Lise Eliot

Most studies of brain differences between men and women obviously separate groups by sex–that is, biological male- or femaleness. However, some research is beginning to identify neural differences that correlate as well or better with gender–one’s self-perceived masculinity or feminity, which varies along a continuum and is likely more influenced by learning and experience than biological sex.   I discussed this distinction in  regard to research on social perception in a recent blog at Scientific American online (Mind Matters).

Here’s one bit of good news. The college enrollment gap–more women than men–appears to have leveled off. After falling from 55% to 45% of total students (graduate and undergraduate) between 1975 and 1995, men’s proportion has settled at 43% over the last five years. Hopefully, we have reached the nadir for this ratio and the new attention to boys’ needs from birth through high school will raise the ratio closer to gender parity.

You can find the numbers here.