The table above (click to enlarge) is based on PSAT scores in 2008 for college-bound juniors for males and females taking the mathematics exam, showing the results for the five geographical regions of the U.S. For both males and females, the highest scores were in the Midwest states, similar to the findings for the SAT test results, reported yesterday on the NY Times Economix blog, “Why The Midwest Rules on the SAT.”
The results also show a significant gender gap in favor of males for the mean math test scores in all five regions, with mean male test scores ranging from 3.2 points higher in the Midwest (52.2 for males vs. 49 for females)to a low of 2.5 points higher in the South (50 points for males vs. 47.5 for females). In all five regions, the standard deviation of male test scores was higher than the standard deviation of female test scores, confirming previous findings of greater variability in male intelligence/scores on standardized tests.
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Most of the math gender gap on this exam is the result of “selection bias”, i.e., a higher percentage of girls than boys take the PSAT. Likewise, the “Midwest rules on the SAT” because only top students applying to elite colleges take the SAT in the midwest while most college-bound students take the SAT in other parts of the country. One can’t draw meaningful conclusions when the data sets are not taken from similar groups of students.