Implicit Science Stereotypes Mediate the Relationship between Gender and Academic Participation

Stereotypes and social evaluations of scientists are related to different antecedents and outcomes

Research on scientist perceptions tends to focus on either stereotypes (white, male) or social evaluations (competent but cold), sometimes yielding incongruent conclusions (e.g. scientists are simultaneously seen as moral and immoral). Across two preregistered correlational studies (N = 1091), we address this issue by simultaneously assessing stereotypes and social evaluations and their association with two key outcomes: trust in scientists and science career appeal. We find that stereotypes and social evaluations are distinct types of perceptions-they correlate slightly, stem from different worldviews, and predict partially different outcomes. While western enculturation and religiosity predict stereotypes, right-wing political ideology negatively relates to social evaluations. Stereotypes are associated with lower science career appeal among stereotype-incongruent individuals, while social evaluations predict more trust in scientists and higher science career appeal. This work thus sheds light on the psychological pathways to trust in scientists, as well as on the perceived appeal of becoming a scientist.

Neural Processing of Sexist Comments: Associations between Perceptions of Sexism and Prefrontal Activity

Sexism is a widespread form of gender discrimination which includes remarks based on gender stereotypes. However, little is known about the neural basis underlying the experience of sexist-related comments and how perceptions of sexism are related to these neural processes. The present study investigated whether perceptions of sexism influence neural processing of receiving sexist-related comments. Participants (N = 67) read experimental vignettes describing scenarios of comments involving gender stereotypes while near-infrared spectroscopy recordings were made to measure the hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex. Results found a significant correlation between participants' perceptions of sexism and brain activation in a brain cluster including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior frontal gyrus. There was a significant gender difference where female participants showed a stronger negative correlation compared to male participants. Future research can expand on these initial findings by looking at subcortical structures involved in emotional processing and gender stereotype application as well as examining cultural differences in perceptions of gender stereotypes and sexism.

Tech-Savvy Men and Caring Women: Middle School Students’ Gender Stereotypes Predict Interest in Tech-Education

The labor market is strongly gender segregated with few women working in the tech sector (e.g., IT) and few men working in the care sector (e.g., nursing). We tested the hypothesis that middle school students strongly associate technology with men and caregiving with women in a Swedish context (i.e., a country that scores high in gender equality indices), and that these gender stereotypes for tech relate to girls’ lower interest in tech-focused education. We measured technology/caregiving gender stereotypes with implicit (the Implicit Association Test) and explicit (self-report) measures in a sample of middle school students (n = 873). The results supported the main hypotheses, and corroborate Eccles’s expectancy value theory, indicating that the endorsement of implicit gender stereotypes may serve as barriers to pursuing masculine-typed career paths for women. Further, a sample of middle school teachers (n = 86) showed stronger implicit gender stereotypes than the students. Unexpectedly, middle school girls with a foreign background showed no implicit gender stereotypes, which we discuss in relation to the gender-equality paradox. These findings suggest that to fulfill the recruitment needs of an increasingly digitalized world, the tech-industry and other stakeholders should put effort into counteracting the stereotype that technology is for men.

Factors to consider from education to promote an image of science and technology with a gender perspective

The image of science influences on the decision of girls when opting for studies related to STEM disciplines, since in many cases they are perceived as masculine, due to the image promoted from different areas of society, including the education system. Consequently, women do not feel identified with these disciplines, and prejudices and beliefs are generated that promote the well-known gender gap that exists in these areas. Therefore, this article sets out the considerations to be taken into account from science and technology education to avoid showing an image of science as individual, stereotyped and elitist, among other aspects, and, ultimately, to promote an image of science and technology with a gender perspective. It is necessary to transform curricular content and teacher training following these considerations, so that students perceive a realistic image of science and technology. This will have a positive influence by minimising the Pygmalion effect that occurs in girls and helping to combat social inequality that generates the under-representation of women in scientific-technological fields.

The Impact of Self-Disclosure and Strategies for Communication Competence on Professors' Perceptions and Evaluations of Students Who Do and Do Not Stutter

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of self-disclosure and strategies for communication competence on perceptual ratings and performance evaluations of undergraduate students who do and do not stutter by professors who require oral presentations.

