Boyz rule (still)!

Or, Math class is still hard, says the OECD (and presumably Larry Summers);

Despite decades of global efforts to get more young women to study and pursue careers in math and science, girls still lag behind their male classmates in terms of academic performance and career aspirations in STEM-related fields.

Using results from a 2012 assessment given to about a half-million 15-year-olds around the world, a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that even though more boys struggled to show basic proficiency in reading, math and science than did girls, boys still ultimately outperformed girls in math. The gap was widest at the top, with high-achieving boys scoring significantly higher than the top girls.

Which explains why so many more men than women have jobs at top research universities in the sciences. Anyone have the vapours? (From 2005);

Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers has triggered criticism by telling an economics conference Friday that the under-representation of female scientists at elite universities may stem in part from “innate" differences between men and women, although two Harvard professors who heard the speech said the remarks have been taken out of context in an ensuing national media frenzy.

MIT biologist Nancy Hopkins ’64 said she felt physically ill as a result of listening to Summers’ speech at a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) luncheon, and she left the conference room half-way through the president’s remarks.