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The Gender Difference

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The physical, emotional, and mental differences between males and females.

Male brain has 3 1/2 billion more brain cells than the female brain

In the following 12 subjects, no country scored lower than American 12th Grade Girls who scored:

1. 22 points lower than American boys and 90 points lower than Greek girls in Numbers & Equations.

2. 41 points lower than American boys and 123 points lower than Cypriot girls in Calculus.

3. 31 points lower than American boys and 121 points lower than French girls in Geometry.

4. 34 points lower than American boys and 139 points lower than Norwegian girls in Physics.

5. 53 points lower than American boys and 130 points lower than Norwegian girls in Mechanics.

6. 21 points lower than American boys and 152 points lower than Swedish girls in Electricity & Magnetism.

7. 6 points lower than American boys and 37 points lower than Norwegian girls in Heat.

8. 18 points lower than American boys and 86 points lower than Swedish girls in Wave Phenomena.

9. 20 points lower than American boys and 92 points lower than Swedish girls in Modern Physics.

10. 31 points lower than American boys and 117 points lower than French girls in Advanced Math.

11. 23 points lower than American boys and 65 points lower than Swedish girls in General Science.

12. 11 points lower than American boys and 77 points lower than Dutch girls in General Math.

Gender Gap in SAT Math Scores Widens

"there has been a difference of nearly a standard deviation between the mean mathematics scores of males and females" Trends in SAT Scores and Other Characteristics of Examinees Planning To Major in Mathematics, Science, or Engineering. Research Report. Source: Scholastic Aptitude Test-ABSTRACT, ERIC_NO-ED376079.

This study analyzed data from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) taken between 1977 and 1988 to study trends in the numbers, test scores, and other characteristics of high school seniors planning to major in math, science, or engineering, and to compare t hese data with comparable data from examinees planning to major in other fields. Results indicated that: (1) the total test-taking population declined in number until 1983 and has since been increasing; (2) the percentage of examinees who planned to major in math, science, or engineering increased from 24% to 29% of the examinee population; (3) in 1988 examinees planning to major in math, science, or engineering obtained a mean verbal score 18 points higher and a mean mathematics score 31 points higher th an the population average; (4) among students planning to major in math, science, or engineering, the mean mathematics score declined until 1981, increased until 1985, and declined thereafter; (5) among examinees who identify themselves as white and who p lan to major in math, science, or engineering, there has been a differences of nearly a standard deviation between the mean mathematics scores of males and females; sex differences were not as great among black examinees; and (6) among examinees who ident ified themselves as black and who plan to major in math, science, or engineering, the mean mathematics score for males rose 18 points, and the mean for females rose 20 points. Appendices include Student Descriptive Questionnaires and definitions of major field categories in Science and Non-Science Tables. (MKR) 

Gender Gap in Physical Characteristics

Percent or factor by which males exceed females.  

Gender Gap in SAT Math Scores

As affirmative action and other anti-productivity federal schemes have taken effect, both SAT and ACT scores have declined, and the gender gap in mathematics widened, from 17.6% in 1967 to 18.1% in 1989 on SAT Math, and from 12.2% to 13.7% on ACT M ath.  

Percent by which males scored higher than females averaged 17.65% over the last 3 decades. Source: College Entrance Examination Board, New York  

50.4% of Male Math Majors at Eastern Universities Score Higher Than All Women

                                                                     College Grade
                   Number of      Number of       Percent   Percent  Men   Women
SAT range          Men            Women           (Men)     (Women)

(592 & up)         5,693          0               22.0%         0%   A
(575-591)          7,357          0               28.4%         0%   B
(549-574)          6,931          5,144           26.8%      24.5%   C     A
(532-548)          2,881          6,383           11.1%      30.4%   D     B
(524-531)          3,030          0               11.7%         0%   F
(493-523)          0              5,394              0%      25.7%         C
(476-492)          0              2,235              0%      10.6%         D
(475 & Below)      0              1,872              0%       8.9%         F

1) 50.4% of the men scored higher than the highest scoring women.
2) 68% of the men scored higher than the highest women.
3) 64.5% of the women scored lower than men who got "D"s.
4) And that 45.2% of the women scored lower than all of the men.
5) Percent of women in the men's "A" range = 0%.
6) Percent of women in the men's "B" range = 0%.
7) Percent of women in the men's "C" range = 24.5%.
8) Percent of women in the men's "D" range = 30.4%.
9) Percent of women in the men's "F" range = 0%.

Gender Gap in ACT Math Scores Widens

Percent by which males scored higher than females averaged 14.84% over the last 3 decades. Source: The American College Testing Program. Note: the narrowing in the gap from 19.14% in 1970 to 13.66% in 1989 is the result of declining male scores rather than increasing female scores, indicating that narrowing the gap even further requires decreasing male scores even further, rather than increasing female scores.
A similar psychological phenomena has affected economic performance in the US.
NOTE:  Changes in 1990 in both the SAT and ACT test make an accurate correlation with previous data impossible.  The Department of Education reports that the SAT "has increased" while ACT scores "remained flat", indicating that the increase in SAT scores is due entirely to the changes in the test and not to any improvement in education quality.