METHOD

Two hundred thirty-eight college instructors who require oral presentations in their classes participated in this study. Each participant viewed one video of six possible randomized conditions varying according to the presence and disclosure of stuttering (i.e., fluent, stuttering, stuttering + disclosure) and level of communication competence (i.e., high vs. low). Participants evaluated public speaking performance against a standardized rubric and rated the student along 16 personality traits.

RESULTS

Results of separate 2 × 3 analyses of variance revealed that professors perceived a student who disclosed stuttering, compared to the identical video without disclosure, more positively overall. Significant interactions between fluency (i.e., presence vs. absence of stuttering vs. disclosure of stuttering) and communication competence (i.e., high vs. low) were found for overall performance evaluation scores. The video during which the student disclosed stuttering and presented with low communication competence was given a higher score than the identical video without disclosure.

CONCLUSIONS

Professors respond positively to both strategies for high communication competence and self-disclosure. High communication competence behaviors mitigate positive feedback bias. Disclosure results in improved positive perceptions across levels of communication competence. For students presenting with low communication competence, disclosure may improve evaluation of performance in oral presentations. The greatest perceptual and evaluative benefits were achieved with the combination of the two strategies.

Implicit gender-science stereotypes and college-major intentions of italian adolescents

Gender stereotypes are often viewed as one of the root causes of the gender gap in STEM. According to Eccles’ model, they would indirectly influence major choices by shaping expectations of success and values attached to the viable options. However, empirical findings on the link between implicit gender-science stereotypes and college major intentions are limited. To fill this gap, the current study examines this association in a mixed-gender sample of 302 Italian high-school students. Logistic regression analysis revealed that implicit gender stereotypes were directly associated with females’ intention of majoring in STEM. Unlike previous findings, the mediation analysis could not confirm that other relevant factors, i.e., interest in the subject, performance at school, identification with the subject, and value attributed to the job’s salary and social utility, moderated this association.

Predicting the future impact of Computer Science researchers: Is there a gender bias?

The advent of large-scale bibliographic databases and powerful prediction algorithms led to calls for data-driven approaches for targeting scarce funds at researchers with high predicted future scientific impact. The potential side-effects and fairness implications of such approaches are unknown, however. Using a large-scale bibliographic data set of N = 111,156 Computer Science researchers active from 1993 to 2016, I build and evaluate a realistic scientific impact prediction model. Given the persistent under-representation of women in Computer Science, the model is audited for disparate impact based on gender. Random forests and Gradient Boosting Machines are used to predict researchers’ h-index in 2010 from their bibliographic profiles in 2005. Based on model predictions, it is determined whether the researcher will become a high-performer with an h-index in the top-25% of the discipline-specific h-index distribution. The models predict the future h-index with an accuracy of $$R^2 = 0.875$$ R 2 = 0.875 and correctly classify 91.0% of researchers as high-performers and low-performers. Overall accuracy does not vary strongly across researcher gender. Nevertheless, there is indication of disparate impact against women. The models under-estimate the true h-index of female researchers more strongly than the h-index of male researchers. Further, women are 8.6% less likely to be predicted to become high-performers than men. In practice, hiring, tenure, and funding decisions that are based on model predictions risk to perpetuate the under-representation of women in Computer Science.

Examining adolescent daughters' and their parents' academic-gender stereotypes: Predicting academic attitudes, ability, and STEM intentions

INTRODUCTION

Women continue to be underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and research suggests that academic-gender stereotypes can be a contributing factor. In the present research, we examined whether adolescent daughters' and their parents' gender stereotypes about math and liberal arts would predict the academic orientation of daughters at a critical time of career related decision-making.

METHODS

Participants included girls in late adolescence (N = 185, M_{age =} 17) and at least one parent (N = 230, M_{age =} 49), resulting in 147 mother-daughter dyads and 83 father-daughter dyads. Implicit academic-gender stereotypes were measured using an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and explicit stereotypes, academic attitudes, academic ability, and daughters' intentions to pursue a degree in STEM were measured using self-reports.

