where to be poor is terrifying, and they need to make themselves stand out. (to be poor in America is nothing like to be poor in one of those countries)
Frankly, there are some countries that to be "poor" is terrifying and right at their doorsteps, and from what I have seen, it is folks from those countries that uses STEM careers - male and female - to escape either their hometown, family pressures put on them and/or poverty.
