Even the most talented mathematics students are being discouraged from advancing in the field thanks to cultural attitudes in the United States, according to a report published today in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.

The study examined participants in top mathematics competitions for students and found that the majority of the top young mathematicians in the country – especially female students – were born in other countries.

Many girls with extremely high aptitude for math exist, concluded Janet Mertz, a professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the senior author of the study, but they're rarely identified because of the low respect American culture places on math, systemic flaws in the U.S. public school education system, and a lack of role models.

The report suggests that a full 80 percent of female and 60 percent of male faculty members hired in recent years by the top research university mathematics departments in the United States were born in other countries.

To view a news release about the report, click here.

Donna Winchester, higher education reporter