Examining how a documentary film can serve as an intervention to shift attitudes and behaviours around sexism in STEM

"Picture a Scientist," a documentary featuring stories and research about bias in STEM, reached a large international audience. Yet, the extent to which this type of engaging media can impact gender bias remains unclear. In a unique collaboration between film creators and researchers, the current large-scale field studies explored whether "Picture a Scientist" functioned as an intervention and persuasive message targeting sexism in STEM. Study 1 found viewers who indicated more knowledge and stronger emotions, perspective-taking, and transportation after the film were more inspired to continue learning sexism in STEM and combating unfair treatment, suggesting the documentary engaged both classic and narrative persuasion processes. Employing a quasi-experimental design, Study 2 demonstrated that compared to those who had not watched the film (but intended to), participants who had viewed the film indicated higher awareness of gender bias, stronger intentions to address this bias, and participants in leadership reported stronger intentions to enact inclusive policies (for example, making it easier to report mistreatment). Our findings suggest that the use of this documentary may be a relatively low-cost and easily scalable online intervention, particularly when organizations lack resources for in-person workshops. These studies can help inform organizational trainings using this or similar documentaries.

Bias intervention messaging in student evaluations of teaching: The role of gendered perceptions of bias

Many studies have documented discrepancies in student evaluation of teaching ratings between male and female instructors and between ethnic majority and minority instructors. Given the importance of such ratings to academic careers and the likelihood of potential intergroup bias, it is crucial that institutions consider approaches to mitigate such biases. Several recent studies have found that simple bias mitigation messaging can be effective in reducing gender and other biases. In the present research, students enrolled in several large Faculty of Science undergraduate courses at an Australian university were recruited on a volunteer basis via the course learning management system. Half of the participants were randomly assigned an intervention message highlighting potential biases relating to gender and language background. Data from 185 respondents were analysed using Bayesian ordinal regression models assessing the impact of message exposure on evaluation scores. Reading a bias intervention message caused students to significantly adjust their scores, with the nature of that change dependent on student and instructor characteristics. Among male students, the bias intervention message significantly increased scores for all except male instructors with English speaking backgrounds, for whom there was no significant impact of the message. In contrast, among female students, the bias intervention message significantly decreased scores for male instructors with English speaking backgrounds only. The sample showed an overall decrease in scores in the intervention group relative to the control group. This is the first study to detect a negative impact of bias intervention messaging on SET scores. Our results suggest students may not acknowledge their own potential bias towards instructors with whom they share similar demographic backgrounds. In conclusion, bias intervention messaging may be a simple method of mitigating bias, but it may lead to consequences in which one or more groups receive lower ratings as a result of the correction.

The effects of self-disclosure and gender on a climate scientist's credibility and likability on social media

To examine whether different types of disclosure made by climate scientists on social media influence perceived source credibility (i.e. competence, integrity, benevolence) and likability, we conducted a 2 (self-disclosure type: personal vs political) × 3 (proportion of posts including a self-disclosure: 20% vs 50% vs 80%) × 2 (gender identity of scientist: male vs female) between-subjects experiment (N = 734). We found that people liked the scientist more for a personal than political disclosure, rated them as being more competent for a political disclosure, and liked a female scientist more than a male scientist. However, scientist's gender did not moderate the effect of disclosure type or the effect of participants' gender. Our results suggest distinct benefits when scientists deliver different types of messages on social media, although disclosure is unlikely to have substantial effects on lay judgments of scientists' credibility.

A 100-day mentoring program leads to positive shifts in girls' perceptions and attitudes towards biomechanics and related STEM disciplines

The gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is among the widest across education and professional fields, with an underrepresentation of girls and women, particularly in engineering and biomechanics. This issue begins early in education and worsens as females progress into more senior roles. To address this gap, we designed and implemented the Biomechanics Research and Innovation Challenge (BRInC), a 100-day STEM program focused on mentoring and role modelling to engage high school girls and early-career biomechanists at key phases where they most commonly disengage in STEM. We evaluated the influence of the program on (i) identity and perceptions towards science, engineering, and biomechanics; (ii) attitudes towards biomechanics, maths and science; and (iii) attitudes towards gender bias, education and career aspirations in STEM, within high school girls following participation in the BRInC program. We observed significant and positive shifts in girls' perceptions of both biomechanics and engineering. Participation in the program appeared to lead to favourable shifts in attitudes towards biomechanics, maths, and science and fostered a positive influence on girls' education and career aspirations, igniting an interest in future research opportunities. Innovative STEM engagement programs, such as BRInC, highlight the promising potential of targeted and bespoke approaches to address the underrepresentation of females in biomechanics and STEM-related education and careers. Future programs should strive to enhance socioeconomic and cultural diversity, employ whole of life-cycle approaches by offering programs for girls and women at various phases of the STEM pathway, and prioritize impact assessments to effectively monitor progress.

Faith and facts: Exploring the intersection of religion and science among anatomy educators

The intersection of religion and science often elicits polarizing views among scientists, though approximately half of American scientists identify as religious. Mounting evidence also supports the role of spirituality in comprehensive patient care. The purpose of this study was to explore the religiosity of faculty who teach in the anatomical sciences at U.S. colleges and universities. Surveys were administered to anatomists through two professional societies. Two-thirds (64.9%, 74/114) of respondents identified as religious, 26.3% (30/114) as atheist, and 8.8% (10/114) as agnostic. Most respondents (64.9%, 74/114) disagreed with the statement, "There is no place for religion and science to intersect." Approximately one in three respondents expressed concern that sharing/disclosing their religious beliefs would negatively affect the perceptions of colleagues (32.5%, 37/114) and students (28.9%, 33/114) toward them. Faculty at faith-based institutions were more open to disclosing their beliefs (p = 0.045), and highly religious individuals were more concerned (p = 0.001). Fewer than one-fifth of respondents 17.5% (20/114) personally experienced mistreatment or discrimination within academic settings due to their religious beliefs. Most respondents held politically liberal-leaning views (71.0%, 76/107). Highly religious individuals were more likely to be politically conservative (p < 0.001). Overall, this study demonstrates that the number of anatomists who identify as religious may be higher than that of other biological disciplines and that mistreatment due to religious views remains a challenge for some in the profession. Continued dialogue regarding the role of religion in professional identity expression may be an important step in mitigating religion-focused mistreatment and discrimination in academic settings.

'She is failing; he is learning': Gender-differentiated attributions for girls' and boys' errors

BACKGROUND

According to gender-differentiated attributions of failure in the STEM field, errors tend to be attributed to internal factors more to girls than to boys.

AIMS

This experimental study explored factors influencing gender-differentiated teachers' internal attributions of girls' and boys' errors and the consequent likelihood of teachers' hesitancy to offer educational robotics (ER) courses to them. The predictions were as follows: (1) the likelihood of teachers' hesitancy would be related to gender-differentiated internal attributions of errors based on expectations of a low natural aptitude for girls; and (2) teachers with high levels of gender stereotypes would be more hesitant about offering ER to girls than to boys via the mediation of internal attributions of errors as being due to girls' low levels of natural aptitude for ER.

SAMPLE AND METHODS

In this experimental study, 155 Italian teachers (M = 38.59 years, SD = 8.20) responded to a questionnaire at the end of a course on ER in 2022. Teachers randomly read one of two vignettes describing a girl's or a boy's error during an ER course.

RESULTS

Results of multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses confirmed both predictions.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to reduce the gender STEM gap, the tendency to attribute girls' errors to internal and natural causes should be better inspected.

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.

The invisible frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining sourcing and the underrepresentation of female expertise in pandemic news coverage

Several studies have shown that female experts are seldom quoted within news media coverage about health and science issues. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent race for a vaccine, female health and science workers (broadly defined) were at the forefront of the discovery, testing, and implementation of several vaccinations. This study examines the extent to which female experts were represented in news coverage about the vaccine over a 2-year period in The New York Times (n = 1978). Of the expert sources quoted (3,555), the majority were male (n = 2417) as compared to female (n = 1138). This pattern held when looking specifically at researchers and medical experts. When both a male and female source were quoted, however, females were quoted first, suggesting that females were given the role of being a primary rather than supporting expert. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Seeking evidence and explanation signals religious and scientific commitments

