To pull apart culture and biology, authors of a study in this week's Science analyzed data from PISA, an international assessment which tested students in 40 countries (see USA Today coverage here). The authors linked PISA data to survey data on gender attitudes (questions like "Should women work outside the home?" and "Is it more important for a man to get a college education than a woman?"), rates of women's political and economic participation, and the World Economic Forum's gender gap index.
The gender gap in math varies substantially in size across countries, which suggests that innate factors alone cannot explain this gap. In more gender-neutral societies, girls do as well as boys in math. In Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, which are characterized by more gender equity, girls do as well or better in math. The largest gap was in Turkey. The authors also found that the reading gap favoring girls was widest in countries with more gender equity.
Here's the kicker - in a finding likely to incite those who believe girls' gains have come at the expense of boys, the authors found that overall scores in math and reading were highest in countries offering more advantages to women, and lowest in those with more gender inequities. Said study author Paola Sapienza, "This is important because it shows that advances for girls do not come at the expense of boys."
Gender equitable countries are also different in many other ways, so it's possible that other factors explain these findings. Nonetheless, these findings serve as a potent reminder that the gender gap in math achievement is not driven by nature alone.
Barbie + Everyday Math = dumb blonde
Sapienza needs to learn some math herself. Finland scores higher on the equality scale than Iceland, yet boys are 12 points ahead in math abilities according to the PISA data. Germany is ranked 7th on the scale, but girls are a whopping 20 points behind.
And Jordan and Kyrgyzstan are 104th and 70th in the equality ratings, yet there girls do as well in math as boys.
Strange, ain't it? Also strange that Sapienza didn't pull out the other glaring assumption given by her line of reasoning: Boys being extremely discriminated when it comes to reading.
The gender gap in math varies substantially in size across countries, which suggests that innate factors alone cannot explain this gap.
You mischaracterize the debate by arguing against the extreme position of: all variance = all innate. I can't recall any serious researcher/analyst on this topic who subscribes to the position that all variance is due to innate factors.
The problem at the core of this debate is when moderates argue against the extremists, the extremists who believe that: all variance = environment and who don't want to yield on inch on the hypothesis that cognitive differences can exist between genders.