Girls outperform Boys at both school and university, and the gap is widening

Imagine you are a teenage boy, you walk into your first period math class and are introduced to the quadratic formula. In the first 15 minutes or so of the lecture you find it to be pretty cool, and start to question where you would apply this. You tone out the teacher and start writing the formula down on paper and applying it to several different ad hoc examples. It works. Why? You look at it a bit longer (it's not 10 minutes since you've heard a word your teacher has said) why is it 4AC? Because 4 has a sqrt? This doesn't make sense...

You look back up at the board and the teacher is on his/her 4th example of using the equation. You fucking understand how math works, you're 16 and have been learning this stuff for years. The contempt starts to build - a few classmates raise their hand and ask questions. They don't get it and they don't care - all their questions are "why did you square both sides instead of x or y?". You think they're idiots for not being able to keep up with the math - you get the fucking math. But no one is explaining why this works? Does anyone know?

The bell rings and you get no answers. The teacher passes out a sheet of 50 practice problems due tomorrow. You walk to your next class - the same thing happens in a different subject. In political science you're talking about all those 3 letter agencies - you bring up the NSA and the teacher says "let me check on that one - I didn't see it on the sheet I handed out yesterday - and moves on to the next student."

Then you have 5 more classes and 5 more homework assignments - and finally get to go home. Now you're staring at a day of frustration and know that in your backpack there is an hour or two extension of the monotony and superficiality that has consumed your day.

You go on reddit and start learning about the Universe. One link leads to the next - you're watching series by Michio Kaku and Brian Cox. They explain that space and time are actually the same thing - space-time. And talk about how Einstein figured this out and how space-time can BEND! You decided to finish the series - besides you can probably finish these stupid mindless problems before class tomorrow when you wake up.

You wake up late. Maybe the night was spent texting some girl you have a crush on or watching pornhub or maybe you really got lost in these documentaries and just binge watched 5 hours. You're tired and spent and don't want to deal with another day of this all over again. You walk into your math class - barley on time - and those 50 equations are sitting in your binder with no work applied to them.

The anger comes back. You could have attended completed these stupid questions after the first 10 minutes of yesterday's lecture - what does this prove? Anyone can do this work - it's applying the same formula to the same type of problem 50x - if you can do 1 you can do 50!

The teacher passes by with her gradebook and gives you a look of disgust as she sees your blank sheet. Maybe she'll call your parents and tell them that she's concerned with your lack of interest in academics - maybe you'll get a detention and have to sit and do 200 mind numbing problems instead of 50.

After weeks then months then years of this process - two things will happen. You will see yourself as stupid and incapable because regardless of your aptitude you are being measured day in and day out - and those measurements point to being a "poor student" which is equated with "not too bright" and your world is high school. Then your interest starts to fade on the nature of the universe - that's something "smart" kids do - instead you turn on the TV when you get home, hang out with friends, smoke some pot - whatever - and just raise the white flag on learning. You just weren't cut out for it - lots of people aren't.

/r/TwoXChromosomes Thread Link - economist.com