科普知识学英语 数学竞赛中性别差异正在缩减.docVIP

The idea that boys are better at math and in competitions has persisted for a long time, and now we know why: Nobody bothered to schedule the rematch. Most school math contests are one-shot events where girls underperform relative to their male classmates. But a new study by a Brigham Young University economist presents a different picture. ? Twenty-four local elementary schools changed the format to go across five different rounds. Once the first round was over, girls performed as well or better than boys for the rest of the contest. ? Its really encouraging that seemingly large gaps disappear just by keeping them in the game longer, said BYU economics professor Joe Price. ? Price co-authored the study with the University of Miamis Christopher Cotton and Rutgers Frank McIntyre. Their report is published by the Journal of Economic Behavior Organization. ? In the contest, students were paired against a classmate to see who got the most questions right during a 5-minute quiz. In case of a tie, the student who finished first won. The winner earned?raffle tickets（彩券）?for a small prize. ? Because the schools shared past test scores with the researchers, they could compare how similarly talented boys and girls performed. Even though these matches look even on paper, for some reason boys have the edge when its the first foray into a competitive setting. On a test worth ten points, it usually amounts to a one-point edge for boys in the initial round. ? We dont know if its boys getting excited and over-performing or if its girls being too uncomfortable with the situation, Price said. ? But heres another twist: Six classrooms de-emphasized the speed component. Ties werent decided by who finished first. And though there was still just five minutes on the clock, the students were told, Its not a race. ? With those two small adjustments, girls competed evenly with boys from the start. BYU math professor Jessica Purcell, who was not involved with the study, wasnt surprised th