Gender Gap in Graduate Record Exams

Jennifer Siders at the University of Texas SidersJ@Physics.Utexas.edu wrote:

5th year graduate student

Physics Dept

University of Texas at Austin

(512)471-0788

I'm want to thank everyone that sent their Physics GRE scores and comments for the "informal" survey. The number of people that replied was fairly low so I can't say too much about the stats.

21 women

20 men

11 professors

19 grad students

6 post docs

5 misc

The average percentile score was

44% (+/-20%) for the women who responded

75% (+/-14%) for the men

Even with such low numbers I think this is a pretty significant difference in scores. They barely overlap within their standard deviation. I called the GRE Board and they confirmed that there is a gender gap on the test and that white males generally score higher than women and minorities.

My own thoughts on why the gender gap exists are the following. Educational research on standardized tests have shown that women will spend more time `proving' that they have the right answer while men are more likely to `go with their gut feeling' and skip on to the next problem. Its a problem of confidence and guessing. If you don't guess on these tests and only answer the questions that you've had time to work out, there's very little chance that you will do as well as someone who is willing to guess and works through the test quickly. You don't have time to double check your work and women are more likely to do this. I know for a fact that I did not guess the first 3 times I took the Physics GRE and barely made it all the way to the end. The fourth time I studied by doing hundreds of multiple choice, learning to do them quickly and raised my score almost 200 points from my lowest score. I think the gender gap might disappear or at least narrow if the time allowed for the test was longer, or if it was fill in the blank.

There is a graduate student, Phil Bunce, getting a Masters degree in Physics Education who is going to do his thesis on the validity of the Physics GRE and its value in Graduate School Admissions. The primary goal of this research will be to determine if the physics dept's use of this test at UT is valid. He's going to compare undergrad GPA, Grad GPA in core courses with Physics GRE score for males and females for the last 5-10 years. We may have difficulty getting a broad enough database because of the low number of women students. If you or your school would be interested in performing a similar study or would be interested in the results of such a study feel free to contact me. Thank you, Jennifer Siders January 29, 1996 -- I will be getting a detailed summary of Physics GRE results from ETS very soon and can send you a copy if you wish. What I have at the moment is the 1989-92 Volume and Score Data for the Physics GRE Test. I received this from someone who had attended an ETS meeting. It took me a while but I found someone at ETS who knew what I was talking about and is going to send me one directly. This way I can cite a source for the information. :-)
 

I have data from a survey I did over the internet and also from 3 years worth of applicants to our Physics Dept that show a similar gap. There will be a special session at the APS/AAPT meeting May 4 on this topic where I will be presenting these results.

Gender Gap in Annual Salaries

Annual Earnings, by Education Attainment  

Percent by which males earn more than females at various education levels averages 64.75%. Source: US Dept. of Commerce. 

Gender Gap in Median Weekly Earnings

Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage & Salary Workers.  

Percent by which males earn more than females at various age levels averages 37.31%. Source: US Dept. of Labor 

Gender Gap in Olympic Platform Diving

Percent by which males score higher than females in platform diving averaged 46.16% over the last 3 decades. Source: for all Olympic scores, International Olympics Committee. 

Gender Gap in Olympic 100 Meter Freestyle

Percent by which males swim faster than females averaged 10.84% over the last 3 decades. 

Gender Gap in Olympic Pole Vaulting

Pole Vault -- Olympics Scores.  

There are no pole vaulting competitions for females. 

Gender Gap in Shot Put

Shot Put -- Olympics Scores NOTE: Males's Shot Put is 16 Pounds NOTE: Females's Shot Put is 8 Pounds -- half of the males's shot put  

Even with TWICE the weight the percent by which males scored higher than females over the last 3 decades averaged 16.89%. 

Gender Gap in Olympic 1500 Meter Run

1500 Meter Run -- Olympics Scores  

Percent by which males run faster than females averaged 9.90% over the last 3 decades. 

Gender Gap in Olympic Springboard Diving

Springboard Diving -- Olympics Scores  

Percent by which males outscore females in diving averaged 23.56% over the last 3 decades 

Gender Gap in Racing

Racing Champions  

Number of males champions versus number of female champions 

Gender Gap in Boxing

Boxing Champions Since 1882  

Number of male champions versus number of female champions 

Gender Gap in Chess

Chess Champions  

Number of male champions versus number of female champions 

Gender Gap in Baseball

Baseball Champions  

Number of male champions versus number of female champions 

Gender Gap in Golf

Leading Money Winners in PGA and LPGA  

Percent by which the male leading money winners' earnings exceeded the female leading money winners' earnings. 

Gender Gap in Nobel Awards

The Nobel Peace Prize Awards  

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