Socialization also plays a large role in forming habitual academic performance. At the beginning of their childhood through socialization young girls are taught to avoid risk taking and to play in a non-competitive fashion. In contrast, boys are taught to play in a competitive and dominant atmosphere. Girls play with dolls in small social groups that involve a lot of verbalizing while boys play in larger groups and like to engage in games that often have rules and not a great deal of talking. This evidence may give reasons why females disengage in further exploration in risk taking subjects such as math and science.
Interaction grouping patterns are evident when gender groups segregate themselves from each other.
The same interaction patterns are evident between teacher and student interaction in the classroom. These patterns begin early in kindergarten where male students receive more of the teachers attention and frequently ask more questions than females and are given more time to talk in class. Teachers may be unconsciously paying too much attention to male students and unintentionally sending subliminal messages for girls to be silent and inactive in the classroom. In summation tests are considered to be biased when they reveal differences among ethnicity or gender. The SAT is one example of an aptitude exam that is gender biased revealing differences between men and women in particular areas concerning math and verbal abilities.