Recent research published in journal of intelligence We provide evidence that men and women tend to differ in relative cognitive strength, which may help explain why women continue to be underrepresented in certain science and technology fields. The study found that when comparing an individual’s skills to the individual average, women generally perform relatively better in reading, while men perform relatively better in mathematics. These patterns are consistent across countries and age groups and provide a new way to understand career choices.
Scientists Marco Balducci and Waseem Haider conducted the study to investigate why gender disparities persist in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. Past research on cognitive ability has typically focused on average test scores, which calculate how well men or women perform against each other.
These average differences tend to be very small and cannot explain why large differences exist among technical professions. For this reason, the researchers wanted to examine another measure called intrapersonal strengths.
Intrapersonal strengths measure an individual’s abilities in comparison to his or her own overall performance, rather than in comparison to the general population. For example, a person may be good at both math and reading, but if the math score is higher than the individual average for all subjects, then math is considered to be the person’s main personal strength.
This concept is based on expectancy-value theory, a psychological framework that suggests that people choose careers based on their expectations of what they are best at. According to this idea, students whose personal strength is mathematics are more likely to pursue technical fields, while students whose personal strength is reading may choose interpersonal careers.
“In my previous research, we analyzed gender differences in intrapersonal strengths in high school students and found a very interesting pattern. Overall, girls had intrapersonal strengths in reading, while boys had strengths in math or science. However, it remained unclear whether the results were limited to this particular age group or persisted throughout the lifespan,” explained Balducci, a senior researcher at the University of Turku.
For the new study, scientists analyzed data from the International Assessment Program of Adult Competence. This large-scale international study assesses adults’ cognitive and workplace skills in everyday situations.
The researchers used a final sample of exactly 157,189 people from 30 countries. They divided these participants into five specific age groups: 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55+.
The survey measured skills in three key areas. Literacy assessed the interpretation and understanding of text, and numeracy assessed the ability to interpret and use mathematical information. Finally, problem solving measured the ability to use digital tools to perform real-world tasks.
The scientists first calculated the average scores for men and women across these three areas. We then calculated within-person strengths by finding each person’s overall average score across all three tests. They subtracted this individual baseline from each specific subject’s score to see which areas stood out as relative advantages.
Looking at standardized mean scores, the researchers found little difference between men and women in reading, writing, and problem-solving skills. Men did slightly better on average in math, but the difference was very small.
However, when we focused on individual strengths, a completely different pattern emerged. Women consistently showed individual strengths in literacy, while men showed strengths in numeracy. These differences in individual strengths were approximately twice as large as the differences in standard mean scores. It was also surprisingly consistent across all 30 countries analyzed in the dataset.
“Although we expected the general direction of the study results based on previous research, the results were still surprising,” Balducci told SciPost. “The differences between gender differences in mean scores and gender differences in within-person strengths were even more pronounced than in previous analyses.”
The researchers also found that these patterns do not change as people get older. From adolescence to age 55 and older, women consistently maintained a relative advantage in literacy, and men maintained a relative advantage in numeracy.
There were no significant differences between men and women regarding problem-solving ability as a personal strength. The researchers noted strong associations at the country level, finding that women’s higher relative literacy skills were matched by men’s greater strength in relative numeracy skills.
“Gender differences are more pronounced when measured as intra-individual strengths rather than using traditional average scores,” Balducci summarized. “Although mean score differences tend to be smaller and more variable, within-person strengths are typically two to three times larger and surprisingly consistent across countries and age groups.”
“In fact, our study strengthens the argument that rather than restricting analyzes to traditional average scores, we should also explore gender differences through the lens of intrapersonal strengths. Shifting to this perspective can have profound implications for understanding contemporary phenomena, such as the persistent underrepresentation of women in STEM fields.”
Although these patterns provide evidence of potential factors behind the gender gap in technology fields, the researchers caution against certain misconceptions. The most common mistake is to assume that group-level trends apply to all individuals.
Although women tend to have individual strengths in literacy at the population level, many female individuals have strong individual strengths in mathematics. Scientists caution against using these findings to stereotype individuals’ abilities or career potential.
“We encourage readers to always be mindful of specific levels of analysis and avoid attributing group-level trends to individuals,” Balducci said.
This study also has limitations regarding how skills were measured. The literacy assessment assessed only reading comprehension and did not include writing components, which may involve different cognitive processes. Because this test had relatively low stakes, it is possible that participants did not put in their maximum effort, which could have affected the results.
The researchers plan to further expand their work in this area. “Based on the results of this and other studies, I intend to extend the concept of intrapersonal strengths to a broader cognitive domain,” Balducci said. “This will help us determine whether the pattern we found is a widespread phenomenon across human performance, or whether it is strictly limited to academic ability.”
“This study is based on data from more than 157,000 individuals in 30 countries, which we believe gives particular weight to the consistency of the results.More broadly, this is an area of research that would benefit from being evaluated on empirical grounds, and we hope that at some point the scientific debate around these questions will be driven by data from all directions, rather than a priori ideological assumptions.”
The study, “Beyond the Average: Gender Differences in Literacy, Numeracy, and Problem-Solving as Intra-Individual Strengths Across Age Groups,” was authored by Marco Balducci and Waseem Haider.
