> but I haven't seen any evidence that it's the result of > endemic, institutional sexism You don't consider girls being encouraged to succeed by their teacher

> but I haven't seen any evidence that it's the result of > endemic, institutional sexism You don't consider girls being encouraged to succeed by their teachers and society at large while boys are not (a common situation in schools today, and a stark contrast to as recently as 10-15 years ago) as "endemic, institutional sexism"? Or you haven't seen any evidence that this difference in societal attitudes is causative in better female school performance? I can accept the latter, though there is in fact experimental data that suggests that boys do better with more encouragement...