Who is more committed to science: the person who learns about a scientific consensus and doesn't ask questions, or the person who learns about a scientific consensus and decides to pursue further inquiry? Who exhibits greater commitment to religious teachings: the person who accepts doctrine without question, or the person who seeks further evidence and explanations? Across three experiments (N = 801) we investigate the inferences drawn about an individual on the basis of their epistemic behavior - in particular, their decision to pursue or forgo further inquiry (evidence or explanation) about scientific or religious claims. We find that the decision to pursue further inquiry (about science or religion) is taken to signal greater commitment to science and to truth, as well as trustworthiness and good moral character (Studies 1-3). This is true even in the case of claims regarding controversial science topics, such as anthropogenic climate change (Study 3). In contrast, the decision to forgo further inquiry is taken to signal greater commitment to religion, but only when the claim under consideration contains religious content (Study 1-3). These findings shed light on perceived scientific and religious norms in our predominantly American and Christian sample, as well as the rich social inferences drawn on the basis of epistemic behavior.

Public perception of scientists: Experimental evidence on the role of sociodemographic, partisan, and professional characteristics

Previous research shows that public trust in scientists is often bound up with the messages that they convey and the context in which they communicate. However, in the current study, we examine how the public perceives scientists based on the characteristics of scientists themselves, irrespective of their scientific message and its context. Using a quota sample of U.S. adults, we investigate how scientists' sociodemographic; partisan; and professional characteristics affect preferences and trust towards them as a scientific adviser to local government. We find that scientists' party identification and professional characteristics appear to be prominent to understand public preferences towards them.

Gender equity in the scientific nursing journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports: A cross-sectional study

Background

Scientific activity has been connected to the proven inequality between women and men. To examine the state of gender equality in nursing research by analyzing the representation of male and female as editors and as authors of articles published in scientific journals.

Method

A cross-sectional study was carried out between September-2019 and May-2020. All the scientific publications published in 115 nursing journals indexed in the Journal Citation Reports in the years 2008, 2013, and 2017 were chosen as analysis units. The main variables studied were gender of the “journal editor”; gender of the “first author”, “last author”, “corresponding author”, and “first author in funded articles”. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed.

Results

The proportion of male editors in 2008, 2013, and 2017 was 23.3, 19, and 18.5% respectively, with a male/female ratio of 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5. Male editors are mainly found in the journals of the first quartile (Q1 = 33.8%, ratio1:2), compared to the journals of the fourth quartile (Q4 = 6.6%, ratio1:14), p &lt; 0.01. The male authorship position was “last author” (30.9%, ratio1:2), “corresponding author” (23.3%, ratio 1:3), “first author” (22.1%, ratio 1:4) and “first author in funded articles” (21.8%, ratio 1:4). Furthermore, in 19.5%, of the articles there were more male authors. The percentage of articles with male authorship increased from 2008 to 2017, “first author” (21.1–23.4%; p &lt; 0.01), “last author” (30.0–31.1%; p = 0.22), “corresponding author” (22.5–24.2; p = 0.01), and “first author in funded articles” (18.1–25.9%; p &lt; 0.001).

Conclusions

Men are over-represented in the editor role in the most prestigious nursing journals. There are a higher proportion of male authors in the main positions of authorship.

Science for Others or the Self? Presumed Motives for Science Shape Public Trust in Science

Science can improve life around the world, but public trust in science is at risk. Understanding the presumed motives of scientists and science can inform the social psychological underpinnings of public trust in science. Across five independent datasets, perceiving the motives of science and scientists as prosocial promoted public trust in science. In Studies 1 and 2, perceptions that science was more prosocially oriented were associated with greater trust in science. Studies 3 and 4a & 4b employed experimental methods to establish that perceiving other-oriented motives, versus self-oriented motives, enhanced public trust in science. Respondents recommend greater funding allocations for science subdomains described as prosocially oriented versus power-oriented. Emphasizing the prosocial aspects of science can build stronger foundations of public trust in science.

