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Gender and Math Performance

Hard
Gender and Math Performance | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
Do boys score higher than girls on the same math test? The idea that one gender is naturally better at math is a common claim. This project puts it to a controlled test. You recruit 50 boys and 50 girls, all 15 years old, from five different schools. Each school contributes 10 boys and 10 girls. All 100 participants sit the same two-hour math exam under identical conditions. You mark the papers against a single answer key and calculate the average score for each gender at each school. Comparing the results reveals whether any gap exists and how large it actually is.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that boys perform better than girls when solving mathematical problems.

Method & Materials

You will choose five schools and invite ten boys and ten girls from each school to take a math exam. You will then compare the average scores of the boys and girls.
You will need 50 boys and 50 girls, 100 copies of a math exam paper, and 1 set of answers for the exam.

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Results

The results showed that boys and girls performed approximately the same on the math exam, with boys only performing 0.2% better.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting because it tests the hypothesis that boys are better at math than girls, and it also looks at the potential influence of culture on gender differences in math performance.

Also Consider

Variations of this project could include testing different age groups or comparing math performance in schools located in the city versus schools located in rural areas.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

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