An international study published in the journal PLOS-1 highlights nuances of the gender gaps favoring girls’ achievement in reading and boys’ achievement in mathematics.
The study, based on a decade of data from 75 countries participating in the Program for International Student Assessment, finds that the global reading gap for boys is three times as large as the math gap for girls.
Moreover, the largest math gap worldwide is between high-achieving boys and girls. For reading, the gap for boys was most pronounced among the lowest-performing students. Nations with a smaller gender difference in math achievement tended to have a larger reading gap for boys.
