These feelings are popular among middle school through college girls and young women. Girls seem to have taken the back-seat in science classrooms starting in junior high and continuing through college.
Girls are less likely than boys to participate and speak up in the science classroom.
Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to call out answers to questions and ask more questions. From kindergarten through fifth grade, boys and girls tend to perform at the same level in science. However, by junior high school, girls' confidence and interest in science classes begin to drop lower than boys. At the same time, girls tend to blame their failures in the classroom on themselves, whereas boys tend to blame external factors such as an unfair teacher or a test that is too hard. Typically, girls are stereotyped as being passive, well behaved, and obedient.