Alarming Reversal: Girls' Math Progress Eroded Post-Pandemic, International Study Reveals
The Widening Gap
Global math achievement data now shows a stark and troubling trend: girls are falling behind boys at an alarming rate, with the gender gap expanding dramatically since the pandemic. The most recent findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), released last week, reveal that in 2023, fourth-grade boys outperformed their female peers in the vast majority of participating countries.
Among eighth-graders, the disparity has grown exponentially since 2019. This reversal rolls back more than a decade of hard-won gains in math equity. “Prior data showed girls were catching up with boys in math achievement. But in the latest data, we see that the gap is widening again between girls and boys, and that's at the detriment of girls, which is quite concerning,” said Matthias Eck, a program specialist for UNESCO’s Section of Education for Inclusion and Gender Equality, who co-authored the report.
The analysis, conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement in partnership with UNESCO, echoes similar findings from the U.S. Nation’s Report Card released last year. It marks the first TIMSS results to measure student performance following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a global snapshot of its unequal impact.
Background
TIMSS is a global assessment published every four years that tracks math and science achievement among fourth- and eighth-grade students. The 2023 cycle is the first post-pandemic data point, allowing researchers to compare trends before and after school disruptions worldwide.
Prior to COVID-19, many nations had been making steady progress toward closing the gender gap in mathematics. Girls were not only catching up but, in some cases, exceeding boys in certain regions. The pandemic, with its prolonged school closures and uneven remote learning access, appears to have shattered that trajectory.
Eck noted that the data shows a correlation between longer school closures and higher rates of learning loss in math, though with variation across countries. “One of the hypotheses is really that those disruptions during the pandemic may have exacerbated existing disparities and have reduced learning opportunities for girls, and potentially those that were at risk of low achievement have been more affected,” he said. “The fact that girls were out of school and were not in the learning environment could have impacted their confidence, but that's just the hypothesis.”
Key Findings in Detail
The numbers reveal multiple alarming signals. Among top-performing fourth-grade students, 85 percent of countries show results skewed toward boys. In eighth grade, slightly more than half of participating countries have an advanced math achievement gap that favors boys, while none show a gap favoring girls in either grade.
The proportion of regions where fourth-grade girls fail to reach basic math proficiency is also rising. In most of these regions, struggling girls outnumber struggling boys. For eighth-graders, although the gender gap in underperformance is shrinking overall, the share of countries where girls have a higher failure rate has actually spiked.
Researchers are urging caution in drawing direct causal links, but the pattern is undeniable. The pandemic appears to have disproportionately interrupted girls’ learning, particularly in mathematics—a subject where confidence and sustained practice matter greatly.
What This Means
The widening gender gap in math has profound implications for educational equity and future economic opportunities. Math proficiency is increasingly tied to high-paying careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). If the current trend continues, girls risk being locked out of entire sectors of the workforce.
“This is not just a short-term blip,” Eck emphasized. “If we do not intervene, the gains of the last decade could be permanently lost. Schools and policymakers must prioritize targeted support for girls in math, especially in regions hit hardest by pandemic closures.”
The findings also raise questions about the role of school environment versus other factors like societal expectations and access to technology. As countries recover from COVID-19 disruptions, these results serve as a wake-up call to ensure that recovery efforts are equitable and do not leave half the student population behind.
For now, the data stands as a stark warning: progress toward gender equality in mathematics is fragile, and without deliberate action, the gap will only continue to widen.
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