A great article in Science Daily summarizes a recent study on how our current American culture nurtures (or fails to nurture) boys and girls with exceptional math talent. The study draws on decades of data from extremely difficult mathematics competitions aimed at the most elite student math performers, including the collegiate William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition and the pre-collegiate International and U.S.A. Mathematical Olympiads. The study was conducted by:

1.  Joseph A. Gallian; a professor of mathematics at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and current president of the Mathematical Association of America

2. Janet Mertz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of oncology;

3. Jonathan Kane, a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who is involved with math competitions, and

4. Titu Andreescu, a professor of mathematics education at the University of Texas at Dallas and a former leader of the U.S. International Mathematical Olympiad team and director of AwesomeMath, a summer program for mathematically gifted children.

The research findings include the following:

We show that many girls exist who possess extremely high aptitude for mathematical problem solving. The frequency with which they are identified is due, at least in part, to a variety of socio-cultural, educational or other environmental factors that differ significantly among countries and ethnic groups and can change over time.

Titu Andresscu believes that:

Innate math aptitude is probably fairly evenly distributed throughout the world, regardless of race or gender. The huge differences observed in achievement levels are most likely due to socio-cultural attributes specific to each country.

The report also finds evidence for a more pronounced negative cultural influence on would-be girl math whizzes than would-be boy math whizzes:

In elementary school, girls do as well as or better in math than boys. In middle school, girls with an inclination for math begin to lose interest and fall behind, mostly due to peer pressure and societal expectations. Throughout middle and high school, social stigma and lack of appropriately challenging educational opportunities for the mathematically precocious becomes a hard reality in most American schools. Consequently, gifted girls, even more so than boys, often camouflage their mathematical talent to fit in well with their peers.

Journal Reference: Titu Andreescu, Joseph A. Gallian, Jonathan M. Kane, and Janet E. Mertz. Cross-Cultural Analysis of Students with Exceptional Talent in Mathematical Problem Solving. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, November 2008