Sex Differences In Scientific And Mathematical Competence At Adolescence

Abstract

The principal purpose of this paper is not to identify and explain sex differences in scientific and mathematical competence for their own sake. The real aim is to increase our understanding of some of the factors which appear to be related to the development of such fundamental cognitive abilities as efficient concept formation, spatial reasoning, identifying and testing hypotheses, deduction and induction, etc. It was thought that an examination of the comparative performances, in selected areas, of boys and girls from different educational and cultural backgrounds would enable us not only to identify limiting factors but also to provide pointers to ways of modifying some of the circumstances apparently affecting the development of these sorts of cognitive competence. The specific topic- of scientific and mathematical abilities is chiefly a vehicle for this study and not an end in itself. If, as a result, it becomes possible to propose practical ways of overcoming specific problems in this sphere, so much the better, but that must be looked on as a bonus rather than as a major aim.