Parental biases in Math skills favor sons over daughters, study reveals

Research presented at University College London suggested that parents are more likely to overestimate the math abilities of their sons compared to their daughters, suggesting that gender stereotypes at home may impede the progress of female students.

According to a report, Dr. Valentina Tonei, an economist at the University of Southampton, discussed these findings in a lecture at the Institute of Education. She stressed on the role of gender stereotypes in shaping children’s academic preferences and performance.

“We know that gender stereotypes can be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Tonei remarked. “The notion that girls don’t like math is likely a result of years of exposure to these stereotypes.”

Despite a significant gender gap in subjects such as math, physics, and engineering, female students make up only 23% of A-level physics candidates and 37% in math in the UK. This disparity becomes more pronounced beyond the degree level. Previous research has shown that teachers also tend to have lower expectations for girls in math, which affects their grading.

Tonei’s research involved analysig data from approximately 3,000 children and their parents who participated in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC).

Parents rated their child’s abilities in math and reading, which were then compared to the children’s actual performance on Naplan tests, an Australian standardised test, taken at ages eight to nine.

The study revealed a slight gender difference in test scores, with girls outperforming boys in reading and boys slightly ahead in math. While parents rated girls’ reading abilities in line with their test performance, they significantly overestimated boys’ math skills beyond their actual performance.

Interestingly, this bias was not observed in parents who completed the questionnaire after receiving their child’s test scores. The bias was also less pronounced among highly educated mothers and those in female-dominated professions.

“Parents need clear and objective information about skills and abilities to support their children in the best way,” Tonei said.

She highlighted the unconscious nature of many biases and the importance of acting early in life. Providing parents with objective test scores can help alter their perceptions and support more equitable development of children’s skills.

The research also suggested that parental bias could influence a child’s educational trajectory. Children whose parents overestimated their abilities performed better in subsequent tests, potentially widening the gap between boys and girls in math over time. “Because parents overestimate mathematical skills more in boys, it leads to an amplification of the difference in mathematical skills between boys and girls,” Tonei explained.

Prof. Gina Rippon, a neuroscientist at Aston University, noted that these findings align with existing psychological research on gender stereotypes and parenting.

“Psychology has known for some time that parents expect different things of boys and girls,” Rippon said. She found it encouraging that providing objective scores could mitigate these biases. “I thought that was quite hopeful,” she added.