But in the battle of the sexes,

但在兩性的拉扯中，

who actually has the superior intellect when it comes down to it?

究竟是哪一方比較聰明呢？

Are boys smarter than girls?

男生有比女生聰明嗎？

Early studies showed that male brains are 8-13% larger in volume than female brains.

早期的研究顯示，男性的大腦比女性的大腦大上 8-13%

However, this has since been attributed to differences in body size.

然而，這被歸因於身體體積的差異

Women's brains have more gyrification or brain folding,

女性的大腦有較多的摺疊與皺褶

and as a result, a greater cortical surface area.

所以有較大的大腦皮質面積

Besides, bigger isn't always better.

況且，體積大並不一定代表比較好

Sperm whales, elephants and dolphins

抹香鯨、大象、海豚

all have larger brains than humans,

的大腦都比人類的大

and while they are smart, their cognitive abilities are less than our own.

雖然他們很聰明，但認知能力依舊不如人類

There are other structural differences though,

男女的大腦也有結構上的差異

like males having more connections within hemispheres,

像是，男性的同一半腦裡的連結較多

while women have more connections between hemispheres.

而女性則是左右半腦之間的連結較多

But overall, MRI brain imaging shows significant overlap in the physical structure between the sexes.

但整體來說，腦部核磁共振影像顯示兩性的腦部構造大致相同

After studying 1400 brains, and comparing the sexes,

在研究過 1400 個大腦樣本，並比較兩性之間的差異後

researchers found that mostly all men and women show

研究者發現大部份的時候，所有男性與女性的大腦都顯現

a mosaic of female and male typical structures in the brain.

男性與女性有標準大腦構造的色塊

The study also evaluated gender stereotypical behaviors,

研究亦評估了性別刻板行為

like how video games are often considered male behavior,

像是，打電動通常被歸類為男性行為

while scrapbooking is female.

編輯剪貼簿則被歸類為女性行為

And the results found only 0.1% of test subjects displayed only male or only female typical behaviors.

研究結果顯示，只有 0.1% 的受試者完全展現單一性別刻板行為

Tests on intelligence find similar results with major IQ studies showing

智力測試的結果也大同小異，智力測驗研究顯示

negligible or no sex differences in general intelligence,

幾乎或完全沒有因性別差異造成的智力上的差異

but do show women having stronger verbal abilities,

但女性擁有較強的文字能力

while men show stronger visual spacial abilities.

而男性擁有較強的視覺空間能力

Interestingly, studies show more male variance in tests,

有趣的是，研究顯示男性結果的變異數較大

with their scores being both the worst and the best.

他們的成績主要分佈於曲線的兩端

One meta-analysis of 22 studies did find men to be 3.3-5.5 IQ points above women,

一項整合 22 個研究資料的分析發現，男性的智力測驗成績比女性高 3.3-5.5 分

but this study has been called into question by academics

但這項研究被學者質疑

who found the methodology flawed.

他們認為分析的方法有瑕疵

In the academic performance of language, math and science,

在語言、數學與科學的學術表現上

women consistently received better grades in 70% of nations.

在 70% 的國家中，女性持續得到比男性好的成績

But on SAT testing in the US, men scored 33 points higher in math and science.

但在美國大學入學考試中，男性在數學與科學方面，卻得到比女性平均高 33 分的成績

Other tests, like the program for International Student Assessment,

其他考試，像是國際學生能力評估計劃

show both sexes performing equally in several countries,

顯示在數個國家中，兩性表現相當

with girls performing better in some, like Iceland,

在某些國家中，像是冰島，女性表現較優

suggesting cultural and environmental differences

這可推論為文化和環境的差異，

and not necessarily biological differences at play.

而未必是生理結構的差異所造成的影響

But researchers found that stereotypes about women's performance

但研究者發現對於女性表現的刻板印象

actually impact how well they do.

確實會影響她們的表現

When told that a particular math test had significant gender differences,

當她們被告知兩性在某項數學考試中表現差異很大的時候，

women performed significantly worse than their male peers,

女性就真的表現得比男性差

while women who were told there was no difference scored the same.

