Gender differences in mathematics: from the international literature to the Italian context

Abstract

National and international surveys highlight a strong disparity in male and female results in mathematics: boys outperform girls in almost every country at all scholastic levels. In the international context, Italy appears to be one of the countries where the results related to gender differences in mathematics are more alarming and INVALSI test data confirm a very marked gender gap in favour of males at all scholastic levels. In this paper we present the international situation regarding gender differences in mathematics, starting from large-scale assessment and paying particular attention to the Italian context. We then present a detailed overview of the causes underlying the gender gap in mathematics, analysing the main studies on this issue and attempting to provide a complete, though complex, interpretation of this phenomenon.