Do Girls Count? Gender Differences in Mathematics
Joseph Mamo
Abstract
The subject of gender differences in mathematics has been an international issue for at least the past fifty years. Traditionally males have not only performed better than females in mathematics examinations but have dominated mathematics-related courses at University level such as engineering, architecture and computer science. In this paper I take a look at results in a number of Maltese mathematics assessments such as End of Primary Benchmark, Secondary Education Certificate, Matriculation Certificate and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) over a number of years to establish whether such differences still exist. The outcome is that while differences in mathematics achievement appear to have disappeared, enrolment in ‘A’ level mathematics is dominated by males and so are mathematics-related university courses in engineering, architecture and computer studies.