THE gender gap in maths ability disappears in more sexually equal societies, suggesting that boys’ knack for algebra is more nurture than nature.
Paola Sapienza at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and her colleagues compared test scores from a survey of 276,165 teenagers in 40 countries with measures of gender equality in each country, including the percentage of women who are educated and working.
Boys outscored girls in maths in most countries. The margin was largest in highly unequal societies, such as Turkey. But in countries with the greatest gender equality, such as Norway and Sweden, girls and boys…
