Have you ever wondered if, women should earn less than men because they are weaker, smaller, less intelligent. " These were the statements made by a Polish MEP just a year ago. Unfortunately, we have all heard some unfortunate and documented comments that compared the intelligence of men with that of women.
The most widespread popular belief says that women are better in terms of letters, while men are better with mathematics. But ... what scientific basis does this comparison have? Is it true that there are differences in intelligence between men and women?
Men and women, who are smarter?
Some researchers have criticized the fact that sex differences are studied, because they believe they can promote false stereotypes and prejudices. In this sense, we think that prejudice also exists in the absence of data, so that research is the only way to separate myths from facts. This was what, in general terms, Diane Halpern, an American psychologist, stated when asked about this topic.
The truth is that most studies conducted in relation to differences in intelligence point in the same direction. Based on the results of these studies, it has been observed that there are practically no differences in intelligence between men and women. In some these small differences are in favor of men, and in other cases in favor of women.
To study the differences in intelligence between both sexes, different instruments have been used. Some of the best known are the Cattell Factor g or the Progressive Matrices Test. But none of them has found a significant and systematic difference between men and women. However, what was found was that these similar results in the tests were sometimes associated with different patterns of brain activity. While women used more areas of the brain in charge of processing speed, men resorted more to the decision-making areas.
Differences in intelligence in specific skills
Above all, it has become clear to us that there are no differences in general intelligence between men and women, but what happens if we talk about specific subjects or fields? Are there differences between men and women in mathematics or in verbal tests?
In this case we could say that yes, there are significant differences. It has been observed that women are better at verbal tests, word knowledge, paragraph understanding and processing speed. On the contrary, men are better at spatial tests, sciences, arithmetic and mechanical understanding.
In addition, there is another important fact: the differences found do not seem to be maintained over time. If the trend is analyzed, it can be seen that these differences are decreasing: the average scores obtained by men and women are equal. It is at this point it would be logical to ask ourselves if the differences in specific aptitudes are really due to a lack of aptitude or simply to stereotypes. Can women obtain lower scores in mathematics because we have been discouraged / unmotivated to study subjects of this type? Can the same thing happen to men?
Differences in intelligence: Flynn effect
The Flynn effect gives name to a curious phenomenon. The truth is that if we compare the results of intelligence tests two decades ago with the results of those that are currently happening, we detect that in many places on the planet, if not all, the IQ (IQ) of the population has gone up. A phenomenon or effect that could be explained by global improvements in food, education, or the tendency to form smaller families.
For example, taking mathematics as a reference, it has been seen that both men and women have improved markedly in recent decades. In addition, as we have said, this increase has meant a decrease in the differences, so that, as far as mathematics is concerned, the improvement in absolute numbers has been greater in the group of women.
This evolution of the results points, therefore, to the fact that these differences may be due to a cultural rather than a genetic origin. If this were the case, it is our responsibility and that of educators to stop promoting stereotypes and start motivating men and women equally, making it easier for them to decide for themselves what they want to study.
As we have already seen, the differences in intelligence between the sexes are very small, if not nonexistent. It is true that differences continue to be registered in specific skills such as verbal, spatial or numerical; but it is no less true that these differences seem to be smaller, which in some way would rule out a genetic explanation of them. If so, as a society the truth is that we would be playing a very important role for these differences to exist and it would be in our power to work to make them disappear. Let's take part in it.