Are there differences in the ways boys and girls approach learning about science?
It’s a myth that boys and girls, when they’re young, have different interest toward science. In elementary school, both boys and girls love science and are fascinated by it. The National Center for Educational Statistics conducted a survey in which fourth graders were asked whether they liked math and science, and two thirds of boys said they liked science and two thirds of girls said they liked science. It’s not until later—upper elementary, middle, and high school—that you start to lose both boys and girls, but it turns out more girls than boys get dissuaded from science. Why is that? We’ve made a lot of progress toward [gender] equity in our country, but it’s still not perfect. There are very subtle stereotypes that kids internalize, and it affects what they think about themselves, who they can become, and what fields are appropriate for them. It’s not that parents are trying to do this. As with most stereotypes, parents are totally unaware that they’re doing things that are biased.
