In the absence of any evidence for why different people perform differently in school - other than that people are different - pundits have invented everything from genetic math anxiety to stereotype threat as an explanation.

Imagine the stereotype threat if you are the only student taking the test. If you do poorly, it means all of humanity looks stupid. That's some real pressure, no amount of playing Gender Bias Bingo will cure it.

Olle Johansson, the first college student in Sweden, at Uppsala University, in 1477, seemed pretty relaxed, though.

They still have his notes - 5 years worth - and they are on display at Museum Gustavianum in Uppsala. He even doodled a lot, just like modern students do.



What did he study? Theology and general philosophy. So he likely had a lot of time to mess around.