Summary: Boys’ confidence in mathematics is strongly shaped by how they compare themselves with peers, while girls’ self-assessments more closely reflect their actual performance. Although boys and girls show similar math ability on average, girls often report lower confidence, a gap that influences educational and career decisions.
This confidence gap contributes to fewer women entering and remaining in STEM fields. The research highlights the importance of peer dynamics and social networks in shaping students’ math self-beliefs and suggests targeted approaches to support confident engagement with mathematics across genders.
Key Facts:
- Boys’ math confidence is more influenced by social comparison with peers, whereas girls’ confidence aligns more directly with their measured performance.
- Despite similar math abilities, girls tend to report lower confidence, which affects subject choices and career pathways.
- Intervening in peer dynamics and classroom social structures could help reduce the gender gap in STEM participation.
Source: University of Zurich
Does math ability differ by gender? New evidence on social processes and self-confidence
A recent study from the University of Zurich examined the social mechanisms behind the widely observed gender difference in math confidence. The researchers focused on how friendships and classroom networks influence students’ beliefs about their own mathematical ability. Their findings show distinct patterns for boys and girls: boys’ confidence is frequently shaped by comparisons with peers, while girls rely more on objective indicators, such as their grades.
Previous research has shown that, in many Western contexts, girls in secondary school report lower confidence in mathematics than boys of the same age, even though standardized measures of math ability often show little or no difference between genders. This mismatch between performance and self-assessment can have long-term consequences: students tend to choose university majors and careers that align with their perceived strengths, and lower confidence in math contributes to women’s underrepresentation in STEM disciplines and related high-paying careers.
Peer processes reveal important differences in how confidence forms
The University of Zurich study examined peer relationships as a key but understudied factor. Lead author Isabel Raabe from the Department of Sociology notes that “especially in adolescence, peers are the primary social reference for individual development. Peer processes that operate through friendship networks determine a wide range of individual outcomes.”
Using longitudinal social network analysis, the researchers analyzed data from 8,812 students across 358 classrooms to track how friendships and peer perceptions relate to math confidence over time. The analysis confirmed that individual math grades are the strongest predictor of confidence overall. However, gender differences emerged in how grades and peer perceptions translate into self-belief.
Boys’ confidence is more socially influenced; girls’ confidence follows performance
The study found that boys are more likely to rely on social comparison when forming judgments about their math ability. Boys with below-average grades sometimes continued to rate their ability highly, especially when their peer group reinforced that view. Conversely, when boys were exposed to lower self-assessments from female friends in cross-gender friendships, their own confidence tended to decline. Girls’ math confidence, by contrast, tracked their grades more closely and was less affected by peers’ self-ratings.
Importantly, the researchers did not find evidence that gender stereotypes in the classroom caused girls to be socially pressured into underestimating their skills. In many cases, higher math confidence correlated with better social integration for both boys and girls, suggesting that confidence itself can support popularity and connectedness rather than being socially penalized.
About this social neuroscience and math research news
Author: Barbara Simpson
Source: University of Zurich
Contact: Barbara Simpson – University of Zurich
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “The gendered maths confidence gap, social influence, and social integration” by Isabel Raabe et al., European Societies.
Abstract
The gendered maths confidence gap, social influence, and social integration
Although boys and girls show little difference in measured math competence during secondary education, girls typically report lower confidence in their mathematical skills. Over time, these differences in self-perception contribute to gendered pathways in education and employment. Prior explanations have emphasized individual psychology and socialization into gender roles, but the role of peer context has been less clear.
To explore how friendship networks shape self-perceived competence and social integration, the researchers analyzed data from Sweden and Germany using the CILS4EU dataset (N = 7,472) and applied multi-level longitudinal network models. Their results indicate that girls’ math confidence closely mirrors their math grades, with social relations having limited influence on their self-evaluation. Boys, however, are more likely to overestimate their abilities and to have their confidence shaped by social comparison processes within peer networks. The findings suggest that math ability carries different social meanings for boys and girls.
Regarding friendship selection, students of both genders with higher math confidence tended to be better socially integrated, which contradicts the notion of peer pressure pushing girls to conform to gendered stereotypes. Instead, math confidence appears to be socially advantageous for both boys and girls in many classroom settings.