Sure you are ready? Gendered arguments in recruitment for high-status positions in male-dominated fields

Recruitment contexts such as STEM professorships promote clearly defined selection criteria and objective assessment. We illuminate in these contexts, the subjective interpretation of seemingly objective criteria and gendered arguments in discussions of applicants. Additionally, we explore gender bias despite comparable applicant profiles investigating how specific success factors lead to selection recommendations for male and female applicants. Implementing a mixed methods approach, we aim to highlight the influence of heuristics, stereotyping, and signaling in applicant assessments. We interviewed 45 STEM professors. They answered qualitative open-ended interview questions, and evaluated hypothetical applicant profiles, qualitatively and quantitatively. The applicant profiles enabled a conjoint experiment with different applicant attributes varied across the profiles (i.e., publications, willingness to cooperate, network recommendation, and applicant gender), the interviewees indicating scores of selection recommendation while thinking aloud. Our findings reveal gendered arguments, i.e., questioning women potentially fueled by a perception of women's exceptional status and perceived self-questioning of women. Furthermore, they point to gender-independent and gender-dependent success patterns, thereby to potential success factors particularly for female applicants. We contextualize and interpret our quantitative findings in light of professors' qualitative statements.

The gender gap in political psychology

Introduction

I investigated the authorship gender gap in research on political psychology.

Methods

The material comprises 1,166 articles published in the field's flagship journal Political Psychology between 1997 and 2021. These were rated for author gender, methodology, purpose, and topic.

Results

Women were underrepresented as authors (37.1% women), single authors (33.5% women), and lead authors (35.1% women). There were disproportionately many women lead authors in papers employing interviews or qualitative methodology, and in research with an applied purpose (these were all less cited). In contrast, men were overrepresented as authors of papers employing quantitative methods. Regarding topics, women were overrepresented as authors on Gender, Identity, Culture and Language, and Religion, and men were overrepresented as authors on Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology.

Discussion

The (denigrated) methods, purposes, and topics of women doing research on politics correspond to the (denigrated) "feminine style" of women doing politics grounding knowledge in the concrete, lived reality of others; listening and giving voice to marginalized groups' subjective experiences; and yielding power to get things done for others.

A Wheelchair Locomotion Interface in a VR Disability Simulation Reduces Implicit Bias

This research investigates how experiencing virtual embodiment in a wheelchair affects implicit bias towards people who use wheelchairs. We also investigate how receiving information from a virtual instructor who uses a wheelchair affects implicit bias towards people who use wheelchairs. Implicit biases are actions or judgments of people towards various concepts or stereotypes (e.g., races). We hypothesized that experiencing a Disability Simulation (DS) through an avatar in a wheelchair and receiving information from an instructor with a disability will have a significant effect on participants' ability to recall disability-related information and will reduce implicit biases towards people who use wheelchairs. To investigate this hypothesis, a 2x2 between-subjects user study was conducted where participants experienced an immersive VR DS that presents information about Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with factors of instructor (i.e., instructor with a disability versus instructor without a disability) and locomotion interface (i.e., without a disability - locomotion through in-place-walking, with a disability - locomotion in a wheelchair). Participants took a disability-focused Implicit Association Test two times, once before and once after experiencing the DS. They also took a test of knowledge retention about MS. The primary result is: experiencing the DS through locomotion in a wheelchair was better for both the disability-related information recall task and reducing implicit bias towards people who use wheelchairs.

Gender Disparity in First and Senior Authorship in Brazilian Cardiology Journals

BACKGROUND

Despite the importance of women in clinical research, no assessment has been made of the fraction of women in a leadership positions in the Cardiology journals of the SBC.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the fraction of female authors in the International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences (IJCS) and the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia (ABC Cardiol) over the last decades.

METHODS

We searched the original articles of the ABC Cardiol, from 2000 to 2019, and of the IJCS, from 2010 to 2019. We surveyed the number of first and senior female authors and the total number of original articles from 2010 to 2019. We calculated the total proportion of female authorship and compared the first quinquennium with the second. Only data from the ABC Cardiol were analyzed to assess the temporal evolution of the two decades. We used the chi-square test to assess the differences within each journal and between them. The IBM® SPSS® software was used in the analyses. The level of significance adopted was 5%.

RESULTS

From 2010 to 2019, 1,157 original articles were published in the ABC Cardiol and 398 in the IJCS. We observed that women are more prevalent as first authors in the IJCS compared to the ABC Cardiol, but men prevail as senior authors in both journals. From 2010 to 2019, there was no significant change in the proportion of female authorship. Throughout the decades analyzed for the ABC Cardiol, there was a projection of linear growth of female authorship, with the slope of the line being greater in the first authorship than in senior authorship.

