Yes, on average, across all data, girls math scores were lower than boys, reflective of the gender gap so often reported. But they also found that the gap in math scores was greatest in countries where there was the least equality between males and females. And in countries where males and females enjoyed gender equity, more or less, girls' math scores increased notably and the gender gap mostly disappeared (except, that is, for geometry scores, where the boys consistently retained their performance advantage, regardless of cultural backdrop).
But the other big surprise was that in countries with gender equality, where girls achieved competitive equality in math, they not only retained their competitive advantage over boys in reading and verbal skills, they increased the gender reading gap.
The authors note that girls' competitive advantage in reading vs. a competitive disadvantage in math had long been viewed as explaining why women so often gravitated to career areas other than math or hard sciences. And my recent (1.19.08) post on this site, The Freedom to say 'No,' reported that other researchers had found that girls with math scores and performance ability equal to those of boys still most often chose other careers, but "because they would simply rather do something else."
But these new, more extensive findings better explain why women remain more likely to gravitate to those other career areas, regardless of math scores. (And, as in the case of geometry scores, don't we have to conclude that the reading performance gap is apparently not a function of culture?) Regardless, the bottom line, say the researchers, is all about women's competitive advantage. And the upshot of all this could be unsettling or even threatening for men:
"In other words," they surmise, "girls may acquire an absolute advantage over boys as a result of equal treatment."
Hmmm. Go girl?
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11449804
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