A Puzzle in Education

It's one of the biggest puzzles in education. Since the 1950s, boys in America been falling behind girls in school. They have more trouble graduating high school and are less likely to get college diplomas.

Though there have been many theories for the gender gap in academic achievement, this remains a hotly debated issue. Is it the culture? Do girls get more encouragement to succeed in their studies? Is there something biological going on? Do boys mature too late? Are they just more fragile at young ages?

And what if this is the human race's destiny? "What if the modern, postindustrial economy is simply more congenial to women than to men?" Hanna Rosin wondered in her provocative Atlantic essay from 2010.

A team of economists from MIT, Northwestern, and the University of Florida have been investigating the question of the female advantage using a vast trove of data collected by the state of Florida. In their preliminary research, they have found that upbringing counts for a lot. The gender gap gets wider in poorer families. Girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are much more likely to succeed than boys raised under the same circumstances.