Gender stereotypes and incremental beliefs in STEM and non-STEM students in three countries: relationships with performance in cognitive tasks

The influence of the design of mental rotation trials on performance and possible differences between sexes: A theoretical review and experimental investigation

Sex differences in mental rotation performance are one of the largest in cognitive psychology. Men outperform women by up to 1 SD in psychometric mental rotation tests, but it is often neglected that there are no or only small sex differences for chronometric tests. As both tests are supposed to measure the same ability, we suspect some features of the tests themselves to affect sex differences in performance. Following a theoretical review of the test features, we evaluate the effects of the number of possible answer alternatives, whether they are presented as pairwise mirrored, and their interaction on sex differences in mental rotation performance. In an online experiment, 838 German-speaking participants, 421 women, 417 men, Mage =  42.58 (SD = 12.54) years, solved four blocks of mental rotation trials with two or eight alternatives, which were either pairwise mirrored or not. The results show that that the overall performance was lower for more alternatives and for mixed alternatives but not for their interaction. We could not determine explanations for sex differences as we did not observe meaningful sex differences at all. Possible reasons include the differences between men and women in age and education. This study suggests that the differences between tests affect performance. Sex differences, however, need more investigation, including possible effects and interactions of the test design, education, and age.

The perceived role fit of women and men academics: evidence from the social sports sciences

Introduction

The underrepresentation of women in academia is often explained by the presence of gender stereotypes and the perception that women fit the role of an academic to a lesser extent. Based on social role theory and role congruity theory, this study investigates and estimates the perceived role fit of women and men academics in the social sports sciences.

Methods

Data were collected with a quantitative online survey. The sample (n = 792) includes individuals who study or work in sports economics, sport management, or sport sociology (referred to as social sports sciences). The questionnaire included items that reflect attributes of an ideal-typical academic as well as women and men academics in four dimensions, i.e., leadership, research methods, media visibility, and research topics. In the first step, these items were used to estimate a total role fit index for both women and men academics, as well as indices for all dimensions. In a second step, regression analyses were used to examine how respondents' individual characteristics (e.g., discipline, career stage, gender, presence of role models) are related to their perceived role fit indices and the differences in the perceived role fit.

Results and discussion

The role fit index ranges from 0 to 1, and women have a higher total role fit than men (0.77 vs. 0.75). The results suggest that women in the social sports sciences are perceived as a better fit for the role of an academic. In contrast to role congruity theory, women's leadership fit is higher than men's fit in this dimension (0.79 vs. 0.72). Regarding the associations of individual characteristics, professors seem to perceive a lower role fit for both genders than students. Furthermore, the difference between the perceived role fit of men and women is smaller for women respondents. Having a woman role model leads to a higher fit of women academics in the leadership dimension.

Sex/gender differences in cognitive abilities

Sex/gender differences in cognitive sciences are riddled by conflicting perspectives. At the center of debates are clinical, social, and political perspectives. Front and center, evolutionary and biological perspectives have often focused on 'nature' arguments, while feminist and constructivist views have often focused on 'nurture arguments regarding cognitive sex differences. In the current narrative review, we provide a comprehensive overview regarding the origins and historical advancement of these debates while providing a summary of the results in the field of sexually polymorphic cognition. In so doing, we attempt to highlight the importance of using transdisciplinary perspectives which help bridge disciplines together to provide a refined understanding the specific factors that drive sex differences a gender diversity in cognitive abilities. To summarize, biological sex (e.g., birth-assigned sex, sex hormones), socio-cultural gender (gender identity, gender roles), and sexual orientation each uniquely shape the cognitive abilities reviewed. To date, however, few studies integrate these sex and gender factors together to better understand individual differences in cognitive functioning. This has potential benefits if a broader understanding of sex and gender factors are systematically measured when researching and treating numerous conditions where cognition is altered.

The role of perspective-taking in suppressing stereotypes about mathematics

OBJECTIVE

When people attempt to suppress stereotypes, they often end up making stereotypical judgments. The adverse effects of this form of suppression are called "paradoxical effects." This study examined the effect of perspective-taking as a strategy to reduce the paradoxical effects related to stereotype suppression. Specifically, this study addressed stereotypes within the context of women's mathematical abilities, with Japanese university students as participants. It was predicted that when participants suppressed the stereotype of a woman, those who engaged in perspective-taking toward that woman would make less stereotypical judgments of other women, compared with those who did not. Moreover, as this study focuses on gender stereotypes, an exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate whether the effects of engaging in perspective-taking about women vary depending on the participants' gender.

