I suspect, somewhat anecdotally, that this begins with the educational system (at least in the US). Reflecting on my education, at least, it's remarkable how much of it boiled down to exercises in reading comprehension. Even many of my science classes were really just training my ability to read a passage and respond to a short answer question. There were many "alternative" math tracks offered--home economics you could take home economics after algebra 1, if you weren't a "math person"--and just generally, it was constantly reinforced that math was a specialization, not a fundamental skill.