万花筒 2008-07-29&-07-31 数学能力，巾帼不让须眉（在线收听）

Many teachers and parents have said it, it is sort of a thought ingrained in the American psyche that boys are better than girls at mathematics. But is it true? The lack of women mathematicians, engineers and physicists has often been cited as proof of a difference in the sexes in math performance. But today a team of researchers writing in the journal "Science" says the conventional wisdom is completely wrong. With our closer look, here is ABC's Ned Potter.

"Oh, oh, look, look, we can do it.”

15 years ago, it was an issue that filled the headlines that by high school, girls were falling 50 points behind boys on the SAT college entrance exam. (It's the coefficient of A) Here's part of a story of ours from 1994.

“For anytime I see math, I just, I try and stay away from it.”

But something has changed. This is Ramona, she was a baby when we did that first story. Now she is building robots in a special course of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. And she says she loves the stuff.

"What is it about math that you like?”

“The fact that I understand it so cruising like sometimes I don't have to study to actually get it. It just comes natural to me. "

Researchers looked at test scores from more than 7 million kids grades 2 to 11, and whatever differences there used to be, they are now gone.

What's happened? Among other things, hi-tech has turned cool with everyone texting and downloading, and some people getting very rich.

“Plans need a guest codes. . . "

And teachers have been reaching out aggressively to girls, urging them to get in on the action.

“500 points for you.”

Being interested in science, engineering and technology is not, does not make you a geek, and as a matter of fact, it's the geeks who rule the world.

The result, for the first time girls are taking math as often as boys.

“I feel like I am learning a lot more this year.”

We are not born, knowing how to do calculus. And when girls take classes at the same rate as boys, we tend to get a narrowing of the gender gap. Most of America's engineers are still men, but that's changing. Half of the kids who go on to get math degrees are now female.

Ned Potter, ABC News, Newark, New Jersey