Target interventions at high-achieving girls in mathematics and low-achieving boys in reading, treating the two sex differences as separate problems¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 2 studies (2 associational), q3 · 0 of 2 report an effect size

Description¶

The article recommends that efforts to reduce scholastic sex differences be split into two distinct programs. Because the mathematics gap concentrates at the high end and the reading gap at the low end, "Interventions that focus on high-achieving girls in mathematics and on low achieving boys in reading are likely to yield the strongest educational benefits." For reading, the authors add that given early language-related advantages for girls, intervention "should focus on young boys". For mathematics, they recommend looking beyond equality policies toward factors such as interest differences and collaboration with career counseling psychologists.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Requires separately diagnosing where in the performance distribution the gap lies for each domain, since the two differences affect different segments of the population.

Constraints¶

• The article states reducing the mathematics sex difference is not simply a matter of national policy focused on improving girls' achievement, and that no country has successfully eliminated both differences.

Target Learners¶

• 15-year-old students in secondary education, particularly high-achieving girls in mathematics and low-achieving boys in reading

Target Learning Goals¶

• Reducing sex differences in mathematics achievement at the high end of the performance distribution
• Reducing sex differences in reading achievement at the low end of the performance distribution

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 [+M]
• The reading sex difference favoring girls grew over the decade and was driven by very poor performance of boys at the low end [+M]
• The inverse relation between mathematics and reading sex differences also holds within nations across the performance continuum [+M]
• Across nations, boys outperform girls in mathematics by a small average margin while girls outperform boys in reading by a margin three times larger [+M]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• 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