Gender shapes nearly every dimension of education, from who enrolls to who excels in which subjects, who drops out, and who ends up in which career. Across wealthy nations, women now earn more degrees than men, yet stark imbalances persist in specific fields, classroom interactions, and the transition from school to work. Understanding why these patterns exist and what can change them requires looking at research spanning preschool classrooms through university tenure tracks.
A Global Reversal in Educational Attainment
For most of recorded history, men had greater access to formal schooling. That picture has flipped. Higher levels of educational attainment for women relative to men is now the norm across nearly all OECD countries, with only a handful of exceptions including Mexico, Türkiye, Germany, Switzerland, and Korea still showing the opposite pattern.1OECD Publishing. Gender Equality in a Changing World: Taking Stock and Moving Forward Across the OECD, men now make up roughly 45 percent of university students on average, meaning women hold the majority in higher education in most developed countries.2PubMed Central. Gender differences in the pathways to higher education
In lower-income countries the dynamic often runs in the other direction. An extensive body of research identifies girls’ secondary education as central to improving both human and economic development, connecting it to gains in health, reduced fertility rates, and rising household incomes.3Social Forces. The Pathway to Improving Human and Economic Development: Girls’ Secondary Education, Governance, and Education Expenditures So the global picture is split: wealthier nations are grappling with the growing underrepresentation of men, while many developing nations still struggle to get girls into and through secondary school.
Early Childhood and School Readiness
Gender differences in educational outcomes do not begin at university admissions. They start appearing in preschool. A large study of preschool-age children found that girls scored higher than boys on almost every measured outcome, including overall school readiness, literacy skills, and behavioral self-regulation. The only domain where girls did not have an advantage was internalizing behavior such as anxiety and withdrawal. The gap in school readiness was nearly half a standard deviation, which is a meaningful head start before formal instruction even begins.4PubMed. Gender gaps in preschool age: A study of behavior, neurodevelopment and pre-academic skills
Part of this early advantage appears connected to social and behavioral skills rather than raw cognitive ability. Research on preschoolers has found that while boys and girls scored similarly on behavioral regulation tasks and academic measures, girls showed significantly higher classroom work-related skills and social skills. Interestingly, behavioral regulation mattered more for boys’ early reading than it did for girls, suggesting that boys who could manage their attention and impulses saw an outsized benefit in literacy.5Early Education and Development. Links between Preschoolers’ Behavioral Regulation and School Readiness Skills: The Role of Child Gender This hints that at least some of the early gender gap is behavioral, not intellectual, and that interventions targeting self-regulation could disproportionately help boys.
How Verbal and Math Skills Diverge Over Time
The trajectory of cognitive differences across childhood is more complicated than “girls are better at reading, boys are better at math.” Younger girls tend to outperform boys on verbal tasks, but that advantage narrows and, in some studies, reverses as children age. One study found that girls initially scored higher on verbal comprehension, but their scores leveled off while boys’ scores rose, and by ages 10 to 11 boys overtook girls on verbal comprehension measures.6PubMed Central. Verbal Abilities: Sex Differences in Children at Different Ages
In mathematics, the story is similarly nuanced. Younger boys and girls tend to perform similarly on most math tasks. Differences begin to emerge in specific areas like arithmetic problem-solving in older children, where boys pulled ahead, though both groups remained comparable on mental calculation tasks.7PubMed. Gender differences and cognitive correlates of mathematical skills in school-aged children The pattern suggests that gender gaps in both verbal and math performance are not fixed from birth but develop and shift over the school years, shaped by a mixture of biological maturation and environmental factors.
Math Anxiety and the Path Into STEM
When researchers try to identify what pushes girls away from science and technology fields, math anxiety consistently rises to the top of the list. In young adults, women scored lower than men on arithmetic and cognitive reflection tests, but a careful analysis showed the gap was partly explained by math anxiety and the belief that men are naturally better at math. Math anxiety was the single strongest mediator of the gender gap in cognitive reflection performance, meaning that worry about math ability, rather than ability itself, was doing much of the damage.8Learning and Individual Differences. Gender differences in young adults’ mathematical performance: Examining the contribution of working memory, math anxiety and gender-related stereotypes
These psychological factors carry real consequences for career paths. A three-year study tracking middle school students found that those who went on to choose a STEM-focused school track had lower math anxiety, higher self-efficacy, and better math performance, and were predominantly male.9PubMed. The impact of math anxiety and self-efficacy in middle school STEM choices: A 3-year longitudinal study But the drivers look different for men and women. In a study of young adults, math interest was the strongest predictor of STEM career choice for women, with self-efficacy playing a role in simple models but math anxiety not independently predicting the choice once other factors were included.10npj Science of Learning. Mathematics interest, self-efficacy, and anxiety predict STEM career choice in emerging adulthood In other words, for women the question may be less about reducing fear and more about cultivating genuine interest and confidence in the subject.
