“It has long been known that girls reach puberty earlier than boys, that they become physically mature earlier. However, we wanted to investigate whether this also affects cognitive maturation. In other words, the ability to acquire knowledge,” says Marte Strøm.
What do these gender differences in maturity mean for performance at school – and for future opportunities in the labour market? This was the question Strøm and her colleagues asked.
The findings confirm research showing that early physical maturity leads to better school results. But the researchers have gone further. They wanted to find out how much of the differences in grades between boys and girls could be explained by differences in maturity.
The answer they found was surprisingly low: only 8 per cent.
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In other words: Although puberty and physical maturity have some effect on school performance, this only accounts for a small part of the difference between boys’ and girls’ grades.
