Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2018: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? The mean overall sex difference in mathematics favoring boys was 10 to 11 points and remained relatively stable over ten years of PISA assessments. → Stoet G 2013 q3 i? The average sex difference in reading favoring girls was three times larger than the sex difference in mathematics. → Stoet G 2013 (2)

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 · i? · associational · r2

Secondary analysis of PISA 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 data from nearly 1.5 million 15-year-olds in 75 countries, with scores normalized so the OECD average is 500 points (SD 100). The printed average mathematics sex difference favoring boys was "10 to 11 points".

"Across nations, the mean overall sex difference in mathematics was small but remained relatively stable over the ten years at 10 to 11 points (Figure 1, top)."

Stoet G 2013 (2)¶

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 · i? · associational · r2

Same PISA secondary analysis, Results section. The article reports the average reading sex difference favoring girls was "three times larger" than the mathematics sex difference; no effect size beyond score points is printed.

"In contrast to the sex difference in mathematics, the difference in reading, favoring girls, receives relatively little attention, despite the fact that the average sex difference in reading was three times larger than the sex difference in mathematics (Figure 1, Table 2)."

Studies bearing on this claim¶

Do girls and boys differ in mathematics and reading achievement, by how much, and where in the distribution? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 15 narrower claims that bear on it: 8 distinct studies (5 associational, 1 causal, 1 design, 1 qualitative), q2–q3, 2 of 8 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

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

Related Claims¶

• The mathematics sex difference is practically non-existent among low performers and largest among high performers, where boys outnumber girls up to 2.7:1 above the 99th percentile — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The mathematics sex difference favoring boys is more consistently found among higher-achieving nations, with considerable variability among lower-scoring countries — related
• The reading sex difference favoring girls grew over the decade and was driven by very poor performance of boys at the low end — related
• The inverse relation between mathematics and reading sex differences also holds within nations across the performance continuum — related
• Boys received more process praise and scored higher in 4th grade math than girls in this sample — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Math anxiety levels do not differ significantly by gender among third graders — related
• The gender gap in reading is three times bigger than the gender gap in math — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Girls scored lower than boys on fifth grade Numerical Operations, with the gap smaller in earlier grades, but no sex difference in fifth grade word reading — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The learning benefit of mathematics test practice is larger for boys than for girls — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Single-sex math classrooms raised female students' math performance by 7–10% over co-educational programs
• Boys regain the advantage in middle school STEM skills in post-COVID gender achievement gap trends — related
• Stereotype threat reverses the gender gap in third-grade reading: boys underperform girls under threat but outperform them under reduced threat — related
• National gender-equality and human-development indicators show no consistent correlation with sex differences in mathematics or reading across the decade — related
• Female kindergarteners outscore males in math and reading at entry; the reading gap was stable while the small math gap narrowed slightly — related
• No significant gender differences on anxiety or reading measures at either time point — related
• Gender disparities in CT education show a very small but statistically significant overall effect favoring males (g = 0.106) — related
• No statistically significant sex differences in the direct associations among EF, task orientation, and mathematics or in the mediating effect of task orientation — related
• Males show a small overall advantage in mathematics performance (d = 0.083) across studies published 2010–2022 — related
• Boys outperform girls on the final two-digit number test in this sample — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Girls exhibited a stronger decrease in mathematics ASC than boys over the school year, while school type did not predict ASC development — related
• Boys outperform girls on algebra word problems, function mapping, equation memory, and arithmetic fluency, with no sex differences on other mathematics measures — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Gender differences in mathematics and science achievement are negligible among top-performing math students, while female students show better reading achievement — related
• Among top-performing math students, male students show strongly math-oriented math–reading achievement profiles whereas female students' profiles are more balanced — related