Who is better in math? Boys or girls.

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It is a widely held belief that mathematics is one area in which boys are better than girls, but a just-released Unicef report completely demolishes this stereotype. The report shows that, of the 83 countries for which data on proficiency in math among adolescents was available, boys performed better than girls in only 34, while in 38 girls did better, and in 11 there was nothing to choose between the two genders.

     The report also included data for proficiency in reading for 82 countries and in 81 of these the proportion of girls proficient in reading far outstripped that of boys, showing that not all stereotypes are wrong.

    Among the 10 countries with the highest levels of math proficiency, boys performed better than girls only in Switzerland. Even there, the difference between the two genders was almost non-existent, the scores being 84 and 83 for boys and girls, respectively in six of the top 10, girls did better and in three they were level with boys. 

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     The data was presented in The State of the World's Children 2023 report, countries for which data on this parameter was not available included China and all the South Asian countries, including India. The proficiency in math score was the percentage of children and young people at the end of lower secondary schooling achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in math.

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      Interestingly, of the nine countries where the math proficiency score for boys was higher by five percentage points or more, eight were from Latin America, though the gap was widest at 15 in Uganda. In other countries, the proportion of boys achieving minimum proficiency in math was higher than for girls including the UK, the US and a few from Europe, such as Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Montenegro, but in almost all these cases the gap was negligible.

     In reading proficiency, Uganda was once again an outlier, being the only country where boys did better than girls, even if by just one percentage point. The average difference in the proportion of girls and boys who were proficient in reading was over 11 percentage points. Clearly, across the world a much higher proportion of girls than boys had achieved minimum proficiency in reading at the end of the lower secondary level.

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