I just finished an article that might shed some light on the gender gap.
Some interesting evidence for the difference between boys and girls is in
"Examining Science Tools as Mediators of Students' Learning about Circuits"
Carter et al, Jour. Res. Sci. Teach., V 36 #1 pp 89-105. (1996) This
article echoes the information that appears in other papers. In the paper
written about a 9th grade class boys tend to dominate the use of tools. Boys
tended to be more familiar with the tools than the girls. The researchers
hypothesized that having grade school children play with familiar objects
such as flashlights might help. They also thought that girls may not be
exposed to tool usage as much as boys.
This is similar to another paper that looks at gender differences in
elementary school. The other paper found that boys tend to hog the tools,
while girls tend to share. When there was an adequate supply of tools the
boys all got to use them. However when there was a shortage one boy would
retain exclusive use of a tool, while the girls share. On the other hand
girls tended to not interact if each had the tool, but during a shortage
there was more discussion between the girls. One might presume that a tool
shortage is better for girls while a large supply is better for boys.
It is quite obvious that the bias against girls in the physical sciences
starts in the grade school.
John M. Clement
Houston, TX
This posting is the position of the writer, not that of SUNY-BSC, NAU or the AAPT.