Despite the fact that women have made gains in science and math, a report recently released by the American Association of University Women has found that cultural biases and stereotypes are still getting in the way of progress.

The report, which is entitled “Why So Few?,” took a closer look at ten years of research regarding women in science, engineering, technology and mathematics.

“We scanned the literature for research with immediate applicability,” said Catherine Hill, who is the research director of the university and the lead author of the report, in a New York Times article. “We found a lot of small things can make a difference, like a course in spatial skills for women going into engineering, or teaching children that mat ability is not fixed, but grows with effort.”

One of the goals of the study was to determine whether or not innate differences between men and women have an effect of proficiency within the math and sciences. Of course, the researches treaded lightly on the subject, which was in the middle of a firestorm of controversy five years ago when Lawrence H. Summers, who was the president of Harvard, suggests that “there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude” that are reinforced by “lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination.”

While the report does acknowledge that there are differences in the brains of males versus females, Hill goes on to say that “None of the research convincingly links those differences to specific skills, so we don’t know what they mean in terms of mathematical abilities.”

The researchers found that boys are overrepresented in the top level of mathematical abilities, but that this gap is quickly closing. In fact, boys once outnumbered girls at a rate of 13 to 1 when looking at those who scored over 700 on the math portion of the SAT. Today, the difference is just 3 to 1.

“That’s not biology at play, it doesn’t change so fast,” Ms. Hill said. “Even if there are biological factors in boys outnumbering girls, they’re clearly not the whole story. There’s a real danger in assuming that innate differences are important in determining who will succeed, so we looked at the cultural factors, to see what evidence there is on the nurture side of nature or nurture.”

The report also found that cultural bias still remains. In fact, in one study of postdoctoral applicants, the researchers found that women had to publish 3 more papers in prestigious journals or 20 more articles in lesser-known publications before they were judged as being as productive as male applicants.

According to Nancy Hopkins, who is an M.I.T. biology professor who created quite a stir when she documented pervasive discrimination against women in the university in the 1990s, sexual discrimination remain a serious concern. She points out that, even if male math geniuses outnumber female math geniuses at a rate of 3 to 1, one in every three math professors at prestigious universities should reasonably be expected to be female. Yet, this is not true. In fact Harvard just recently tenured its first female mathematics professor in 375 years.

The researchers also found that suggestion goes a long way toward impacting female performance on math. In fact, in one experiment, college students with similar abilities and strong mathematical abilities were divided into two groups. One group was told that men perform better on the test while the other group was told there was no difference in gender performance. In the group where men were told they perform better, the males actually did outperform the females with an average score of 25 compared to an average female score of 5. In the other group, the women had an average score of 17 compared to an average male score of 19.

The report found that girls tend to have less confidence in their mathematical abilities than boys, despite having equivalent achievement levels. Since people tend to pursue careers in areas where they feel confident, fewer women tend to pursue scientific careers. As such, the researchers believe one of the most important steps toward improving female achievement in the math and science fields is to offer more female mentors and role models for girls to look up to.