Gender Differences in Math: Cognitive Processes in an Expanded Framework

Abstract

Scientists and nonscientists alike construct theories to explain variations in the environment (Byrnes, 2001a). For example, zoologists devise theories to explain observable differences in the physical appearance of species, and developmental scientists create theories to explain changes in performance that occur between early childhood and adulthood. The authors in this book are chiefly concerned with variations in math performance that are evident when one compares boys with girls or men with women. Explaining these gender-based variations is not an easy task because the size and direction of differences change with age, content, measure, and context (Hyde, Fennema, & Lamon, 1990). The purpose of this chapter is to present a comprehensive account of gender differences that explains most of the variations that have been revealed to date. As I will argue later, the primary virtue of such an account is that it could form the basis of highly effective forms of intervention.