The math performance gap between girls and boys is non-existent before the first year of primary school

Why look into the origins of the gender gap in mathematical performance?

The math performance gap can be seen as an expression of gender inequality at school and in society, since it favours adult males whether young or old. It is sometimes seen as responsible for the under-representation of women in forward-looking professions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Can we now speak of an inborn origin to explain this difference in mathematical performance between the sexes?

In the relatively recent past, the debate has focused on whether the difference in mathematical performance between the sexes has an innate or societal origin. Today, the idea of a totally innate origin is difficult to defend. Firstly, because mathematics is a fundamentally symbolic and abstract subject, and therefore inaccessible to babies and toddlers. Secondly, because even non-symbolic mathematics, when tested on toddlers, does not lead to an advantage for boys. Consequently, the origin of the gap is unlikely to be before the age of 3 or 4.

What method and data did you use?

We used data from the French Longitudinal Study of Childhood (Elfe). More than 18,000 children were recruited throughout mainland France. Five and seven years after birth, most of the children in the study were enrolled in the middle section of nursery school and in the first year of elementary school. The teachers of the Elfe children then tested the Elfe pupils and 3 other classmates not included in the Elfe study itself on various skills. At these two distinct periods of their schooling, different mathematical activities were submitted to the Elfe children in the Elfe study with the help of their teacher.

How is the gender gap in mathematical performance expressed?

The gender gap in mathematics that favors boys has been widely observed in the first year of elementary school, whereas such a gap is non-existent in the middle section of kindergarten. Girls even outperformed boys in the cross-sectional study of students who were paired with Elfe students in the classes where the latter were tested. If we accept that the math gap develops with a certain regularity, the age of its origin should be around 5-6 years. The present research shows how quickly, in the space of one or two years, certain influences, which I presume to be largely socio-cultural, establish the mathematical gender gap in favor of boys as early as the Cours Préparatoire. This initial development is important because it potentially explains why, in subsequent classes or among adults, this gap is also observable and may even, through a kind of snowball effect, be reinforced.

How can we explain this gender-based difference in mathematical performance at age 6?

Since our research allows only an indirect discussion of the causes of the mathematics gap in favor of boys, we mention only a few of the causes discussed in the literature. Furthermore, while not ruling out an interaction between biology and social learning, our results specify the age at which potential societal causes could exert their effects and, thus, explain the emergence of the math gap in favour of boys between the ages of 4-5 and 6-7. Stereotypes are currently the subject of numerous studies.