Sex differences in mathematics and reading are strongly and inversely correlated across nations in all four PISA assessments¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2013 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i3 Across nations, countries with a smaller sex difference in mathematics have a larger sex difference in reading, with Pearson's r ranging from −0.60 to −0.78 (ps < .001) in all four assessments. → Stoet G 2013

Evidence¶

Stoet G 2013¶

Stoet G, Geary DC (2013) Sex Differences in Mathematics and Reading Achievement Are Inversely Related: Within- and Across-Nation Assessment of 10 Years of PISA Data. PLoS ONE 8(3): e57988. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057988

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Cross-national correlational analysis of sex differences in all four PISA assessments, shown in Figure 2. The printed effect sizes are Pearson correlations r = −0.60 to −0.78 (printed as 20.60 to 20.78), all significant at p < .001; |r| ≥ .37 codes impact 3.

"We found that the across-nation inverse correlations between the sex differences in reading and mathematics were consistent and strong in all four assessments (Pearson's r ranging from 20.60 to 20.78, ps ,.001, Figure 2)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

Gender — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
The mathematics sex difference favoring boys is more consistently found among higher-achieving nations, with considerable variability among lower-scoring countries — related
The inverse relation between mathematics and reading sex differences also holds within nations across the performance continuum — related
National gender-equality and human-development indicators show no consistent correlation with sex differences in mathematics or reading across the decade — related
The gender gap in reading is three times bigger than the gender gap in math — related

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`across-nation-inverse-correlation-math-reading-sex-differences`
`title`	`Sex differences in mathematics and reading are strongly and inversely correlated across nations in all four PISA assessments`
`description`	`Sex differences in mathematics and reading are strongly and inversely correlated across nations in all four PISA assessments`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`moderate`
`newest_evidence`	`2013`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-15`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `stoet-g-2013`

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