Despite growing awareness of the lack of gender equality in STEM, a new study suggests that parents engage more frequently in math activities with young boys than girls—even though the parents think math is equally important for girls.
Published in Developmental Psychology, the study surveyed 929 parents of children aged one to six, asking them about the frequency of math-related activities they do with their kids and their perceptions of math’s importance for their children. Interestingly, while parents expressed gender-equal attitudes toward the importance of math for their sons and daughters, their reported actions at home told a different story. “There appears to be a mismatch between parents’ beliefs, which are more gender equal, and their actions at home,” the study authors write.
The study found that parents completed more math-based activities with their sons. More specifically, parents were significantly more likely to engage in number-based activities like counting and identifying numbers with six-year-old boys than girls. Similarly, five- and six-year-old boys received more hands-on experiences with measurement, such as using rulers or measuring ingredients. However, when it came to spatial-geometric play, like building with LEGOs, no gender differences were observed.
These findings matter because gender disparities in math persist well beyond childhood. For example, boys continue to outperform girls on the math portion of the SAT exam. Data from 2023 shows that for every 100 girls who scored between 680 and 800 in the math section, there were 156 boys. This gap influences college admissions and has long-term consequences for career trajectories.
Ultimately, gender differences emerge in high-paying, math-intensive careers. For example, women earn less than a third of engineering degrees, and according to a 2024 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 17.2% of architecture and engineering jobs are held by women. The representation of women mathematicians is so low that the same report states the data is insufficient to calculate a meaningful percentage.
Nature versus Nurture
A lengthy debate has ensued about whether these math differences stem from nature or nurture. That is, whether boys are born with more skill, aptitude, or interest in math-related subjects (nature) or if boys develop these skills and interests because they are treated differently than girls throughout their lives (nurture).
The current study provides evidence that girls and boys receive differential treatment at home, which could lead to differences in math interest and ability. Previous research studies have found that teachers have gendered expectations about who will excel in math, which may lead them to treat boys differently as well.
However, this study stops short of identifying the root cause of these gendered patterns in early math engagement. It could be that parents spend more time on math with boys because their sons have a greater innate interest in the subject. Or, perhaps boys show more interest simply because they’ve been taught that math is something boys are supposed to be interested in. A third possibility is that parents have their own set of unconscious gender biases that play out in the home.
By the time children reach five or six—the age at which gender differences in math-related activities emerged in this study—they are already navigating school environments shaped by teachers, peer dynamics, and gendered social norms. At this point, it becomes nearly impossible to separate innate interests from those which develop from their interactions. “As children develop gender schemas and become aware of the gender-typing of activities through socialization, their interests and preferences can become more gender stereotypical, with boys showing more interest in STEM-related activities than girls,” the study’s authors explain.
While the study doesn’t settle the long-standing nature versus nurture debate, it highlights a critical reality: parents are engaging with their sons and daughters differently when it comes to math. If parents truly believe that math is just as important for their daughters as it is for their sons, as indicated by the results of this study, they must ensure their daughters receive equal time and opportunities to develop these skills.