NPR – Linda Poon
“A new study shows that when it comes to the classroom, girls rule. They outperform boys in math, science and reading in 70 percent of the 70-plus countries and regions surveyed by the Organization for Economic Development Cooperation and Development. Girls do better even in countries that rank low on U.N.’s gender equality index and that tend to discriminate against women politically, economically and socially — like Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. “What we find is that throughout the world boys are lagging in overall achievement,” says psychologist David Geary at University of Missouri-Columbia, who coauthored the study. He adds that while there are several efforts to promote education for girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, boys have largely been overlooked.”(more)