For the first time since intelligence testing began more than a century ago, women have beaten men in the tests, according to one of the foremost experts on IQ tests.

Professor James Flynn, from the politics department at New Zealand’s Otago University, says recent test results show that women's scores in some countries are now higher than men’s.

He based his comments on IQ test results from countries in western Europe and from the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Argentina and Estonia. He tells The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K that he plans to publish his findings in an upcoming book. Should it be The Daily Telegraph?

Flynn has long argued that the average IQ scores for many populations have been rising since the early 20th century. In fact, the phenomenon has been so consistent over the years, rising at an average rate of three points per decade, it’s been dubbed the Flynn effect.

Yet even while average test score results have risen, women have typically lagged behind men by around five points.

But the gap has been narrowing in recent years and Flynn now says that women have surged ahead in some countries, including Flynn’s own adopted home of New Zealand, as well as Estonia and Argentina.

Why are women suddenly doing better than men in some parts of the world?

Flynn believes the demands of the modern age are actually raising intelligence.

"In the last 100 years the IQ scores of both men and women have risen, but women’s have risen faster,” Flynn tells The Telegraph.

"This is a consequence of modernity. The complexity of the modern world is making our brains adapt and raising our IQ."

Flynn says one theory is that the demands of juggling family life and work life have made women more intelligent.

Another theory is those women have always had the potential for higher results, but are only now realizing it.

“The brains of modern people are growing differently and showing increased cognitive complexity, which we measure as increases in IQ,” Flynn said.

“This improvement is more marked for women than for men because they were disadvantaged in the past.”

But Flynn added that more data were needed to explain the trend.

Flynn has written extensively about the IQ gains he has noted over the last century. Some of the theories for why scores have risen include: improved nutrition, a trend toward smaller families, better education, and the spread of test-taking skills.

But the value of IQ tests has long been disputed – as has the very definition of intelligence. Many have complained that the standardized tests that measure math and deductive reasoning skills don’t account for such things as creativity and emotional intelligence.