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In more gender-equal countries, girls tend to avoid natural and engineering sciences more than girls in countries with lower levels of gender equality, according to the doctoral dissertation of M.A. Marco Balducci at the University of Turku, Finland. Balducci argues that in more gender-equal societies, individual preferences may have an even stronger influence on educational choices than in less equal societies.

In his , conducted within the INVEST Research Flagship Center at the University of Turku, Finland, Balducci examines the so-called gender-equality paradox. The paradox refers to the finding that greater gender equality does not seem to increase women's participation in STEM fields—quite the opposite. STEM refers to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

On average, girls tend to perform better at reading, while boys excel in science. This difference is believed to influence career choices, particularly in more gender-equal societies. Balducci focused on students' relative academic strengths—whether they are comparatively better in reading, mathematics, or science.

For his analysis, Balducci used international PISA data from 2006 to 2018.

"The results reveal a consistent trend: In more gender-equal countries, girls' strength in reading and boys' strength in science become more pronounced. In contrast, differences in math appear largely unaffected by gender equality. These findings challenge purely social explanations of sex differences and suggest that individual traits also play a key role in shaping educational choices, perhaps even more so in egalitarian societies," Balducci explains.

The findings challenge the notion that gender differences are solely the result of social structures.

"In gender-equal societies, young people may be freer to choose according to their individual inclinations, which paradoxically may reinforce gender disparities in STEM fields," Balducci states.

This work offers a fresh perspective on why women may remain underrepresented in STEM and points to the need for more nuanced policy responses.