According to The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the average gender differential within OECD countries in mathematics at age 15 is 0.11 standard deviations in favor of males (OECD 2015). Italy is one of the countries with the largest gap, equal to 0.24 standard deviations.

Possible explanations:

• Gender-stereotypes in parent’s evaluation of children abilities
• Females’ lower self-esteem in math
• Socioeconomic status
• Parental education and occupation
• School educational methods