Young girls are taught to be nurturing while boys are encouraged to play with toys they can tinker with or manipulate, such as construction sets, Legos, building blocks, and tool kits. Girls who lack these skill-building experiences often enter science and math classes feeling insecure about their abilities. Self-perceptions play an important role in science and math achievement, especially for girls. This lack of self-confidence is also reflected in the fact that boys are more likely to attribute personal success to effort, whereas girls tend to attribute it to luck. As a result, many girls underachieve in science and math simply because they choose to participate in activities in which success is almost assured.
Attitudes also contribute to the underachievement of girls in science and math.
Although middle school girls take more high-ability courses than boys and make comparable or higher grades, their attitudes toward science and math are less positive, and they are less likely to participate in related extracurricular activities. 13.8 18.1 Computer Sciences 1.2 4.3 Education 14.2 6.3 Engineering 2.6 15.2 Physical Sciences a 2.0 2.7 Professional b 20.2 9.8 Social Sciences 11.7 6.1 Technical 1.4 3.7 Other 6.5 10.5 Undecided 8.8 7.4 a Includes fields such as astronomy, chemistry, earth science, mathematics, and physics. So girls who develop negative attitudes toward science and math during this period of development are unlikely to acquire the academic background necessary for careers in science, math, or engineering. And as the table on to the left shows, few girls entering college see themselves as future engineers. Even girls who have course backgrounds and achievement levels similar to those of boys have less confidence in their abilities and less interest in studying science and math.