Are women really worse at Maths?

New study found that both men and women believe men to be better at Maths

The study shows that both men and women think that men are better when it comes to maths – regardless of a person´s actual ability.

The researchers say that the tests showed that there aren’t gender-based differences in male and female abilities.

The experiment asked people to award a job based only on a person’s gender. They used an experimental job interview, where subjects were hired to perform an arithmetic task that, on average, both genders perform equally well.

Participants were assigned roles as job candidates or employers and ’employers’ had to choose between two ‘candidates’ for a job that involved solving arithmetic problems, a task that men and women perform equally well. 

The team concluded: “We find that without any information other than a candidate’s appearance (which makes sex clear), both male and female subjects are twice more likely to hire a man than a woman.”

The researchers concluded that their findings could explain a bias that has kept women out of careers in science and engineering.

They say the problem is with ‘implicit stereotypes’ – but also admitted women tended to underestimate their ability while men tended to boast.

It seems that women tend to underestimate themselves, while men tend to boast and overestimate their abilities.

Luigi Zingales and his research team said: “Women outnumber men in undergraduate enrolments, but they are much less likely than men to major in mathematics or science or to choose a profession in these fields.

“This outcome is often attributed to the effects of negative sex-based stereotypes.”