Summary: There is no gender disparity in how children learn and perform math tasks.
Source: Carnegie Mellon University
Background
In 1992, Teen Talk Barbie sparked controversy when the doll uttered the phrase “Math class is hard.” That slogan reflected and reinforced a pervasive stereotype: that girls and women are inherently less suited for mathematics and related fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite this stereotype’s persistence in popular culture, rigorous scientific evidence has been lacking to justify claims of innate gender differences in mathematical ability.
New research from Carnegie Mellon University
Led by Jessica Cantlon at Carnegie Mellon University, a research team carried out a comprehensive neuroimaging study to examine whether boys and girls show biological differences in the brain systems that support early mathematics. Their findings, published in the November 8 issue of Science of Learning, show no measurable gender differences in brain function, neural development, or early math ability among young children.
“Science doesn’t align with folk beliefs,” said Cantlon, the Ronald J. and Mary Ann Zdrojkowski Professor of Developmental Neuroscience at CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the senior author on the paper. “We found that children’s brains respond similarly to math-related content regardless of gender, and that should help reset expectations about what children can achieve in mathematics.”
Study design and methods
This is the first neuroimaging study specifically designed to test for biological gender differences in math aptitude during early childhood. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity in 104 children between the ages of 3 and 10 (55 girls). While in the scanner, children watched educational videos that presented basic math topics, such as counting and simple addition. For comparison, the team also collected fMRI data from a group of adults (63 adults, 25 women) who viewed the same videos to assess brain maturity relative to adults.
The researchers applied robust statistical analyses—including both frequentist and Bayesian approaches—to compare brain activity patterns across genders and across age groups. They examined not only regions typically associated with mathematical reasoning, but also whole-brain patterns of activity to detect any subtle differences.
Key findings
- No gender differences were found in neural functioning related to mathematics: boys and girls engaged the same neural systems during the math videos.
- Boys and girls showed equivalent brain maturity when their scans were compared to adult patterns; there was no evidence that one gender’s brain developed faster or differently in relation to math processing.
- Behavioral measures echoed the neural findings. Results from the Test of Early Mathematics Ability, administered to 97 participants (50 girls), showed equivalent math skills across genders and no consistent age-related gender differences in early math development.
“It’s not just that boys and girls use the same math-related brain network,” said Alyssa Kersey, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology and the paper’s first author. “We see similarity across the entire brain, which reinforces that humans are more alike than different when it comes to early mathematical development.”
Implications and the role of environment
While the biological evidence from this study points to equivalence in early math capacity, the authors emphasize that social and cultural factors likely shape later educational and career trajectories. Prior research shows that play environments, parental expectations, and teacher interactions can differ for boys and girls—examples include more spatially focused play for boys and more attention directed to boys during some math lessons. These socialization patterns can amplify small early differences and influence long-term interest and achievement in STEM.
“Typical socialization can magnify minor differences into larger disparities in how children are encouraged or supported in science and math,” Cantlon said. “Recognizing the biological similarity in early development helps us focus on the social origins of gender gaps and the steps we must take to prevent them.”
Next steps
The current study focuses on early childhood and uses a limited set of math-related tasks presented in naturalistic video form. Cantlon and colleagues plan to extend this work by examining a broader range of mathematical skills—including spatial reasoning and memory—and by following children longitudinally to observe how neural and behavioral trajectories evolve over time.
Funding
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Source:
Carnegie Mellon University
Media Contacts:
Stacy W. Kish – Carnegie Mellon University
Image Source:
The image is credited to Carnegie Mellon University.
Original Research (open access):
“Gender similarities in the brain during mathematics development.” Alyssa J. Kersey, Kelsey D. Csumitta & Jessica F. Cantlon. Science of Learning. DOI: 10.1038/s41539-019-0057-x.
Abstract (summary)
Some public figures and researchers have argued that innate biological differences in mathematics aptitude lead to unequal representation of men and women in STEM fields. But separating biological from sociocultural influences is difficult. To probe the early biological basis of math and gender, this study measured neural responses in 3–10-year-old children using fMRI while they viewed mathematics education videos. Both frequentist and Bayesian analyses showed strong gender similarities in neural processing: boys and girls engage the same neural systems during early mathematics development.