Teacher Bias and Classroom Composition
What happens inside the classroom matters beyond curriculum. Students perform differently depending on their teacher’s gender and on the gender mix of their classmates. Research has shown that when a student’s gender matches their teacher’s gender, performance tends to improve in the subjects where that gender is stereotypically underrepresented. Female students did better in math and physics when taught by a female teacher, while male students performed better in language courses with a male teacher.11PubMed Central. Student–teacher gender congruence and student performance: The role of context This suggests that seeing someone who looks like you succeed in a counter-stereotypical subject has a measurable effect on your own performance.
Teacher grading can also introduce bias. Studies have documented that math teachers who associate men with scientific disciplines tend to give higher grades to boys than blinded scoring would warrant, while language teachers who associate women with the humanities give higher grades to girls. These are not dramatic effects, but they accumulate over years and can steer students toward or away from subjects.
Peer composition matters too. A study of classroom gender ratios in China found that students surrounded by a higher proportion of male classmates performed worse in math and English. The researchers attributed this to a mix of factors including reduced study effort and a more disruptive learning environment.12International Journal of Educational Development. The more male classmates, the worse: How male peers harm academic performance of a student In a university biology course, a higher percentage of women in small working groups predicted better performance for everyone in the group, regardless of individual gender.13PLoS ONE. Small group gender ratios impact biology class performance and peer evaluations These findings are not simple endorsements of single-sex education. They point to the ways that social dynamics inside a classroom, who is sitting next to whom and what behavioral norms prevail, influence learning as much as what is on the board.
Does Single-Sex Schooling Help?
Given the evidence that classroom composition affects performance, it is tempting to conclude that separating boys and girls would solve the problem. Research does not support that conclusion, at least not in any straightforward way. A meta-analysis of studies comparing single-sex and coeducational schooling found that when researchers controlled for the obvious confounders like socioeconomic background and school resources, the differences in math and science performance between single-sex and coed students were trivial for both girls and boys. In some cases, coeducational settings actually produced better outcomes, including modestly higher educational aspirations among girls.14PubMed. The effects of single-sex compared with coeducational schooling on students’ performance and attitudes: a meta-analysis
An analysis using international PISA data reached a similar conclusion: raw score differences existed between girls in single-sex and coed schools, but once individual, parental, and school-level factors were accounted for, no significant performance difference remained in any subject for either gender.15British Educational Research Journal. Single‐sex schooling, gender and educational performance: Evidence using PISA data A natural experiment in Korea, where middle school students were randomly assigned to different school types, added an interesting wrinkle. Boys in all-male classes within coeducational schools actually scored lower than boys in mixed-gender classes, but boys in single-sex schools outperformed their mixed-class peers by a noticeable margin. The gains in single-sex schools appeared driven not by the classroom itself but by broader school culture encouraging more study effort.16National Bureau of Economic Research. All or Nothing? The Impact of School and Classroom Gender Composition on Effort and Academic Achievement For girls, neither classroom nor school gender composition made a significant difference.
The upshot is that single-sex schooling is not a reliable lever for improving academic performance. Where gains do appear, they seem connected to school-level culture and expectations rather than to the mere absence of the other gender.
What Textbooks Signal About Gender
Students absorb messages about gender roles not just from teachers and peers but from the materials they read. A large-scale automated analysis of over 1,200 English-language school textbooks from 34 countries found consistent patterns of bias. Female characters appeared less often, were portrayed as more passive, were less likely to be linked to work or achievement, and were more often associated with home and traditionally female occupations.17PubMed Central. Sexist textbooks: Automated analysis of gender bias in 1,255 books from 34 countries
This pattern holds even in mathematics textbooks. An analysis of Spanish elementary math textbooks found that even though male and female characters appeared in roughly equal numbers, women were almost entirely absent as real-world role models in STEM fields. Problem-solving contexts depicted women using math in a narrow range of daily activities, and female characters were often shown as uncertain or unable to complete certain problems.18Sexuality & Culture. The Representation of Gender Stereotypes in Spanish Mathematics Textbooks for Elementary Education The concern is not that a single textbook illustration changes a child’s career plans, but that thousands of such images over years of schooling create a background assumption about who does math and who does not.
