Math class is tough no more: Girls skills now equal boys - USATODAY.com: "WASHINGTON — Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, 'Math class is tough!' girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys.
In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science.
Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study. And girls who grow up believing it wind up avoiding harder math classes.
'It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology,' Hyde said.
That's changing, though slowly."
