Study Finds No 'Math Gap' Between Girls, Boys

It looks like Barbie's critics were right all along.

In 1992, Mattel's famous doll came under considerable criticism when it was discovered that some versions of that year's "Teen Talk Barbie" had been programmed to say "Math class is tough!" Sixteen years later, researchers with the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, have reported that female students don't have any more difficulties than their male counterparts do when it comes to mathematics.

The researchers, who reported their results in the July 25, 2008, edition of the journal Science, analyzed the results of annual math tests that were taken by 7.2 million students in grades two through 11. The tests had been given between 2005 and 2007 as part of the federal "No Child Left Behind" laws.

After examining the average test scores of all students, the performance of the most gifted children, and the ability to solve complex math problems, the study group found virtually no difference between girls and boys.

Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin psychologist who led the study, told Los Angeles Times staff writer Wendy Hansen that the results should help refute the myth that girls aren't good at math. "Both parents and teachers continue to hold the stereotype that boys are better [at math] than girls," Hyde said in a July 25 Times article. "That's just not accurate."