CONCLUSIONS

There is gender disparity, with lower female representativeness in authorship in the articles from the Brazilian Cardiology journals analyzed: Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia and International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. We believe that based on these results, more efforts should be implemented in the search for gender equity in the cardiology scientific production published by these journals.

An Alternative Procedure for Subgroup Analyses in the Think Manager–Think Male Paradigm

Abstract. Studies in the think manager–think male paradigm ( Schein, 1973 ) routinely observe gender–leader similarity variation across participant subgroups (e.g., men and women). The traditional use of intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to measure similarity hinders researchers’ ability to fully understand the nature of these relationships. This article advocates for a regression framework ( Edwards, 1995 ), which avoids problems associated with ICCs. A think manager–think male study based on rating content from Fischbach et al. (2015) was conducted to demonstrate the advantages of this procedure. The results were then compared against the traditional ICC analysis. Overall, it is argued that a regression framework is more useful in testing hypotheses about the relationship between participant characteristics and gender–leader similarity than ICCs.

Undergraduates’ pSTEM identity and motivation in relation to gender- and race-based perceived representation, stereotyped beliefs, and implicit associations

Women and underrepresented minoritized (URM) persons remain marginalized in physical science, technology, engineering, and math (pSTEM). Relative to non-URM men, URM women may experience a double disadvantage based on their gender and race whereby they observe few same-gender and few same-race role models in pSTEM while additionally internalizing stereotypes linking pSTEM with non-URM men. Our hypothesized model was partly supported in a sample of undergraduates ( N = 1,068; 68% women, 44% URM). First, perceiving same-gender or same-race pSTEM role models predicted lower explicit stereotypes among women and URM individuals regarding gender and race, respectively. Second, explicit and implicit associations linking pSTEM with men and White/Asian persons predicted (a) lower pSTEM identity among women and URM students and (b) higher identity among men and non-URM students. Finally, both implicit and explicit pSTEM identity positively predicted expectancy–value beliefs.

The (im-)moral scientist? Measurement and framing effects shape the association between scientists and immorality

Recent years have not only seen growing public distrust in science, but also in the people conducting science. Yet, attitudes toward scientists remain largely unexplored, and the limited body of literature that exists points to an interesting ambivalence. While survey data suggest scientists to be positively evaluated (e.g., respected and trusted), research has found scientists to be perceived as capable of immoral behavior. We report two experiments aimed at identifying what contributes to this ambivalence through systematic investigations of stereotypical perceptions of scientists. In these studies, we particularly focus on two potential sources of inconsistencies in previous work: divergent operationalizations of morality (measurement effects), and different specifications of the broad group of scientists (framing effects). Results show that scientists are generally perceived as more likely to violate binding as opposed to individualizing moral foundations, and that they deviate from control groups more strongly on the latter. The extent to which different morality measures reflect the differentiation between binding and individualizing moral foundations at least partially accounts for previous contradictory findings. Moreover, the results indicate large variation in perceptions of different types of scientists: people hold more positive attitudes toward university-affiliated scientists as compared to industry-affiliated scientists, with perceptions of the 'typical scientist' more closely resembling the latter. Taken together, the findings have important academic ramifications for science skepticism, morality, and stereotyping research as well as valuable practical implications for successful science communication.

Engagement patterns with female and male scientists on Facebook

Social networks are becoming powerful agents mediating between science and the public. Considering the public tendency to associate science with men makes investigating representations of female scientists in social media important. Here we set out to find whether the commenting patterns to text-based science communication are similar. To examine these, we collected and analyzed posts (165) and their comments (10,006) published between 2016 and 2018 on an Israeli popular science Facebook page. We examined post characteristics as well as the relevance and sentiment of comments. Several gendered differences in commenting patterns emerged. Posts published by female scientists received more irrelevant and fewer relevant comments. Female scientists received more hostile and positive comments. These findings are consistent with results of previous research, but also demonstrate a more nuanced understanding that when female scientists write using scientific jargon (usually an unwanted feature of popular science writing), they received less hostile comments and were given less advice.