RESULTS

Although no significant effect was observed and the hypothesis was not supported, and while the results of this study were statistically inadequate, they suggest that among the female participants, those who did not engage in perspective-taking showed the paradoxical effects of stereotype suppression. However, those paradoxical effects were not observed among those who performed perspective-taking.

The mediating effect of math self-efficacy on the relationship between parenting style and math anxiety

The present study aims to investigate the associations among math self-efficacy, parenting style, and math anxiety in primary school children. The sample comprised 400 participants, aged between 10 and 11 years old, from an elementary school in China. Participants completed three self-reported questionnaires on math anxiety, parenting styles and math self-efficacy. The results revealed that rejection was strongly and positively correlated with math anxiety, while emotional warmth was negatively related to math anxiety. Interestingly, math anxiety was found to be related to rejection, with math self-efficacy playing a mediating role in this relationship. Conversely, math self-efficacy played a mediating role in the relationship between parenting styles and math anxiety, while over protection exhibited no significant correlation with math anxiety. The study also showed that gender differences existed in the level of math anxiety and math self-efficacy, with boys exhibiting lower math anxiety and higher math self-efficacy than girls. These results provide important insights into the development and treatment of math anxiety in primary school children. Specifically, parents and educators should focus on enhancing children's math self-efficacy beliefs, while adopting a parenting style characterized by emotional warmth and low levels of rejection.

Self-concept explains gender differences in mental rotation performance after stereotype activation

Introduction

Mental rotation is an ability that usually displays robust and large gender differences in favor of boys and men. When participants are told that males outperform females, it can result in worse performance for females (stereotype threat effect) and better performance for males (stereotype lift effect). Because various studies show different results for the effect of stereotype activation, the present study aimed to investigate whether adolescents’ self-concept would moderate stereotype activation effects.

Methods

127 adolescents (61 male, 66 female) between 10 and 18  years (M = 13.54, SD = 1.99) solved the mental rotation test and filled out a questionnaire about their perceived performance, stereotype beliefs, and self-concept.

Results

Results showed that self-concept and stereotype activation affected male and female adolescents’ actual and perceived performance differently. For males, a better self-concept was associated with better performance in adolescents with stereotype activation and with lower performance in those without the activation. This interaction was only marginally significant. For females, an increasing self-concept was associated with worse performance in adolescents with stereotype activation and with better performance in those without activation. Furthermore, a better self-concept was associated with higher perceived performance in male adolescents with stereotype activation and with lower perceived performance without the activation.

Discussion

Reasons for these results could be the (in)congruence between males’ own perception of their abilities (self-concept) and the instruction of the activation.

The reinforcement sensitivity theory affects questionnaire (RST-AQ). A validation study of a new scale targeting affects related to anxiety, approach motivation and fear

This paper presents the RST-AQ, a 22-item scale to measure the affective states related to the three motivational systems postulated by Reinforcement Sensitivity theory (RST-AQ): the Behavioral approach system (BAS), Behavioral inhibition system (BIS), and the Fight-Flight-Freeze system (FFFS). The three subscales are internally consistent. Results show an overall support for construct validity of our RST-AQ measure. The correlations of the RST-AQ subscales with other measures demonstrate a good convergent and divergent validity with regard to the subscales of BAS and BIS. The RTS-AQ Scale provides researcher with the first instrument to measures the affective states of the RST theory.

Sex/Gender Differences in Verbal Fluency and Verbal-Episodic Memory: A Meta-Analysis

Women are thought to fare better in verbal abilities, especially in verbal-fluency and verbal-memory tasks. However, the last meta-analysis on sex/gender differences in verbal fluency dates from 1988. Although verbal memory has only recently been investigated meta-analytically, a comprehensive meta-analysis is lacking that focuses on verbal memory as it is typically assessed, for example, in neuropsychological settings. On the basis of 496 effect sizes and 355,173 participants, in the current meta-analysis, we found that women/girls outperformed men/boys in phonemic fluency (ds = 0.12-0.13) but not in semantic fluency (ds = 0.01-0.02), for which the sex/gender difference appeared to be category-dependent. Women/girls also outperformed men/boys in recall (d = 0.28) and recognition (ds = 0.12-0.17). Although effect sizes are small, the female advantage was relatively stable over the past 50 years and across lifetime. Published articles reported stronger female advantages than unpublished studies, and first authors reported better performance for members of their own sex/gender. We conclude that a small female advantage in phonemic fluency, recall, and recognition exists and is partly subject to publication bias. Considerable variance suggests further contributing factors, such as participants' language and country/region.

