In the province of Sassari, girls perform worse in mathematics.
In the province of Sassari the gap on mathematical knowledge among girls and boys it is the largest in Italy. A recent study conducted by Openpolis, on Istat data, showed that in the scores of the Invalsi tests, 63.3% of female students do not reach a level of numerical skills compared to 54.1% of male students. Translated: a gap of 9.3 points.
The national situation.
Generally in our country there is a big problem with mathematics for girls: Italy has a gap of 21.1 points and is the nation with the widest gap between male and female students in scientific subjects. A much higher than the OECD average (9,1). There are nations like Finland, Bulgaria and Slovenia, where the gap is even against males. Sweden has the best results, with a gap of only 2.2 points, a nation that promotes gender equality and combats sexist stereotypes in education and Malta (1.5 points).
The main problem of poor skills of girls in scientific subjects they are to be found precisely in gender stereotypes, which in Italy are deeply rooted in every field, even in the choice of profession. It is therefore not surprising that female employment in Italy is the lowest in Europe and that women often choose humanities subjectswhich offer fewer opportunities to advance a career and obtain lower salaries.
“Across all countries and economies that also collected data on students’ parents, parents are more likely to think that sons, rather than daughters, will work in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics field – even if equal achievement in mathematics”, we read in the Openpolis report. Very strong stereotypes, which often influence parents even in the choice of the high school that the girls will have to attend, which less frequently falls towards scientific and technical high schools.
Consequently, mathematical skills decrease with increasing age and women are unlikely to choose a STEM faculty. According to Openpolis, this gap is worsening since middle school, where girls begin to internalize that they are not good at mathematics. Already in eighth grade, girls with insufficient numerical skills are 45.8%.
Sassari brings up the rear in the relationship between mathematics and girls.
How the province of Sassari ended up being at the bottom of the list when it comes to girls’ mathematical skills, with the highest gender gap in Italy, is a mystery, as it is also a mystery how the situation also changes at a regional level. However, the cause is to be found in the gender stereotypes that are widespread in our country, which, as previously addressed, has the worst data on gender gaps in mathematics in Europe.
Throughout the province the gap in the scientific skills of middle school children is as high as 9.3, but there are provinces in Sardinia where this gap is zero or even to the detriment of males. In Southern Sardinia, 52.4% of girls and 55.4% of boys did not achieve sufficient skills. The gap is 3 points against the latter. In the province of Nuoro there is an equal situation, with 56% of girls with insufficient results, compared to 55.9% of boys. In Oristano the gap is 5.2 points. Sardinian students generally have problems with mathematical knowledge, as more than half of students, regardless of gender, perform poorly in science subjects.
The gap influences the university career of Sassari residents.
But in the province of Sassari the situation is interesting, because another study has revealed that at the University of Sassari only 9.62% of women choose degrees in scientific courses. This makes the Openpolis study coherent, since the gaps in mathematics continue up to the choice of tertiary education and this influences women’s future professional choices. The schools of Cagliari, which in fact record the smallest gaps in the Invalsi tests, have a decidedly higher number of STEM graduates, by 21.2%.
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