Girls=Boys in Math, Says Study

Girls are just as good as boys at math, says an exhaustive study of 7 million test scores from elementary through high school students, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The findings, to be published tomorrow in Science, are at odds with 30-year-old studies—and a view entrenched in our culture—that say males have a superior aptitude for figuring.

“Now that enrollment in advanced math courses is equalized in high school,” one of the study’s co-authors said, “we don't see gender differences in performance on state tests.” In stark contrast to a generation ago, when young women were dissuaded from studying mathematics, access and achievement in high school classes has led to just about half of college degrees in math being awarded to women. (More mathematics stories.)