Abnormal Interests

"Boys believed they were better than their grades actually are, while girls believed they were worse than their grades actually are," study author Dr. Pamela Davis-Kean of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor told Reuters Health.

Furthermore, despite girls' report cards, parents tended to believe that girls have to work harder at math than do sons.

These early influences may discourage many capable girls from entering careers in math and science, Davis-Kean said.

The article concludes,

Not surprisingly, girls participating in the study chose careers in math and computer science at lower rates than boys, in line with national trends, Davis-Kean said.

As the previously referenced studies show, there is a systemic bias against women in math and science. Now we see that girls themselves may opt out of math and science because of mistaken beliefs about their own ability.

Footnote:
Today, Sean Carroll at Preposterous Universe has an interesting discussion of a Washington Post article about Larry Summers who made remarks a while ago about the possibility of Intrinsic-Aptitude playing a role in the low numbers of women in math and science. Sean ends his post as follows.

To be perfectly unambiguous, at the risk of being somewhat repetitive: the point is not that certain hypotheses shouldn't be entertained. The point is that, if you are in a position of great influence and authority, and you haven't carefully looked into the subject matter, and you're wrong, and you're wrong in a way that is potentially damaging to a great deal of people -- you're going to get into trouble. (People are welcome to disagree with me that Summers was wrong; but to pretend that anyone was attempting to stifle free inquiry is simply dishonest.) If Summers had come out in favor of creationism or astrology, the reaction would have been very similar. Maybe he's learned a lesson; at least he has people talking about the issues.