Brazilian female researchers do not publish less despite an academic structure that deepens sex gap

In the 21st century, we still need to talk about gender inequality in science. Even with the sharp growth of studies on this theme over the last decades, we are still trying to convince our peers that diversity matters and, if embraced, makes better science. Part of this drawback can be related to the need for data to support effective proposals to change the academic scenario. In order to close some of those gaps, we here analyze 1) the profile of Brazilian researchers based on production, impact, and membership to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, 2) participation in the Editorial boards of Brazilian journals dedicated to Entomology, and, 3) the academic scenario of Brazilian Entomology focusing on the sex of the first and last authors in peer-reviewed international publications related to Entomology. We aimed to provide a deeper look on the Brazilian Entomology scenario and to expand the amount of data availability to stimulate and foster a mind-change in the current academic structure. We performed scientometric searches and analysis using different platforms and found that the number and impact of the publications by female researchers, as observed by relative numbers, are not less than that of males. Despite that, female researchers are less represented at the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and editorial boards, reinforcing the lack of women recognition in science. Thus, we observe that some narratives related to the productivity gap can be misleading to a perpetuation of our internal and structural biases. We here expanded data from a previous paper where we scrutinized the Brazilian Entomology scenario and discussed the patches and systems that maintain gender gap in science.

Stereotypic beliefs contribute to gender disparities in the field of economics

Why are women under-represented in the field of economics relative to men? We propose that stereotypes associated with economists contribute to women's interest in the field. We test the predictions that economists are stereotypically associated with low levels of communion and high levels of agency and that this type of stereotype content is associated with women's lower interest in the field. In Study 1 (N = 883), stereotypes associated with people in the field of economics were masculine, characterized with low levels of communion and high levels of agency. In Study 2 (N = 182), undergraduate women were less interested than men in majoring in fields that share the same pattern of stereotyping found for economists in Study 1. The results from this study have important implications for increasing young women's interest and representation in the field of economics.

Interview with an avatar: Comparing online and virtual reality perspective taking for gender bias in STEM hiring decisions

Virtual perspective taking can reduce unconscious bias and increase empathy and prosocial behavior toward individuals who are marginalized based on group stereotypes such as age, race, or socioeconomic status. However, the question remains whether this approach might reduce implicit gender bias, and the degree to which virtual immersion contributes to behavioral modulation following perspective taking tasks is unknown. Accordingly, we investigate the role of virtual perspective taking for binary gender using an online platform (Study 1) and immersive virtual reality (Study 2). Female and male undergraduates performed a simulated interview while virtually represented by an avatar that was either congruent or incongruent with their own gender. All participants rated a male and a female candidate on competence, hireability, likeability, empathy, and interpersonal closeness and then chose one of these two equivalently qualified candidates to hire for a laboratory assistant position in the male dominated industry of information technology. Online perspective taking did not reveal a significant influence of avatar gender on candidate ratings or candidate choice, whereas virtual reality perspective taking resulted in significant changes to participant behavior following exposure to a gender-incongruent avatar (e.g., male embodied as female), such that men showed preference for the female candidate and women showed preference for the male candidate. Although between-group differences in candidate ratings were subtle, rating trends were consistent with substantial differences in candidate choice, and this effect was greater for men. Compared to an online approach, virtual reality perspective taking appears to exert greater influence on acute behavioral modulation for gender bias due to its ability to fully immerse participants in the experience of (temporarily) becoming someone else, with empathy as a potential mechanism underlying this phenomenon.

Can a Scientist Be a Young, Attractive Woman? The Stereotype of a Scientist and the Lexical Choices of Women and Men

The question of the conformance of a researcher's features to the stereotype of a scientist is rarely addressed in the context of scientific research. We decided to examine its significance in two experiments involving women and men in which the persons conducting the experiment had features respectively conforming and not conforming to the stereotype of a scientist. Both experiments were carried out on an interactive model and the dependent variables were length of utterance and lexical choices. We chose to use linguistic material because, as classical research shows, it is particularly susceptible to the influence of social context and features of the interlocutor. To operationalise the dependent variable, we used Ertel's Speech Style Quotients. The results of both experiments were found to be significant for context comparisons but non-significant for gender, which confirms the importance of features of the interlocutor in determining utterance length and lexical choices.

