It's interesting that the New York Times chart is based on the PISA test http://www.oecd.org/pisa/ http://www.oecd.org/pisa/ when there is another source of c

It's interesting that the New York Times chart is based on the PISA test http://www.oecd.org/pisa/ http://www.oecd.org/pisa/ when there is another source of comparative data available from a different test, namely the TIMSS test, which was conducted more recently. http://timss.bc.edu/timss2011/international-results-science.html http://timss.bc.edu/timss2011/international-results-science.... Those tests are distinct in what they test in mathematics, http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2013/01/09-timss-pisa-loveless http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts... and following the links about the science sections of each test may reveal some meaningful differences about how they test science. Both international testing programs look at the issue of how scores of girls and boys differ in each country tested, and both are based random sample surveys intended to be representative of the general student population in each tested country or region. Checking each international testing program against the other provides a chance to reality-check some of the findings. What I notice about what I take (subject to correction by more exact data) to be a cultural difference influenced by differing schooling practices is that in east Asia, the other part of the world I have lived in besides the United States, girls of high school age seem more willing to show what they know in a testing situation and to engage with academic material that is deemed "boyish" in the United States than girls are in the United States. I am the parent of three sons and a daughter, and my wife grew up in Taiwan, so I've seen this from both sides of the male-female divide and from both sides of the Pacific. As an active volunteer in organizations related to gifted education reform, I'm very happy to see examples of countries in which girls don't go "underground" about their abilities as they reach high school age. I've known girls with strong interests and practiced ability in science throughout my life, but especially among girls who themselves received or whose parents received secondary education in science in east Asia.