a 2016 study by baye and monseur examining twelve databases from the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement and the program for international student assessment, were used to analyse gender differences within an international perspective from 1995 to 2015, and concluded, "the 'greater male variability hypothesis' is confirmed." this study found that on average, boys showed 14% greater variance than girls in science, reading, and math test scores. in reading, boys were significantly represented at the bottom of score distribution, whereas for maths and science they featured more at the top. contrary to the findings of an earlier meta-analysis published in the 1990s, where "no consistent gender differences