11/15/2025
🚨 New study shatters the myth — Boys are NOT born better at math.
A massive new study has found that boys and girls start school with virtually the same math abilities—but the gap quickly emerges once formal instruction begins.
Tracking 2.5 million children in France, researchers discovered no gender difference in math skills at the start of first grade. But just four months into the school year, boys began outperforming girls, and the disparity continued to widen.
By second grade, the gap had quadrupled; by sixth grade, it was even larger. The findings suggest that the root cause isn’t biology but something in the way math is taught—possibly classroom dynamics, teaching methods, or unconscious expectations.
Analyzing data from France’s nationwide EvalAide testing program, the study also showed that girls started out ahead in language skills, and boys held no advantage in math. The math gap wasn’t linked to children’s age or developmental stages—it correlated specifically with time spent in formal instruction. In fact, during the year when COVID shortened classroom time, the gap grew more slowly, reinforcing the idea that the educational system itself may be reinforcing gender divides.
Lead author and Harvard psychologist Elizabeth Spelke says it’s time to shift focus from nature-versus-nurture debates to the design of math education—and to start testing new strategies that could help all students thrive equally.
Source: "Mounting case against notion that boys are born better at math." The Harvard Gazette, 3 July 2025.
