omen in math are greatly outnumbered by men. Most members of the National Academy of Sciences are male, and most of the posts in the top 10 math departments in the United States are held by men. Such discrepancies add to the public perception that males are better at mathematics than females. But according to a recent study, the numbers do not support that idea.

The study, conducted by Erin Leahey, a graduate student, and Guang Guo, associate professor of sociology, shows that there are few gender differences in mathematical ability until later in high school — and even then, the male advantage is minimal. The investigators chose to explore the magnitude of gender differences in math because of the sweeping generalizations made by previous studies on the subject.

Earlier research focused on small and select populations of students, such as the gifted or college bound. Leahey explains, "They would study very smart kids and say this is the difference between boys and girls, as if it were the case for everyone — but that is only the case for one one-thousandth of students in terms of math ability." To address the shortcomings of these studies, Leahey and Guo used large, nationally representative surveys of children in the United States. By drawing on the National Longitudinal Study of Youth and the National Educational Longitudinal Study, the investigators were able to examine students of all ages and all intellectual abilities.

They found that gender differences in math are slight, late developing, and subject-specific. Leahey speculates that the disparities emerge in college and after college where men do not necessarily do better in math, but stick with math more than women. Discerning the reasons why more men make careers out of math was outside the scope of this study. Future researchers will have to look beyond the misconception of a male advantage to find the answer.

The study appeared in the December 2001 issue of Social Forces, a sociology journal. The research was supported by the Carolina Population Center at UNC-Chapel Hill and the W.T. Grant Foundation. Leahey is completing her Ph.D. in sociology. Guo is a fellow at the Carolina Population Center.