Analysis
Report: The mathematics gender gap appears just months into primary school
The conclusions seem unequivocal: this rapid divergence, observed both in families of high and low social status, is independent of geographical area, the age of the children and a list of other variables.
It's report card time at school, with all the suspense that entails. Nevertheless, there’s one thing we already know: male students will receive higher grades in mathematics. The OECD-PISA tests have been recording this for years in almost all industrialized countries, and Italy in 2025 is unlikely to be an exception. What we did not know until now was how fast this gender gap in mathematics makes its appearance: four months of primary school are enough.
On the first day of school, boys and girls show the same level of aptitude. But after just one term, the tables turn and boys prove to be significantly more “competent” in tests that assess problem solving, geometric skills, and the ability to compare numbers: a bit like the mistake made by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who falsely stated before Parliament that Italian interest rates are lower than German ones.
How early this gap shows up was proved by researchers from a number of French universities who analyzed the results of the EvalAide test – a moniker that translates to “evaluate in order to better help” – which has been administered in all French schools since 2018 at the beginning of first grade, after four months of school, and at the beginning of second grade. The data, published on Thursday in the journal Nature, covers a sample of almost three million children from four different age groups.
Assessing learning is complicated because there are numerous confounding factors. A school in central Paris and one in rural Guadeloupe are almost like two different planets, and any comparison is difficult. However, the large numbers involved in the French study make it possible to disaggregate the data and confirm trends while controlling for other factors.
The conclusions seem unequivocal: this rapid divergence, observed both in families of high and low social status, is independent of geographical area, the age of the children, the composition of the family unit, the public or private nature of the school, its religious or secular character, the pedagogical method adopted (Montessori or Freinet), the number of students in the class, or the gender of the top student in the class.
We are thus left to reflect on the causes. The equal level of ability at the start disproves the cant about “natural predispositions” of the genders. What remains, then, are cultural stereotypes, which influence both those who teach and those who learn, consciously and unconsciously. If it’s taken for granted that mathematics is “for boys,” the prophecy ends up becoming self-fulfilling, because both teachers in the classroom and families at home will adopt different attitudes towards male and female students.
Even if genetics has nothing to do with it, different attitudes towards mathematics can become hereditary and pass from generation to generation. “It could be effective to improve the training of mathematics teachers to increase their confidence and interest in this subject,” the researchers write, “especially in countries such as France, where most primary school teachers are female.” Female teachers risk passing on to the class the same insecurities they themselves have internalized during their own schooling.
This advice could also be useful for Italy, where four out of five teachers are women. However, the strategies being used in Italy are quite different: for example, on Thursday, ostensibly to “promote gender equality,” in the schools in a town near Padua, the local councilor from Fratelli d'Italia distributed a brochure entitled “Girls and Numbers,” with Giorgia Meloni's face on the cover. That might do it, unless you ever need to get a bank loan.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/matematica-il-gender-gap-e-questione-di-mesi on 2025-06-13