When do girls fall behind? It’s a loaded question. Behind in what?

Last month, the journal Nature published the results of a fascinating (and depressing) study identifying when girls fall behind in mathematics. So, let me ask you, when do girls fall behind in math? What is your guess? I would have guessed middle school. I was wrong. The answer is more surprising and deeply concerning than that.

A four-year longitudinal study of 2,653,082 French children across family, class, or school types and socio-economic levels showed that a math gender gap in favor of boys became highly significant after four months of schooling.

Four months! Girls fell behind in math after four months of their first year of elementary school even though, before going to school and upon entering school, they exhibited similar mathematical ability. 

I wondered how similar the situation was in other countries and found that the math gender gap exists in almost every country where it was measured. 

The gap cannot be explained by boys being inherently better at math than girls. Numerous studies show that males and females perform similarly in math when tested. Brain activity in boys and girls as they engaged in basic math tasks was indistinguishable.

Self-perception of mathematical ability, however, varies considerably and so do the perceptions of the people around them. Parents, teachers, and the boys themselves perceive their mathematical ability as better than that of girls. It seems that girls underperforming in math is learned. The problem persists when we consider that females outnumber males in higher education, yet they are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and careers. 

Of course, the problem is bigger and more pervasive than girls falling behind in math. In innumerable situations, women fall behind. From medical trials and drug design, to workplace safety, to calculating GDP, women navigate a world built by men and for men as Caroline Criado Perez exposes in her book, Invisible Women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. Criado Perez argues that we need to see and close gender data gaps of all kinds. Let’s consider a few examples.

Medical research subjects have historically been male. The result is that insights into diseases have often been extrapolated from men and applied to women. But women aren’t just smaller men. Women’s bodies are different from men’s. The classic example is the difference in the way women and men experience a heart attack. Men’s symptoms are considered standard—chest pain that extends down the left arm. Women’s symptoms, although they make up half of the world’s population, are considered non-standard. Women are more likely to experience nausea, shortness of breath, or jaw pain. The result is that too many heart attacks go undiagnosed in women and interventions are delayed. In 2024, President Biden signed the White House Initiative on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, in part to address some of the disparities in understanding and treating women’s health. After initially cutting the funding for this initiative, thankfully the Trump administration restored funding. 

• Drug dosages have historically been based on clinical trials conducted on men. This leads to women suffering adverse side effects of medications more frequently than men because they take a nonideal dosage. 
• A gender pay gap persists with women earning 85% (on average) of what a man earns for the same job.
• Women continue to do the vast majority of unpaid care work—child and elderly care. This limits their career choices and opportunities for advancement as well as affecting their health and well-being. 
• Women are at higher risk for injury in the workplace due to improperly fitting personal protective equipment designed with only male bodies in mind. 

One cause of these gender gaps is that too often women are denied a seat at the table where decisions are being made. Female voices are not heard. If you are a woman and are reading this blog, this is not news. You and I have plenty of stories to share about our own experiences being left out of the conversation or had our voices silenced. The Trump administration’s dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives is making it worse. 

In light of large political and cultural moves that seek to silence the voices of women and many others, what can we do as individuals? Stories are a good place to start. Stories are a way to understand someone whose life experiences are different from your own. Stories are rich and nuanced. Jesus taught with stories for a reason. His parables cross culture and time. They are still alive and relevant. Stories are powerful and transformative.

How can we start preventing girls from falling behind? How can we begin to close the gender data gap? Perhaps the first step is to hear one another’s stories.

And never tell a girl she isn’t good at math!