但當她們被告知兩性在考試中表現相當的時候，她們就考得跟男性一樣好

This phenomenon is known as the "stereotype threat".

這個現象被稱作「刻板印象威脅」

Even Google search data shows that parents are 2.5 times more likely to search

連 Google 的搜尋結果都顯示，家長搜尋

"Is my son gifted?" than "Is my daughter gifted?"

「我的兒子有才華嗎？」的機率比搜尋「我的女兒有才華？」的機率高出 2.5 倍

despite 11% more girls in gifted programs in America.

即使在美洲女生修習高難度系所或學科的比率比男生高 11%

And girls pick up on these biases as early as six years old.

女生甚至早在六歲就受到這些偏見的影響

When told story at age 5, about a person who is really really smart,

在五歲的時候，如果聽到一個非常非常聰明的人的故事

both boys and girls associate intelligence with their own gender.

兩性分別會將故事主角設想為與自己同性別

But by age 6, both girls and boys picked a male character as the smartest.

但在六歲的時候，兩性都會認定主角為男性

In a similar experiment, kids were asked if they wanted to play a game for people who are really really smart.

在一個類似的實驗中，一群小孩被問要不要玩一個專給極度聰明的人玩的遊戲

And again, at age 5, both sexes wanted to play,

同樣的，在五歲的時候，兩個性別的人都會想玩

but by age 6, girls had decided these games weren't for them.

但在六歲的時候，女生就主動棄權

And though women do try to work in STEM fields,

即使女性努力想從事理工的工作

studies show they face barriers.

研究顯示他們遇到障礙

In a double-blind study,

在一個雙盲調查中

science faculty from research universities graded applications for a lab manager position.

研究型大學中科學領域的教授針對實驗室管理者的職位為申請人評分

What they didn't know,

他們不知道的是

is that the applications were randomly assigned either male or female names.

那些申請書上供人辨別性別的名字為隨機填寫的

As a result, faculty perceived the male appplicant names to be

結果，教授普遍認為男性申請人

significantly more competent, hirable and deserving of mentoring,

在能力上遠遠優於女性申請人，也比較值得被僱用與教導

even though the applications with female names were identical.

即使女性申請人的資料一模一樣

Males were also offered higher starting salaries,

他們也提供男性較高的起薪

an average of $30,000 v.s. the females' $26,000.

平均 $30,000 美金，女性則是 $26,000 美金

Though these studies present a sobering reality,

雖然這些研究呈現一個殘酷卻又不可抹滅的事實

research does point to greater equality between the sexes with passing decades and education.

有研究顯示隨著時代的演進與教育程度的提升，兩性之間愈趨平等

And in spite of these barriers, women continue to contribute to our collective scientific knowledge.

即使面臨這些障礙，女性仍舊持續為科學界的知識貢獻

Rosaline Franklin allowed us to understand our own DNA.

Rosaline Franklin 讓我們了解到自己的 DNA

Katherine Johnson helped Apollo 11 land on the moon.

Katherine Johnson 幫助阿波羅11號成功登上月球

And this year, Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win a Nobel Prize for mathematics.

而今年，Maryam Mirzakhani 是首位獲得數學界的諾貝爾獎的女性

Fellow mathematician, Izabella Laba, said,

同業數學家 Izabella Laba 說

Mirzakhani's selection does exactly nothing to convince me that women are capable of doing mathematical research at the same level as men.

I have never had any doubt about that in the first place

What I take from it instead is that we as a society, men and women alike, are becoming better at encouraging and nurturing mathematical talent in women, and more capable of recognizing excellence in women's work.

To learn more, we asked the women at AsapScience to speak personally about their experiences growing up

為了更深入了解這個議題，我們訪問了 AsapScience 的女性成長的經驗

and give insights into how they navigate the societal pressures of being a woman.

與如何因應社會對女性施加的壓力

Click on the screen or the link in the description to check out that video.

點選影片畫面或底下說明欄中的連結來觀看那部影片

And subscribe for more weekly science videos every Thursday.

並記得訂閱這個頻道以觀看每週一次的科學影片，每週四上映