Linking gender differences with gender equality: A systematic-narrative literature review of basic skills and personality

There is controversy regarding whether gender differences are smaller or larger in societies that promote gender equality highlighting the need for an integrated analysis. This review examines literature correlating, on a national level, gender differences in basic skills-mathematics, science (including attitudes and anxiety), and reading-as well as personality, to gender equality indicators. The aim is to assess the cross-national pattern of these differences when linked to measures of gender equality and explore new explanatory variables that can shed light on this linkage. The review was based on quantitative research relating country-level measures of gender differences to gender equality composite indices and specific indicators. The findings show that the mathematics gender gap from the PISA and TIMMS assessments, is not linked to composite indices and specific indicators, but gender differences are larger in gender-equal countries for reading, mathematics attitudes, and personality (Big Five, HEXACO, Basic Human Values, and Vocational Interests). Research on science and overall scores (mathematics, science, and reading considered together) is inconclusive. It is proposed that the paradox in reading results from the interrelation between basic skills and the attempt to increase girls' mathematics abilities both acting simultaneously while the paradox in mathematics attitudes might be explained by girls being less exposed to mathematics than boys. On the other hand, a more nuanced understanding of the gender equality paradox in personality is advanced, in which a gene-environment-cultural interplay accounts for the phenomenon. Challenges for future cross-national research are discussed.

STEM-Gender Stereotypes: Associations With School Empowerment and School Engagement Among Italian and Nigerian Adolescents

While many sociocultural, contextual, biological, behavioral, and psychological variables may contribute to the widespread under-representation of girls and women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field, this study focused on STEM-gender stereotypes, school experiences, and adolescence as critical factors in driving students' interest and motivation in STEM. Based on this, the study (a) investigated differences by gender and national context (Italy vs. Nigeria) in adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes, school empowerment, and school engagement in a preliminary step, and (b) simultaneously examined how adolescents' STEM-gender stereotypes were related to school empowerment and school engagement as well as to socioeconomic status (SES). These latter relations were considered within the context of the potential moderating role of gender and national context. Participants included 213 Italian adolescents (Mage = 13.91; 52.1% girls) and 214 Nigerian adolescents (Mage = 13.92; 60.3% girls), who completed measures of school empowerment and engagement, STEM-gender stereotypes, and SES. A multivariate analysis of covariance showed that Nigerian girls and boys reported significantly higher levels of school empowerment, school engagement, and STEM-gender stereotypes than their Italian peers. Moreover, regardless of the national context, boys scored significantly higher on school empowerment and STEM-gender stereotypes than girls. Furthermore, a multiple-group path analysis revealed how higher school empowerment was related to lower STEM-gender stereotypes in both Italian and Nigerian girls' groups, while higher school engagement was associated with lower STEM-gender stereotypes only in the Nigerian groups. Regardless of gender and nationality, higher SES was linked to lower STEM-gender stereotypes. These findings particularly suggest that school empowerment and school engagement can be relevant dimensions to be studied and to develop strategies to counteract STEM-gender stereotypes in adolescence. Nonetheless, gender and national context are key factors to be considered. Limitations, strengths, future research, and educational implications are discussed.

Architectures of contemporary digital platforms in education: analysis of exclusion processes

The Internet is a wide, open and dynamic ecosystem of digital platforms where people and technologies contribute to the creation and consumption of digital information. The convergence of the Internet and the accelerated change of technological innovation have been the engines of society and its development, and all this has caused transformations in the social, economic and educational context. In this context, this work analyzes contemporary digital platform architectures and their influence on the processes of educational exclusion. To meet the objectives, the crucial changes brought about by digitally mediated life are studied; the conceptual and technological aspects that characterize contemporary digital platform architectures; and its influence on exclusion processes. This research is supported by qualitative research methodologies; the analysis and synthesis methods, the PRISMA model, and a meta-analysis of data extracted from the Scopus databases and the Web of Science-WOS is also carried out. The work shows changes in the social and educational context given the consolidation of the Internet through contemporary digital platform architectures and its influence on the processes of social, digital and educational exclusion. The need to promote equal opportunities, active participation and the capacity for professional insertion between women and men is visualized.

