Charts of the Day: 2019 Advanced Placement test results by subject and gender

From Mark Perry.

"We hear a lot of hand-wringing about the “shortage” and underrepresentation of women in STEM fields, and lately about the “shortage” of women in the field of economics. A common explanation for these “shortages” from groups like the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is the “environmental and social barriers — including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities — that continue to block women’s progress in STEM.”

But here’s another possible explanation for the female shortages in STEM and economics starting in high school: Boys have a greater interest than their female counterparts in STEM and economics and demonstrate a higher level of aptitude in STEM and economics. Data from the College Board on Advanced Placement tests at American high schools in 2019 provide empirical support for that explanation. The top two tables above (click to enlarge) shows the average test scores (based on a 5-point scale where 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the highest score) for 36 AP subjects by gender. In all 14 STEM and economics AP subjects, high school boys out-perform high school girls based on average test scores in 2019.

The second table above (click to enlarge) shows AP test results for students who received the highest score (5) in 13 STEM and economics subjects. In all cases, more high school boys than girls received scores of 5 in the 13 subjects, and in some cases (three of the physics subjects) the male-female ratio was more than 4-to-1. In other subjects (Microeconomics, Computer Science and Physics Mechanics), the male-female ratio was greater than 2-to-1.

Assuming that academic interest and academic performance in high school AP STEM and economics classes and tests are good predictors of both selecting STEM and economics as college majors and successfully completing bachelor’s degrees in those fields, couldn’t the significant gender AP performance gap favoring high school boys be one explanation for the “shortage” of women in STEM/economics degrees and careers? Certainly, environmental and social barriers play a role in the underrepresentation of women in STEM and economics, but couldn’t gender differences in interest and aptitude also play a role? That’s what the AP test results seem to be showing."