A recent study conducted by CNN showed that girls and boys are equally adept in math. This busts the famous myth that boys are better at math than girls. To prove this, researchers looked at test scores and realized that they are both statistically equivalent, but they still wanted to know what goes on in the brain. So they performed a brain scan with 104 kids where they put on some math lessons while they were in an MRI scanner. The kids responded similarly to the math lessons, so this information helped researchers conclude that biological differences don’t give one gender advantage in math. If this is true, then why are young girls and women still getting steered away from STEM fields?

According to ABC News, there was a hope that this new evidence could help eliminate the stereotype that commonly tends to push women away from STEM fields. Now that all myths about girls having a disadvantage in mathematics and the STEM field overall have been disproven, we still need to learn how to give both girls and boys the same opportunities in both school and home. 

We wanted to see how Green Level specifically is being affected by this, so we asked a Green Level student who was interested in pursuing a STEM field career. When asked if there has been any progress in encouraging girls toward these fields, she replied “I think society has come far from the oppressive views that existed just a little while ago. A lot of progress has been made, but I believe that we still have a long way to go.” She also stated that girls need further education in STEM fields, because access to research is limited to many girls in some parts of the world.