Although many factors influence the academic performance of college level students, some studies have found a considerable difference in academic performance between men and women. For example, a study published in "The International Journal of Sport Management" compared the GPA (grade point average) of 459 student athletes at an Ohio university. The researchers recorded that female athletes had significantly higher cumulative GPAs than male athletes.
Although this study alone does not provide adequate evidence to support the theory that men and women have innate differences in academic behavior, other publications support the premise. According to an article in "The New York Times," the U.S. Department of Education has released statistics revealing that men are less likely than women to get bachelor's degrees. Additionally, men tended to take longer to complete their degrees and also received worse grades than their female counterparts.
In an article titled Girl Brain, Boy Brain?, "Scientific American" writes that boys' brains are approximately 10 percent larger than girls' brains. However, this finding does not provide evidence of intelligence, only physical size. Instead, the article cites a study conducted at the University of Iowa in which researchers found that women tended to have a larger SG (straight gyrus) -- a narrow strip in the prefrontal cortex -- that is related to interpersonal awareness. They went on to study this finding in children, only to discover that when men are boys, their SGs are larger than girls, which refuted the hypothesis that a larger SG was the reason that women tended to be sensitive nurturers. Ultimately, like many similar studies, the debate of intelligence and sex differences cannot be reduced to brain size.
Men are good at seeing and women are good at feeling. These are just two of the many assumptions attributed to sex differences, many of which have little scientific basis. However, "Scientific American," in an article titled Sex Differences in the Brain, said that many studies have been conducted showing a difference in problem solving between men and women. In the studies, men tended to perform better doing spatial tasks and mathematical reasoning while women surpassed men at recalling words or matching items. The article also states that despite these perceived differences, many studies show overlapping performances by men and women.
Decades of debate have led many people to disregard research in lieu of stereotypes when it comes to the differences between men and women. According to Deborah Cameron in her book "The Myth of Mars and Venus," stereotypes and misleading research are major factors in the perceived differences between the sexes. Specifically, she tackles the subject of language and the idea that women are better communicators and are more verbally skilled than men, a theory that, when believed and mass marketed, leads the larger population to conclude that men and women cannot effectively communicate. However, Cameron points out that many of the studies purporting these claims are faulty or the differences between the sexes are negligible, but because the findings fit the already existing stereotypes, people continue to believe them.