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US Culture Stifles Girls' Math Skills

Smaller countries that nurture students have more prodigies

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 10, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

(Newser) – The women who have won the world's most elite math competitions come disproportionately from small countries with computation-friendly cultures, such as Bulgaria and Romania, a new study finds. The reason the US lags isn't related to talent, but rather to culture. Americans don't value math enough to put kids on track for high potential, reports the Boston Globe.

Supporting potential math talents increases the number of high-achieving women by up to 30-fold, the study found. But the effect exists for boys as well as girls. Such findings should "open our eyes to what we're doing to kids at an early age" by not celebrating math as a culture, says the head of the American Institute of Mathematics.

Liz O'Brien, a freshman at Santa Clara University, left, helps Gabriela Vega with her math homework at the Sacred Heart Education Center in San Jose, Calif.
Liz O'Brien, a freshman at Santa Clara University, left, helps Gabriela Vega with her math homework at the Sacred Heart Education Center in San Jose, Calif.   (AP Photo)
Chris Fitzhugh and his three teammates are competing in the Global Challenge, a Vermont-based contest aimed at improving American students' math and science skills.
Chris Fitzhugh and his three teammates are competing in the Global Challenge, a Vermont-based contest aimed at improving American students' math and science skills.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Stacy Worley looks at his notes while working a math problem on the board at a Summerbridge program class held at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio.
Stacy Worley looks at his notes while working a math problem on the board at a Summerbridge program class held at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)
Marcy Thompson, 12, works on a math lesson in her bedroom at her home in Cross Plains, Wis., Monday, Jan. 14, 2008. Thompson is one of 800 students in the Wisconsin Virtual Academy.
Marcy Thompson, 12, works on a math lesson in her bedroom at her home in Cross Plains, Wis., Monday, Jan. 14, 2008. Thompson is one of 800 students in the Wisconsin Virtual Academy.   (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
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