Janet Hyde

The gender similarities hypothesis posits that males and females are highly similar on most psychological variables, rather than vastly different. Hyde articulated this based on extensive meta-analyses showing that statistical differences between genders are usually very small. This contradicted popular media narratives that emphasized extreme psychological differences between men and women.

Hyde uses meta-analysis to aggregate data from hundreds of different studies to evaluate the actual size of differences between groups, particularly between males and females. By statistically combining the results of previous studies, she can see overarching trends that individual, smaller studies might miss. This method allowed her to provide strong empirical backing for the gender similarities hypothesis.

Hyde's research showed that there is no meaningful difference in math performance between boys and girls, effectively debunking the "math gap" myth. Her meta-analyses demonstrated that both genders perform equally well in mathematics. She argued that the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields is due to cultural and environmental factors, not biological inability.

Janet Shibley Hyde is a prominent psychologist based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the Helen Thompson Woolley Professor of Psychology and Gender/Women's Studies there. Her academic career has focused extensively on gender, sexuality, and human development.