My BF sent me this link because he thought I might wish to do a blog post about it. I'm grateful that he also mentioned it to me, or I never would have seen it, since that particular email, for some unknown reason, ended up in my junk/spam folder.

Is there some mysterious force at work trying not only to keep girls and women from studying and majoring in math, but also trying to keep me from even writing about the non-existent gender gap in mathematical ability? Most likely not. So, I'm just going to attribute the near-miss to Mercury still being in its "shadow" after finally ending its latest retrograde period.

From the article:

The researchers knew that if guys were born with math on the brain, so to speak, the gender difference in mathematical ability should be somewhat universal. But some countries showed a larger gap than others.

Countries with low gender equality showed a greater gender gap in math.

For example, India and Iran ranked low on gender equality and low on the percent of females scoring high in the International Mathematical Olympiad, a competition for those with exceptional math skills.

American girls

In the United States, which scored relatively high for gender equality, girls perform on average as well as boys on standardized math tests.

In other words, any differences are a result of nurture-- or more precisely, culture-- not nature. 

From one of the authors of the study:

"I have to say that Larry Summers' comments in 2005 inspired me," to complete the current study, said Janet Hyde, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of psychology.

One of my own more interesting memories of learning math happened in the 7th grade. Because my father was in the Air Force, we moved frequently, and not always at the end or beginning of a school year. In fact, we moved in the middle of both the 7th and the 8th grades. As if Junior High weren't difficult enough. (We didn't call it Middle School back in the old days.) 

Keep in mind that I had already been in separate schools for K, 1st, 2nd, plus 3 schools in 3rd, and one school each for 4th, 5th, and 6th. Still, I was a decent student. And why not? It's not as if I had any other life. How could anyone make friends moving around like that? But that's another story. 

The real story-- the one about learning math-- happened with the move in the 7th grade, from Sarasota, Florida, to Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. Yep, it was a pretty grim change, especially since the climate was not noticeably warming then. To make matters worse, I was never going to fit in with the kids in the new school. Mostly officer's children, they were far too sophisticated for me. Much too fast. And in math class, they were studying things I hadn't even seen before. My earlier 7th grade math class had not discussed variables, sets of numbers or anything remotely resembling preparation for algebra. That likely would have come a little bit later. But, there I was. In the middle of the year in a class where I would have to sink or swim.

So, my father and I sat down with my "New Math" book every night  (that's what they called it in the old days) and we worked our way through it, one chapter at a time. By the time I was ready to take a test with the rest of the class, I knew the material and earned an A. What a surprise... perhaps they all thought I was just stupid, and not that I simply hadn't been exposed to the material before then.  My father was pleased with both of us.

Unfortunately, that was the last time my dad was actively involved in anything to do with my education. In no way was my mother ever going to be of any help with anything related to school. In fact, whenever I or any of my siblings had an opportunity to be in special programs or to skip a grade, she would prevent it happening. So, by 8th grade, I was, strictly speaking, on my own. 

I know that there are lots of kids these days whose experiences are similarly non-supportive at home. If they're not going to get help and encouragement in school, they're simply not going to get it at all. 

Although the weather in SD was absolutely miserable and Ellsworth AFB was bleak, it's too bad we didn't stay there longer, because I might have considered doing more with math. But, in the middle of the 8th grade, back to Florida we went (this move was my mother's idea), and to a different school in the same district, where I now received more notice for my language skills than for my math ability. I still got good grades in math, and I really loved geometry, but math teachers in those days seemed to derive a special kind of pleasure from terrorizing the boys in the classroom. Mr. O, in particular, would  relish slamming his meter stick on the top of some 8th-grade boy's desk. Perhaps that was the only way that he knew how to "keep order and stability." I don't think that would be allowed any more, which is a good thing, since it made the environment a bit hostile for learning purposes.  

My 9th grade math teacher spent an awful lot of time talking about when he taught at a private boys' school, when he wasn't pretending he was swinging at a golf ball. Naturally, he also taught driver's ed. We did some math, too-- it was supposed to be Algebra 1, after all.

I can't even remember my 10th grade math teacher's face, only that I really loved geometry for its purity and simplicity and logic. I loved it the same way I loved diagramming sentences in English the previous year.

In 11th grade it was Algebra II and I really could have used some extra time with my dad then, but that wasn't a possibility. So, by the time I got to 12th grade and Math III, with Mr. C., I might have still had potential, but I had much less confidence, and I really don't think he considered me as a possible serious math student. Too bad. I coulda been a contender. 

In the four decades since those pre-Title IX days, I have had friends with daughters who would suddenly-- out of nowhere-- develop some kind of anxiety about math. For no apparent reason. For the most part, they worked through it. I did my part by giving their mothers a pep talk. 

Why is it that in this country, in this century, girls still feel that if they want to be liked not just by other girls, but especially by boys, then they better not be too smart academically, especially in math? They seem to feel they have to choose between relationships and academics. 

I know... there are exceptions. But that's exactly what they are. Exceptions. 

Imagine how differently things might have turned out on Wall Street during the past decade or so, if there had been more ovaries in the financial seats of power. After all, most of the news-worthy whistle-blowers of late have been women. 

[There is a very good reason that organizations like Kiva focus on empowering women, rather than men... when they empower women financially, they raise the SES level of the family and the community. Not so, if they focus on men.]

As for me, I intend, at my advanced age, to learn calculus, and I even asked an online acquaintance for a recommended site or two. If I only manage to stave off Alzheimers, the time will be well-spent, but I actually hope to accomplish more than that. 

It is no longer enough merely to be literate in this world. Because we now know that we cannot trust the financiers in their global sandbox, we must all strive to be numerate, as well.