According to a National Science Foundation (NSF) study, female K-12 students perform about the same as male K-12 students on standardized science and mathematics tests.

The biggest gaps in performance appear when they looked at the racial and socioeconomic standings on the test takers. In other words: “larger gaps exist between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds or family income, with white and Asian/Pacific Islander students and those from higher income families scoring higher than their counterparts who are black, Hispanic, or American Indian/Alaska Native or who are from lower income families.” [National Girls Collaborative Project]

The NSF study says that K-12 students who come from a poor background and/or whose parents were less educated were not likely to take the classes that help them do better on these tests. This sets these students up for not being ready for a STEM career, in the long run.