RESULTS

Neither mothers' nor fathers' implicit or explicit academic-gender stereotypes predicted adolescent daughters' implicit stereotypes; however, fathers' explicit stereotypes predicted daughters' explicit stereotypes. In addition, daughters' academic orientation, a latent variable composed of adolescent girls' academic attitudes, academic ability, and intentions to pursue a degree in STEM, was predicted by daughters' own implicit and explicit stereotypes. This was the case for relative orientation toward math versus liberal arts, as well as math (but not liberal arts) orientation.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest the importance of challenging academic-gender stereotypes during adolescence and suggest that at this stage in development, mothers' and fathers' academic stereotypes might have limited relation to daughters' own implicit associations with academic domains.

Global evidence of gender inequity in academic health research: a living scoping review protocol

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this review is to describe the global evidence of gender inequity among individuals with appointments at academic institutions that conduct health research, and examine how gender intersects with other social identities to influence outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

The gender demographics of universities have shifted, yet the characteristics of those who lead academic health research institutions have not reflected this change. Synthesized evidence will guide decision-making and policy development to support the progress of gender and other under-represented social identities in academia.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

This review will consider any quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods primary research that reports outcome data related to gender equity and other social identities among individuals affiliated with academic or research institutions that conduct health research, originating from any country.

METHODS

The JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and the Cochrane Collaboration's guidance on living reviews will inform the review methods. Information sources will include electronic databases, unpublished literature sources, reference scanning of relevant systematic reviews, and sources provided by experts on the research team. Searches will be run regularly to monitor the development of new literature and determine when the review will be updated. Study selection and data extraction will be conducted by two reviewers working independently, and all discrepancies will be resolved by discussion or a third reviewer. Data synthesis will summarize information using descriptive frequencies and simple thematic analysis. Results will be reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension to scoping reviews.

REGISTRATION

Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/8wk7e/.

The role of humanities in the medical curriculum: medical students' perspectives

BACKGROUND

The humanities have long been shown to play an important role in the medical school curriculum. However, few studies have looked into the opinions of medical students on the usefulness and necessity of the humanities as well as their extracurricular involvement with them. The aim of this study was to: a) understand medical students' attitude towards the humanities in medical education and b) assess their understanding of the necessary qualities of doctors and how interaction with the humanities affects the development of such attributes.

METHODS

A mixed methods survey was designed to elicit demographics, engagement, interest and perspective on curricular positioning, and to explore how students ranked the qualities of a doctor. It was distributed to medical students of all year groups in the 6-year bachelor of medicine, bachelor of surgery (MBBS) course at Imperial College London.

RESULTS

One hundred nine fully completed questionnaires were received. No significant difference was found in engagement or interest in the humanities between genders. Students felt strongly that humanities subjects shouldn't be assessed (71:18) though some felt it was necessary for engagement, while no consensus was reached on whether these subjects should be elective or not (38:31). The majority of students wanted more medical humanities to be incorporated into the traditional medical course with a preference of incorporation into the first 3 years. Junior medical students were more likely to rank empathy as a highly desirable attribute than senior students. Students provided qualitative insights into curricular positioning, assessment and value.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides the perspective of medical students on how and whether the humanities should be positioned in medical education. It may be helpful to medical schools that are committed to student involvement in curriculum design.

What Got You Here, Won't Help You There: Changing Requirements in the Pre- Versus the Post-tenure Career Stage in Academia

Despite efforts to foster gender equality in academia, women are vastly under-represented in tenured professorships, specifically in STEM disciplines. While previous research investigated structural and organizational barriers for women in academia, we explored professors’ subjective view on attributes required before and after reaching tenure. The perspective of professors is needed as they are gatekeepers when it comes to the career advancement of junior researchers. Hence, we interviewed 25 tenured STEM professors in Germany about which attributes they personally consider to be required pre- versus post-tenure and analyzed whether these attributes are associated with gender stereotypes. We found that different attributes are mentioned in the pre- versus the post-tenure career stage and that the required attributes can be associated with gender stereotypes: While agentic–stereotypically male–attributes were mentioned more frequently than communal attributes in the pre-tenure career stage, communal–stereotypically female–attributes were reported slightly more often than agentic attributes after reaching tenure. Based on these novel findings, we discuss important implications for gender research and practice to contribute to more diversity and transparency in academic career advancement.

Religiosity and identity interference among graduate students in the sciences

Individuals who hold an identity that is stigmatized in a particular social context will often, if possible, conceal that identity. While such concealment is intended to help the individual fit into that context, research has found that concealment often harms the individual's ability to form an identity and sense of belonging. The study presented here examines this dynamic as it relates to religious individuals in science. Past research suggests that being religious is a stigmatized identity within academic science and that many religious scientists conceal their religious identity to avoid that stigma. Using data generated from a survey of U.S. science graduate students and structural equation modeling, we examine concealment of religious identity among religious students and whether this concealment mediates a negative relationship between student religiosity and identification as a scientist. The analysis finds that religiosity is positively associated with concealment of religious identity, which itself is negatively associated with identification as a scientist. This study contributes to the sociological study of religion and science by shifting the focus away from epistemological conflicts and towards more social and cultural forms of religion-science conflict. These findings also contribute to research on identity conflict, stigma management, and the role of social identities in workplaces.

Text-mining forma mentis networks reconstruct public perception of the STEM gender gap in social media

Mindset reconstruction maps how individuals structure and perceive knowledge, a map unfolded here by investigating language and its cognitive reflection in the human mind, i.e., the mental lexicon. Textual forma mentis networks (TFMN) are glass boxes introduced for extracting and understanding mindsets' structure (in Latin forma mentis) from textual data. Combining network science, psycholinguistics and Big Data, TFMNs successfully identified relevant concepts in benchmark texts, without supervision. Once validated, TFMNs were applied to the case study of distorted mindsets about the gender gap in science. Focusing on social media, this work analysed 10,000 tweets mostly representing individuals' opinions at the beginning of posts. "Gender" and "gap" elicited a mostly positive, trustful and joyous perception, with semantic associates that: celebrated successful female scientists, related gender gap to wage differences, and hoped for a future resolution. The perception of "woman" highlighted jargon of sexual harassment and stereotype threat (a form of implicit cognitive bias) about women in science "sacrificing personal skills for success". The semantic frame of "man" highlighted awareness of the myth of male superiority in science. No anger was detected around "person", suggesting that tweets got less tense around genderless terms. No stereotypical perception of "scientist" was identified online, differently from real-world surveys. This analysis thus identified that Twitter discourse mostly starting conversations promoted a majorly stereotype-free, positive/trustful perception of gender disparity, aimed at closing the gap. Hence, future monitoring against discriminating language should focus on other parts of conversations like users' replies. TFMNs enable new ways for monitoring collective online mindsets, offering data-informed ground for policy making.

Gender Differences in Student Participation in an Active-Learning Classroom

Overwhelming evidence demonstrating the benefits of active-learning pedagogy has led to a shift in teaching that requires students to interact more in the classroom. To date, few studies have assessed whether there are gender-specific differences in participation in active-learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, and fewer have looked across different types of classroom participation. Over two semesters, we observed an introductory biology course at a large research-intensive university and categorized student participation into seven distinct categories to identify gender gaps in participation. Additionally, we collected student grades and administered a postcourse survey that gauged student scientific self-efficacy and salience of gender identity. We found that men participated more than expected based on the class composition in most participation categories. In particular, men were strongly overrepresented in voluntary responses after small-group discussions across both semesters. Women in the course reported lower scientific self-efficacy and greater salience of gender identity. Our results suggest that active learning in itself is not a panacea for STEM equity; rather, to maximize the benefits of active-learning pedagogy, instructors should make a concerted effort to use teaching strategies that are inclusive and encourage equitable participation by all students.

Committed to STEM? Examining Factors that Predict Occupational Commitment among Asian and White Female Students Completing STEM U.S. Postsecondary Programs

Although it is well known that women have relatively high rates of attrition from STEM occupations in the United States, there is limited empirical research on the views and experiences of female STEM degree-earners that may underlie their commitment to their chosen fields. Utilizing survey data from 229 women completing STEM degrees at two U.S. universities, the present study examines how perceptions of occupational affordances and interactions with others in the field predict their occupational STEM commitment. Additionally, the study employs an intersectional lens to consider whether the patterns of association are different for Asian women and White women. Multivariate regression analyses reveal that although communal goal affordances do not significantly predict women's occupational STEM commitment, agentic goal affordances are a strong predictor of such commitment. Regarding experiences with others in the field, results reveal that classmate interactions are not associated with STEM commitment, whereas positive faculty interactions do significantly predict such commitment. However, further analyses reveal racial differences in these patterns because agentic goal affordances are much weaker predictors of occupational STEM commitment for Asian women than for White women, and results indicate that faculty interactions are significant predictors of STEM commitment only for White women. Thus, our results strongly suggest that the theoretical models of motivation and support that underlie much of the discussion around women in STEM do not similarly apply to women from all racial backgrounds and that more research is needed that considers how both gender and race simultaneously shape STEM engagement and persistence.

Exploring Science Career Interest: Latent Profile Analysis of High School Occupational Preferences for Science

The present study evaluates high school juniors and seniors ( n = 295) to explore their preference for science as indicated by science motivation, attitude, academic experience, and interest. Latent profile analysis was used to model profiles of preferences for science with a person-centered approach. Then, the impact of self-concept variables was explored and four profiles of science interest were identified. Gender differences were of particular interest due to concerns noted in the literature, and some gender differences were identified in the present study. Covariate analysis indicated vocabulary ability and personality as significantly different for students in the high science interest profile. Implications of these results and future research directions are discussed.

Visualizing Gendered Representations of Male and Female Teachers Using a Reverse Correlation Paradigm

Abstract. Stereotypically, men are expected to outperform women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains, and women to outperform men in language. We conceptually replicated this association using reverse correlation tasks. Without available gender information, participants generated male images of physics teachers and female images of language teachers (Studies 1 and 3). Personal endorsement of respective ability stereotypes inconsistently predicted these effects (Studies 1 and 3). With unambiguous gender information (Study 2), participants generated feminized images of female language teachers and masculinized images of female physics teachers, whereas images of male teachers were unaffected by academic domain. Stereotype endorsement affected perceptions of female but not male teachers, suggesting that appearing feminine in STEM domains still signals professional mismatch.

The Relation Between Evaluation and Racial Categorization of Emotional Faces

Prior research has found that indirectly measured preference for White people over Black people is positively related to categorizing angry racially ambiguous faces as Black. This past work found no evidence that directly measured racial preferences predict this racial categorization bias (RCB), suggesting that the RCB could be a unique and easily administered tool for investigating automatic evaluation and validating automatic evaluation measures. In two studies (total N > 7,000), using structural equation models that account for error variance, multiple indirect evaluation measures were uniquely related to the RCB, thus bolstering their predictive validity. However, the RCB also correlated with self-reported evaluation, leaving psychologists without a robust, replicable outcome uniquely related to automatic evaluation. The lack of such an outcome hinders theoretical and practical progress in research on implicit social cognition.

Communicating Gender-Equality Progress, Reduces Social Identity Threats for Women Considering a Research Career

Since the majority of top-level researchers are men, how does this vertical gender-segregation affect students’ perceptions of a research career? In the current study, an experimental manipulation either reminded students of academia’s current dominance of men or of its improving gender-balance. The results showed that women primed with the dominance of men anticipated much higher social identity threats (e.g., fear of discrimination) in a future research career as compared to a control group. In contrast, women primed with the improving gender-balance anticipated much lower threat. Further, the dominance of men prime increased men’s interest in the PhD program, as compared to controls. Women’s interest was unaffected by the prime, but their lower interest as compared to men’s across conditions was mediated by their lower research self-efficacy (i.e., competence beliefs). The results imply that communicating gender-equality progress may allow women to consider a career in research without the barrier of social identity threat.

Shifting STEM Stereotypes? Considering the Role of Peer and Teacher Gender

This study builds on research on the power of counter-stereotypical cues, as well as intergroup contact theory, to consider whether interactions with a female teacher and female peers in a high school engineering classroom decrease male students' gender/science, technology, engineering, and math stereotypical beliefs and whether this varies according to the initial strength of their stereotypical views. Analyses reveal that among male students who initially reject stereotypes of male superiority, more female peers in the classroom leads to a further decrease in their stereotypical views by the end of the year. In contrast, boys who held strong stereotypical beliefs became less stereotypical by the end of the course when they had a female teacher. Implications for future research and current educational reforms are discussed.

What Is the Implicit Gender-Science Stereotype? Exploring Correlations Between the Gender-Science IAT and Self-Report Measures

Implicit measures of the gender-science stereotype are often better than explicit measures in predicting relevant outcomes. This finding could reflect a discrepancy between implicit and explicit stereotypes, but an alternative is that the implicit measure is sensitive to constructs other than the stereotype. Analyzing an archival data set (total N = 478,550), we found that self-reported liking of science versus liberal arts was the best predictor of the gender-science implicit association test (IAT). In a reanalysis of a previous study and a replication of another study, we found that evidence for the IAT’s advantage over explicit stereotypes in predicting relevant outcomes disappeared when controlling for self-reported liking. Therefore, perhaps the IAT has often outperformed the explicit stereotype because the gender-science IAT captures personal attraction, whereas the explicit stereotype does not. It is premature to conclude that implicit constructs are superior to explicit constructs in predicting science-related plans and behavior.

Implicit and Explicit Gender Beliefs in Spatial Ability: Stronger Stereotyping in Boys than Girls

Sex differences in spatial ability are a seriously debated topic, given the importance of spatial ability for success in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and girls' underrepresentation in these domains. In the current study we investigated the presence of stereotypic gender beliefs on spatial ability (i.e., "spatial ability is for boys") in 10- and 12-year-old children. We used both an explicit measure (i.e., a self-report questionnaire) and an implicit measure (i.e., a child IAT). Results of the explicit measure showed that both sexes associated spatial ability with boys, with boys holding more male stereotyped attitudes than girls. On the implicit measure, boys associated spatial ability with boys, while girls were gender-neutral. In addition, we examined the effects of gender beliefs on spatial performance, by experimentally activating gender beliefs within a pretest-instruction-posttest design. We compared three types of instruction: boys are better, girls are better, and no sex differences. No effects of these gender belief instructions were found on children's spatial test performance (i.e., mental rotation and paper folding). The finding that children of this age already have stereotypic beliefs about the spatial capacities of their own sex is important, as these beliefs may influence children's choices for spatial leisure activities and educational tracks in the STEM domain.

Do They Stay or Do They Go? The Switching Decisions of Individuals Who Enter Gender Atypical College Majors

Drawing on prior theoretical and empirical research on gender segregation within educational fields as well as occupations, we examine the pathways of college students who at least initially embark on a gender-atypical path. Specifically, we explore whether women who enter fields that are male-dominated are more likely to switch fields than their female peers who have chosen other fields, as well as whether men who enter female-dominated majors are more likely to subsequently switch fields than their male peers who have chosen a more normative field. We utilize a sample of 3702 students from a nationally representative dataset on U.S. undergraduates, the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS 2004/09). Logistic regression models examine the likelihood that students switch majors, controlling for students' social and academic background. Results reveal different patterns for men and women. Men who enter a female-dominated major are significantly more likely to switch majors than their male peers in other majors. By contrast, women in male-dominated fields are not more likely to switch fields compared to their female peers in other fields. The results are robust to supplementary analyses that include alternative specifications of the independent and dependent variables. The implications of our findings for the maintenance of gendered occupational segregation are discussed.

Stereotypes About Gender and Science

We conducted two studies and our primary goal was to assess the similarity between stereotypes about women and men and stereotypes about successful scientists. In addition, we examined the degree to which scientists, men, and women are seen as agentic or communal. Results revealed greater similarity between stereotypes about men and stereotypes about scientists than between stereotypes about women and scientists. Men and scientists were seen as highly agentic, women as highly communal, and scientists as less communal than either men or women. The higher the proportion of women in a scientific field, the more similar the stereotypes of scientists in that field were to stereotypes about women. Female participants perceived more similarity between women and scientists and judged women to be more agentic than male participants did. The results are consistent with role-congruity and lack-of-fit theories that report incompatibility of female gender stereotypes with stereotypes about high-status occupational roles. The results demonstrate that women are perceived to lack the qualities needed to be successful scientists, which may contribute to discrimination and prejudice against female scientists. A podcast conversation with the author of this article is available to PWQ subscribers on PWQ's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/supplemental

Psychosocial Pathways to STEM Engagement among Graduate Students in the Life Sciences

Despite growing diversity among life sciences professionals, members of historically underrepresented groups (e.g., women) continue to encounter barriers to academic and career advancement, such as subtle messages and stereotypes that signal low value for women, and fewer opportunities for quality mentoring relationships. These barriers reinforce the stereotype that women's gender is incompatible with their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field, and can interfere with their sense of belonging and self-efficacy within STEM. The present work expands this literature in two ways, by 1) focusing on a distinct period in women's careers that has been relatively understudied, but represents a critical period when career decisions are made, that is, graduate school; and 2) highlighting the buffering effect of one critical mechanism against barriers to STEM persistence, that is, perceived support from advisors. Results of the present study show that perceived support from one's advisor may promote STEM engagement among women by predicting greater gender-STEM identity compatibility, which in turn predicts greater STEM importance among women (but not men). STEM importance further predicts higher sense of belonging in STEM for both men and women and increased STEM self-efficacy for women. Finally, we describe the implications of this work for educational policy.

Trapped in the gender stereotype? The image of science among secondary school students and teachers

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender stereotype of science by analysing the semantic attributes of gender in relation to three science subjects – chemistry, mathematics, and physics – among students and their science teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

– This cross-sectional study applied a survey of 3,045 students and 123 teachers in secondary schools. The gendered image of science was assessed using a semantic differential consisting of 25 pairs of adjectives with semantically opposite meanings.

Findings

– In summary, the results of the study demonstrate that from the female students’ perspective mathematics and physics are negatively related to female gender, whereas chemistry is neither significantly related to the male nor to the female profile. From the male students’ point of view mathematics is negatively related to the female gender, whereas chemistry and physics are positively related to the male gender. In the science teachers’ perception chemistry and physics combine feminine and masculine attributes, whereas the teachers’ perception of mathematics matches only with the male, but not with the female gender.

Originality/value

– In contrast to previous research, the study is the first to analyse the gender stereotype of chemistry as well as to assess the gender image of three science subjects from students’ and teachers’ perspectives.

Gender gaps in achievement and participation in multiple introductory biology classrooms

Although gender gaps have been a major concern in male-dominated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines such as physics and engineering, the numerical dominance of female students in biology has supported the assumption that gender disparities do not exist at the undergraduate level in life sciences. Using data from 23 large introductory biology classes for majors, we examine two measures of gender disparity in biology: academic achievement and participation in whole-class discussions. We found that females consistently underperform on exams compared with males with similar overall college grade point averages. In addition, although females on average represent 60% of the students in these courses, their voices make up less than 40% of those heard responding to instructor-posed questions to the class, one of the most common ways of engaging students in large lectures. Based on these data, we propose that, despite numerical dominance of females, gender disparities remain an issue in introductory biology classrooms. For student retention and achievement in biology to be truly merit based, we need to develop strategies to equalize the opportunities for students of different genders to practice the skills they need to excel.

Beyond Performance: A Motivational Experiences Model of Stereotype Threat

The contributing role of stereotype threat (ST) to learning and performance decrements for stigmatized students in highly evaluative situations has been vastly documented and is now widely known by educators and policy makers. However, recent research illustrates that underrepresented and stigmatized students' academic and career motivations are influenced by ST more broadly, particularly through influences on achievement orientations, sense of belonging, and intrinsic motivation. Such a focus moves conceptualizations of ST effects in education beyond the influence on a student's performance, skill level, and feelings of self-efficacy per se to experiencing greater belonging uncertainty and lower interest in stereotyped tasks and domains. These negative experiences are associated with important outcomes such as decreased persistence and domain identification, even among students who are high in achievement motivation. In this vein, we present and review support for the Motivational Experience Model of ST, a self-regulatory model framework for integrating research on ST, achievement goals, sense of belonging, and intrinsic motivation to make predictions for how stigmatized students' motivational experiences are maintained or disrupted, particularly over long periods of time.