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Australia boys are considerably outperforming girls in both maths and science, the latest study from a large-scale international analysis has found.
On Wednesday, The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) released the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss), which analysed the skills of Year 4 and Year 8 students across the world.
Roughly 14,000 Australian students were involved in the test, which remains the world’s longest running assessment of maths and science skills among school students.
It revealed that the gender gap in students’ maths performance is among the widest in the world, with the country’s male students in Year 4 achieving over twenty-points ahead of their female counterparts. Male students were found to be outperforming female students in both primary and high school.
“There is no reason for there to be a difference between boys’ and girls’ performance in maths,” Professor Kim Beswick told the Sydney Morning Herald. “It relates to the social stereotype of maths being a male thing, and STEM careers are more male dominated. And that subtly influences how teachers and parents interact with students around maths.”
The University of NSW professor of mathematics education added that girls are less confident than boys about their ability, even when the results do not reflect their beliefs.
Almost three quarter of Year 4 students in Australia met the proficiency benchmark in maths, compared with 64 per cent of students in Year 8. In science, over 70 per cent of students met the subject’s benchmarks in both year groups.
On the international stage, the Australian Year 4 science cohort placed equal fifth out of 58 countries, behind Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Turkey, though in maths, the cohort were ranked 15th, closely behind Finland and Bulgaria. In Year 8 science, Australia ranked equal eighth, while in maths, it came in ninth place.
Singapore held the top spot on every indicator, with Taiwan, Korea and Japan holding the top-five spots in maths across both Year 4 and Year 8.
Despite the relatively positive national ranking the country has, there remains a “disappointing” education gap for First Nations students, with more than half not meeting the proficiency standards in maths.
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