No gender gap noted in math scores

MADISON, Wis., July 26 (UPI) -- A U.S. study found that girls have closed the gender gap in math performance.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and University of California, Berkeley, studied SAT results and math scores from 7 million students and found that girls are just as good at math as boys.

"There just aren't gender differences anymore in math performance," study leader Janet Hyde, a psychology professor at UW-Madison, said in a statement. "So parents and teachers need to revise their thoughts about this."

The findings are published in the journal Science.

Hyde said cultural beliefs that women aren't as good as men at math can have an impact on classroom performance.

"Because if your mom or your teacher thinks you can't do math, that can have a big impact on your math self concept," she said.