Mental rotation with colored cube figures

Men usually outperform women in psychometric mental rotation tests with cube figures. This advantage could be pronounced due to the male stereotyped rotational objects. The present study aims to investigate whether gender differences in favor of men are absent when the stimuli are less male stereotyped. Therefore, 112 participants solved three psychometric mental rotation tests with cube figures colored in pink, blue, and grey. Men outperformed women independent of stimulus color. In the pink and the grey version of the test, participants with beliefs of spatial abilities as masculine performed better than those with feminine beliefs. The mental rotation test performance with pink figures was predicted by gender and gender stereotypes in spatial abilities. In the blue and grey version, gender and self-rated spatial abilities predicted the performance. It can be assumed that the stereotype activation by stimulus color was not sufficient to influence the performance.

The Place of Gender Stereotypes in the Network of Cognitive Abilities, Self-Perceived Ability and Intrinsic Value of School in School Children Depending on Sex and Preferences in STEM

Adolescents face many barriers on the path towards a STEM profession, especially girls. We examine the gender stereotypes, cognitive abilities, self-perceived ability and intrinsic values of 546 Russian school children from 12 to 17 years old by sex and STEM preferences. In our sample, STEM students compared to no-STEM have higher cognitive abilities, intrinsic motivation towards math and science, are more confident in their math abilities and perceive math as being easier. Boys scored higher in science, math and overall academic self-efficacy, intrinsic learning motivation and math's importance for future careers. Meanwhile, girls displayed higher levels of gender stereotypes related to STEM and lower self-efficacy in math. A network analysis was conducted to identify the structure of psychological traits and the position of the stem-related stereotypes among them. The analysis arrived at substantially different results when adolescents were grouped by sex or preference towards STEM. It also demonstrated that gender stereotypes are connected with cognitive abilities, with a stronger link in the no-STEM group. Such stereotypes play a more important role for girls than boys and, jointly with the general self-efficacy of cognitive and academic abilities, are associated with the factors that distinguish groups of adolescents in their future careers.

The Influence of Family Function on State Anxiety of Chinese College Students During the Epidemic of COVID-19

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may affect mental health. There is little research about the influence of family function on the state anxiety of college students in the context of the global pandemic. The study aimed to clarify that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and trait anxiety had mediating effects in family function on the state anxiety of Chinese college students following the "stay-at-home" order during the outbreak of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study was conducted online with 1,039 respondents. We analyzed demographics, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (ST-AI) and Chinese Family Function Scale (FAD-18), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and used path analysis to discuss the influence of family function on state and trait anxiety. The results showed that female students' state and trait anxiety was higher than that of male students (P < 0.05). Medical students' state and trait anxiety was lower than that of literature students (P < 0.05). The GAD of the male was lower compared with the female. The score of family function has significant differences in gender, age, education, and region (P < 0.05). Gender, family function, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and GAD relate to others (r = 0.07∼0.85, p < 0.05). The results of fit indices for measurement invariance models showed that the impact of family function among GAD, state and trait anxiety across gender is significantly different (each step p < 0.05). GAD and trait anxiety had a complete meditating effect between family function and state anxiety (the proportion of standard indirect mediating effect was 24.94% in females and 36.79% in males). A healthy family function may alleviate GAD and anxiety of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measuring Stereotype Threat at Math and Language Arts in Secondary School: Validation of a Questionnaire

A stereotype threat arises when a negative stereotype about group to which an individual belongs is activated. It affects the achievement and interest of students in a particular academic domain, e.g., girls at math or boys at language arts. Hence, it is important to assess the level of stereotype threat at school (STaS) in order to identify the vulnerability of students to its negative consequences. This study devised and validated two parallel versions of the STaS scale: girls in mathematics and boys in language arts in a nationally representative sample of Polish secondary school students (N = 1,241; 13–16 years). The results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a complex sample approach showed one general factor. Furthermore, a multiple-group CFA confirmed metric invariance and partial scalar invariance. The variances for boys and girls were equal. This suggests that the construct of stereotype threat is similarly conceptualized by both genders despite being in different domains. Finally, the comparison of means of latent variables revealed a higher level of stereotype threat among boys in the language domain than girls in mathematics. Possible theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Children's Gender Stereotypes in STEM Following a One-Shot Growth Mindset Intervention in a Science Museum