Trait Stereotypes of Scientists as Analytical and Cold Align With Perceptions of Men More Than Women on Both Implicit and Explicit Measures

Previous work using implicit tasks has demonstrated associations at a categorical level between men and science-related words (e.g., chemistry, physics, engineering). The current research explores trait attributes, examining the overlap in trait stereotypes of scientists with trait stereotypes of men and women, using both implicit and explicit stereotyping measures. Study 1 identified traits stereotypically associated with scientists along the analytic and cold dimensions, and counterstereotypic traits on unquestioning and warm dimensions. Study 2 demonstrated strong gender-scientist stereotypes on both explicit and implicit measures such that men were seen as more analytic and cold and less unquestioning and warm than women. Although robust effects were observed on both types of measures, their correlation was weak and nonsignificant. The misfit between trait perceptions of scientists and women, whether measured implicitly or explicitly, suggests trait stereotypes help maintain the gender imbalance in physical science fields.

Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors Moderate Associations between Work Stress and Exhaustion: Testing the Job Demands-Resources Model in Academic Staff at an Austrian Medical University

The time-intensive work of publishing in scientific journals is an important indicator of job performance that is given much weight during promotion procedures for academic positions. The current study applied the job demands–resources model and analyzed whether family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) moderated associations between work stress and feelings of exhaustion as a job resource and whether feelings of exhaustion ultimately mediated the link between work stress and academic employees’ publication activity. The current online cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in 133 academic employees (65.4% women, 34.6% men; M_age = 41.9, SD = 10.1) at an Austrian medical university and assessed employees’ numbers of publications, H-index, work stress, feelings of exhaustion, FSSB, and work–family services used. Manifest path models revealed that FSSB moderated the link between experiencing high levels of work stress and strong feelings of exhaustion, especially in employees who had at least one child below the age of 18. Part-time employment was most strongly linked with lower numbers of publications and lower H-index levels. The finding that FSSB acted as a job resource mostly for employees with at least one child below 18 underlines the fact that FSSB is different from other forms of supervisor support. The current study supports recommendations to increase the amount of work–family services and to change organizational norms to be supportive of the successful management of family and work obligations.

I am a scientist . . . Ask Me Anything: Examining differences between male and female scientists participating in a Reddit AMA session

This article investigates interactions between scientists and the online community Reddit. Given that past research on computer-mediated communication between scientists and the public found that male scientists are typically more popular in online spaces than female scientists, we examined differences in popularity as well as potential gendered differences in communication style. Specifically, we examined 269 Reddit "Ask Me Anything" sessions as well as the comments linked with each session (n = 125,580). Overall, we find that male scientists receive more comments on their sessions, but the score an individual comment receives does not differ by gender. Similarly, we find that the message complexity of the comments does not differ by gender. Taken together, these suggest that Reddit AMA sessions might be an effective platform for both male and female scientists to engage with the public.

Next Steps: Advocating for Women in Orthopaedic Surgery

Orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse of all medical specialties, by both sex and race. Diversity among orthopaedic trainees is the lowest in medicine, and growth in percentage representation is the lowest of all surgical subspecialties. Women comprise only 6% of orthopaedic surgeons and 16% of orthopaedic surgery trainees. This extreme lack of diversity in orthopaedics limits creative problem-solving and the potential of our profession. Women in orthopaedics encounter sexual harassment, overt discrimination, and implicit bias, which create barriers to training, career satisfaction, and success. Women are underrepresented in leadership positions, perpetuating the lack of diversity through poor visibility to potential candidates, which impedes recruitment. Correction will require a concerted effort, as acknowledged by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons leadership who included a goal and plan to increase diversity in the 2019 to 2023 Strategic Plan. Recommended initiatives include support for pipeline programs that increase diversity of the candidate pool; sexual harassment and implicit bias acknowledgement, education, and corrective action; and the active sponsorship of qualified, capable women by organizational leaders. To follow, women will lend insight from their diverse viewpoints to research questions, practice problems, and clinical conundrums of our specialty, augmenting the profession and improving patient outcomes.

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.

