with an increasingly knowledgedriven global economy and competition in the speed of innovation governments particularly in developed economies with the infrastructure and institutions in place should prioritize the development and full use of a population s available set of skills young girls are rarely encouraged to pursue maths and science which are more likely to be presented as fields of study for boys it is important that mathematics and science are taught in contexts that are interesting to boys and girls and a positive attitude towards a subject is also related to positive teacherstudent relations oecd a