Women are drastically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and this underrepresentation has been linked to gender stereotypes and ability related beliefs. One way to remedy this may be to challenge male bias gender stereotypes around STEM by cultivating equitable beliefs that both female and male can excel in STEM. The present study implemented a growth mindset intervention to promote children’s incremental ability beliefs and investigate the relation between the intervention and children’s gender stereotypes in an informal science learning site. Participants (n = 143, female n = 77, male n = 66, 5–12-years-old, M^age = 8.6, SD = 1.7) were visitors to a science museum who took part in an interactive space science show. Participants who were exposed to a growth mindset intervention, compared to the participants in the control condition, reported significantly less gender stereotyping around STEM by reporting equitably in the stereotype awareness measure. Relatedly, participants in the control condition reported male bias gender stereotype in the stereotype awareness measure. Further, children between 5 and 8-years-old reported greater male bias stereotypes awareness and stereotype flexibility in space science compared to children between 9 and 12-years-old. Lastly, children demonstrated in-group bias in STEM ability. Male participants reported gender bias favoring males’ ability in stereotype flexibility and awareness measures, while female participants reported bias toward females’ ability in stereotype flexibility and awareness measures. These findings document the importance of a growth mindset intervention in buffering against STEM gender stereotyping amongst children, as well as the significant role a growth mindset intervention can play within an informal science learning site.

Beside and Behind the Wheel: Factors that Influence Driving Stress and Driving Behavior

A large percentage of traffic accidents are due to human errors. Driving behavior and driving stress influence the probability of making these mistakes. Both are influenced by multiple factors, among which might be elements such as age, gender, sleeping hours, or working hours. The objective of this paper is to study, in a real scenario and without forcing the driver’s state, the relationship between driving behavior, driving stress, and these elements. Furthermore, we aim to provide guidelines to improve driving assistants. In this study, we used 1050 driving samples obtained from 35 volunteers. The driving samples correspond to regular commutes from home to the workplace. ANOVA and ANCOVA tests were carried out to check if there are significant differences in the four factors analyzed. Although the results show that driving behavior and driving stress are affected by gender, age, and sleeping hours, the most critical variable is working hours. Drivers with long working days suffer significantly more driving stress compared to other drivers, with the corresponding effect on their driving style. These drivers were the worst at maintaining the safety distance.

Roll the Dice—Let’s See If Differences Really Matter! Accounting Judgments and Sustainable Decisions in the Light of a Gender and Age Analysis

This research aims to investigate whether gender and age of Professional Accountants influence their opinion upon accounting judgments and sustainable decision-making. Through a questionnaire, accountants were interrogated about their education, professional profile, age, gender, personality traits, and their perception on accounting judgment and professional behavior. On one hand, results showed that women accountants are more inclined to comply with accounting regulations and more interested in following an ethical behavior. Moreover, women tend to be more interested in fulfilling managers’ expectations and more willing to collaborate. On the other hand, men accountants proved to be more independent in judgments and more skeptical. Furthermore, men have a greater propensity to make accurate, sustainable judgments, considering the evaluation of goodwill as more important than women. However, no correlations were found between age, gender and accountants’ perception on the theoretical framework of professional accounting judgment. As the age of accountants grows, the compliance degree to regulations increases. This study adds value to gender accounting literature by the way it examines accountants’ behavior and perception towards accounting judgments and sustainable decisions in correlation to gender diversity and age.

Gendered Beliefs in STEM Undergraduates: A Comparative Analysis of Fuzzy Rating versus Likert Scales

Women are underrepresented in growing positions such as those related to STEM field careers (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). One of the causes for remaining out of that field could lie on gender stereotypes. Undergraduate stereotypes and beliefs are important as could easily uphold future gender segregation at the workplace. In the research arena the measurement of those biased beliefs is important as most commonly used Likert scales (LS) could raise problems in terms of accuracy. As fuzzy rating scales (FRS) are a promising measurement alternative, the aim of this study is to compare the properties of FRS against LS. We conducted a cross-sectional study with 262 STEM and non-STEM participants who answered to a questionnaire that, besides gendered beliefs and injustice perception towards the situation of women at the workplace, included personal characteristics as coursed degree and working experience. Results pointed out, on one hand, that FRS allowed for a better capture of the variability of individual responses, but on the other hand, that LS were better valued than FRS in what is concerned with satisfaction and ease of response. Advantages of FRS for psychosocial measurement are discussed to facilitate the study around causes of segregation that excludes women from the STEM labour market.