Interventions That Show Promise
If math anxiety and limited spatial skills contribute to gender gaps in STEM, targeted training should help, and the evidence says it does. A study of middle school students who received spatial visualization training in seventh grade found that they outperformed control students on both a statewide math assessment and on a placement test for ninth-grade math. The improvements were especially strong for girls.19Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. Preparing for STEM: Impact of spatial visualization training on middle school math performance In a university context, just 12 hours of spatial training improved the ability to mentally rotate and visualize objects, narrowed the gender gap in spatial skills, and boosted physics exam scores.20Learning and Individual Differences. Can spatial training improve long-term outcomes for gifted STEM undergraduates? These are not massive time investments, and the payoff appears disproportionately large for women.
Mentorship is another lever. A survey of STEM students and professionals found that a higher proportion of women than men reported being influenced by a role model during their studies, and the characteristics women valued most in those role models were empathy and encouragement.21Journal of Science Education and Technology. Gender Perspectives on Role Models: Insights from STEM Students and Professionals The connection between having a relatable role model and persisting in a STEM path aligns with what the teacher-congruence research shows: representation in counter-stereotypical roles genuinely changes behavior.
Gender in Digital and Gamified Learning
As education moves online and incorporates more game-like elements, a reasonable worry is that digital environments might reproduce or even amplify gender gaps. So far, the evidence is reassuring on the broadest question. A study of game-based approaches in online English-as-a-foreign-language classrooms found no significant difference between men and women in motivation or engagement.22PubMed Central. Gender differences in utilizing a game-based approach within the EFL online classrooms A study of educational gamification found that gender did not affect students’ perceptions of most game design elements, with one exception: women found feedback features more useful than men did.23International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Effects of gender and personality differences on students’ perception of game design elements in educational gamification That small difference is worth noting for designers, since richer feedback mechanisms could subtly benefit female learners, but the larger picture is that gamified digital learning is not inherently gendered in its appeal.
School Climate for Transgender and Questioning Students
Discussions of gender in education have historically centered on boys versus girls, but the experiences of transgender and gender-questioning students demand separate attention because the disparities are so severe. Data from the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that roughly a quarter of transgender and questioning high school students had missed school in the previous month because they felt unsafe, compared with about 9 percent of cisgender boys and 15 percent of cisgender girls. About 40 percent of transgender and questioning students reported being bullied at school, roughly double the rate among cisgender girls and nearly triple the rate among cisgender boys.24PubMed Central. Disparities in School Connectedness, Unstable Housing, Experiences of Violence, Mental Health, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Cisgender High School Students – Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023
The mental health numbers are staggering. About 72 percent of transgender students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness over the past year, and roughly half seriously considered suicide. Around a quarter of transgender and questioning students attempted suicide in the past year, compared with about 5 percent of cisgender boys and 11 percent of cisgender girls.25PubMed Central. Disparities in School Connectedness, Unstable Housing, Experiences of Violence, Mental Health, and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Transgender and Cisgender High School Students – Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023 These are not abstract statistics. They represent students who are physically absent from classrooms because they fear for their safety, which means any conversation about gender and education that only addresses the boy-girl achievement gap is missing a population facing far more acute barriers to learning.
Current school curricula often remain limited in how they address gender diversity, particularly in health and sex education, where material tends to center on binary gender and heterosexual frameworks rather than acknowledging the needs of gender and sexual minority youth.26PubMed Central. Inclusion Goals: What Sex Education for LGBTQIA+ Adolescents? The disconnect between students’ lived identities and what the curriculum reflects contributes to the low levels of school connectedness documented in the survey data.
The Leaky Pipeline After Graduation
Even where women have reached parity or majority status in enrollment, the pipeline narrows as careers advance. A modeling study of academic STEM careers projected that without any targeted intervention, women’s representation would approach 50 percent in training and early tenure-track positions by around 2050, but would stall at roughly 43 percent for tenured positions, leaving overall representation across all career stages at about 44 percent.27European Journal of Operational Research. More graduated but less promoted: A dynamic perspective of the leaky pipeline of women in academic Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics The phrase “leaky pipeline” captures how women exit STEM careers at higher rates at each successive stage, through a combination of institutional barriers, biased promotion practices, and the accumulated weight of the same forces this article has described at younger ages: reduced confidence, fewer role models, and cultural assumptions about who belongs.
This matters because education does not happen in a vacuum. What students see at the end of the pipeline, who has tenure, who leads labs, who is visible in their field, feeds back into the early stages of motivation and career choice. The spatial training studies and mentorship research show that these feedback loops can be interrupted. But the modeling data suggests that without deliberate effort, the pipeline will keep leaking at roughly the same rate for decades.