Prior to age 13, no gaps exist between boys and girls in their intentions to participate in math or in their actual math performance. Yet, by high school, only one in seven girls say they are good in math as compared to one in four boys who say they are good in math.
Girls are more likely than boys to drop out of math as classes become more difficult.
If a girl accepts that she is not good in math and science, both her sense of self-worth and her career aspirations decline. When girls experience failure in math or science, they tend to blame themselves. I'm dumb in math . Boys tend to blame something outside themselves. Differences in accomplishment in school math are due primarily to differences in individual effort or opportunity to learn.