Parents overestimate sons’ maths skills more than daughters’, study finds

Gender stereotypes at home may hamper female students' ability to progress in the classroom, research suggests

Parents are more likely to overestimate maths ability in sons than daughters, according to research that suggests that gender stereotypes at home may hinder the progress of female students.

The findings, presented in a lecture at University College London this week, found that parents tend to be overconfident about their children's academic performance in reading and maths regardless of gender. But, in maths, parents overestimated boys' skills to a significantly greater extent.