<p>The study is based on data from schools in 86 countries, including those from non-Western societies, that concluded differences in mathematics were due to unequal societies and not biology. <br /><br />Scientists previously believed that the relatively low numbers of women in high-level mathematics could be due to biological differences between men and women. <br /><br />But a new international study has cast doubt on the idea that the differences are biological, the journal, Notices of the American Mathematical Society reported. <br /><br />Previous studies tended to focus on a limited range of countries - whereas the new study observed school-level mathematical performance in 86 countries. The differences in performance seemed to be caused by social factors, that is each society’s attitude towards women, said the Daily Mail. <br /><br />“People have looked at international data for many years,” said Janet Mertz, senior study author and professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. <br />“What has changed is that many more non-Western countries are participating, enabling much better cross-cultural analysis,” she said. <br /><br />“We found that boys - as well as girls - tend to do better in maths when raised in countries where females have better equality, and that’s new and important,” said study co-author Jonathan Kane, a professor of mathematical and computer sciences at the Wisconsin-Whitewater. <br /> </p>
<p>The study is based on data from schools in 86 countries, including those from non-Western societies, that concluded differences in mathematics were due to unequal societies and not biology. <br /><br />Scientists previously believed that the relatively low numbers of women in high-level mathematics could be due to biological differences between men and women. <br /><br />But a new international study has cast doubt on the idea that the differences are biological, the journal, Notices of the American Mathematical Society reported. <br /><br />Previous studies tended to focus on a limited range of countries - whereas the new study observed school-level mathematical performance in 86 countries. The differences in performance seemed to be caused by social factors, that is each society’s attitude towards women, said the Daily Mail. <br /><br />“People have looked at international data for many years,” said Janet Mertz, senior study author and professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. <br />“What has changed is that many more non-Western countries are participating, enabling much better cross-cultural analysis,” she said. <br /><br />“We found that boys - as well as girls - tend to do better in maths when raised in countries where females have better equality, and that’s new and important,” said study co-author Jonathan Kane, a professor of mathematical and computer sciences at the Wisconsin-Whitewater. <br /> </p>
