Stereotypes Do Not Explain Gender Differences in Math, Study Argues

By Dan Berrett

At the highest levels of mathematics achievement, men consistently outperform women. For more than a decade, many researchers have ascribed this phenomenon, in part, to a theory called "stereotype threat," or the notion that women's math scores suffer from hearing social messages that their skills in this area are not on par with men's.

But a new study, "Can Stereotype Threat Explain the Gender Gap in Mathematics Performance and Achievement?," to be published in the