New research adds to the growing body of evidence that sex differences account for variations in children’s academic trajectories.

“Overall sex difference in the pattern of adolescents’ achievement and academic attitudes is relatively large and similar across countries,” wrote Gijsbert Stoeta and David C. Geary in the July-August 2020 edition of the journal Intelligence.

Using academic ability and attitudes data from over 50 developed countries, they found that the sex of 15 and 16 year olds students can be reliably predicted, indicating a common (universal) sex-specific component.

Specifically, they found the sex of 69% of students can be correctly classified using this approach, corresponding to a large effect. Moreover, the universal component of these sex differences was found to be stronger in countries with relative income equality and women’s participation in the labour force and politics.

“We conclude that patterns in academic sex differences are larger than hitherto thought and appear to become stronger when societies have more socioeconomic equality”.

In the paper, they explore reasons why this may be the case and possible implications.