Sex differences in mathematics and reading achievement are inversely related: within- and across-nation assessment of 10 years of PISA data.

ABSTRACT: We analyzed one decade of data collected by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), including the mathematics and reading performance of nearly 1.5 million 15 year olds in 75 countries. Across nations, boys scored higher than girls in mathematics, but lower than girls in reading. The sex difference in reading was three times as large as in mathematics. There was considerable variation in the extent of the sex differences between nations. There are countries without a sex difference in mathematics performance, and in some countries girls scored higher than boys. Boys scored lower in reading in all nations in all four PISA assessments (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009). Contrary to several previous studies, we found no evidence that the sex differences were related to nations' gende

SUBMITTER: Stoet G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3596327 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature