The inverse relation between mathematics and reading sex differences also holds within nations across the performance continuum¶

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? Within countries, at performance levels where the mathematics sex difference is small the reading sex difference is large, and vice versa. → Stoet G 2013 q3 i? Among the 33 countries participating in all four assessments, boys at the 50th percentile had a 10-point mathematics advantage, with no gap at the bottom and a doubled gap at the top, while the girls' reading advantage was about 37 points at the 50th percentile. → 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

Within-country analysis across the performance distribution, averaged over the 33 nations that participated in all four PISA assessments; curves shown in Figure 3. The article reports the inverse relation "was also found within countries".

"But the inverse relation between the sex differences in mathematics and reading was also found within countries along the performance continuum (Figure 3, see Material and methods for how the curves are determined)."

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

Figure 3 caption describing the within-country curves for the 33 countries in all four assessments: a "10 point advantage" in mathematics at the 50th percentile, no gap at the bottom, and a doubled gap at the top; the girls' reading advantage was about 37 points at the 50th percentile.

"Within these countries boys at the 50th percentile of the distribution of boys' scores have a 10 point advantage in mathematics over girls at the 50th percentile of the distribution of girls' scores. There is no gap for the lowest performing students and a doubling of the average gap for the highest performing students."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

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

Related Claims¶

• Sex differences in mathematics and reading are strongly and inversely correlated across nations in all four PISA assessments — related
• 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 — related
• Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger — 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 gender gap in reading is three times bigger than the gender gap in math — related
• Gender is unevenly distributed across participation profiles: boys are overrepresented among disconnected and girls among diligent students
• Shanghai students took first place in all three major PISA 2009 categories, with Asian countries dominating the top rankings
• National gender-equality and human-development indicators show no consistent correlation with sex differences in mathematics or reading across the decade — related
• Gender differences in mathematics and science achievement are negligible among top-performing math students, while female students show better reading achievement — related