Biased perceptions against female scientists affect intentions to get vaccinated for COVID-19

Based on role congruity theory, we investigated how gender bias may influence public attitudes toward the vaccine in Turkey. Using a between-subjects design, we tested whether an emphasis on the female versus the male scientist as the vaccine's inventor in a news story influenced attitudes about the BioNTech vaccine and vaccination intentions. Partly confirming role congruity theory, three-way interaction results from 665 participants demonstrated that among male participants with a stronger belief in traditional gender roles (compared to males with lower belief), the presence of the female inventor, either by herself or together with the male inventor, decreased the perceived efficacy and safety of the vaccine and reduced intentions to be vaccinated by the BioNTech vaccine. We did not observe such differences for women. These findings highlight how gender bias may influence individuals' information processing and decision making in a way that may have negative consequences for public health.

Out of the Lab and Into the World: Analyses of Social Roles and Gender in Profiles of Scientists in The New York Times and The Scientist

Although representations of female scientists in the media have increased over time, stereotypical portrayals of science persist. In-depth, contemporary profiles of scientists’ roles have an opportunity to reflect or to challenge stereotypes of science and of gender. We employed content and linguistic analyses to examine whether publicly available profiles of scientists from New York Times and The Scientist Magazine support or challenge pervasive beliefs about science. Consistent with broader stereotypes of STEM fields, these portrayals focused more on agency than communality. However, profiles also challenged stereotypes through integrating communality, purpose, and growth. This analysis also found similar presence of communal and agentic constructs for both female and male scientists. The current findings highlight the importance of considering counterstereotypic representations of science in the media: Communicating messages to the public that challenge existing beliefs about the culture of science may be one path toward disrupting stereotypes that dissuade talented individuals from choosing science pathways.

He’s Overqualified, She’s Highly Committed: Qualification Signals and Gendered Assumptions About Job Candidate Commitment

Evidence suggests that possessing more qualifications than is necessary for a job (i.e., overqualification) negatively impacts job candidates’ outcomes. However, unfair discounting of women’s qualifications and negative assumptions about women’s career commitment imply that female candidates must be overqualified to achieve the same outcomes as male candidates. Across two studies, experimental and qualitative data provide converging evidence in support of this assertion, showing that gender differences in how overqualification impacts hiring outcomes are due to the type of commitment—firm or career—that is most salient during evaluations. Overqualified men are perceived to be less committed to the prospective firm, and less likely to be hired as a result, than sufficiently qualified men. But overqualified women are perceived to be more committed to their careers than qualified women because overqualification helps overcome negative assumptions that are made about women’s career commitment. Overqualification also does not decrease perceptions of women’s firm commitment like it does for men: supplemental qualitative and experimental evidence reveals that hiring managers rationalize women’s overqualification in a way they cannot for men by relying on gender stereotypes about communality and assumptions about candidates’ experiences with gender discrimination at prior firms. These findings suggest that female candidates must demonstrate their commitment along two dimensions (firm and career), but male candidates need only demonstrate their commitment along one dimension (firm). Taken together, differences in how overqualification impacts male versus female candidates’ outcomes are evidence of gender inequality in hiring processes, operating through gendered assumptions about commitment.

Academics as Agentic Superheroes: Female academics' lack of fit with the agentic stereotype of success limits their career advancement

Gender gaps in academia persist with women being less likely to attain leadership, earning lower salaries, and receiving less research funding and resources compared to their male peers. The current research demonstrates yet another, more intangible gender gap in academia called lack of fit, whereby compared to male academics, female academics perceive higher misfit between their professional self-concept and the agentic 'superhero' stereotype of the successful academic. The entire population of Dutch academics (i.e., assistant, associate, and full professors from 14 universities) was approached to participate in a nationwide survey. Results from this unique dataset (N = 3978) demonstrate that academics perceive agency (e.g., self-confident, self-focused, competitive) as more descriptive of the stereotypical successful academic than communality (e.g., team-oriented, good teacher, collegial). Importantly, early career female academics perceived highest lack of fit with this narrowly-defined agentic occupational stereotype, which was correlated with lower work engagement, professional identification and career efficacy, and higher work exhaustion and exit intentions. Thus, lack of fit seems yet another barrier contributing to pervasive gender gaps in academia. Implications for building more inclusive academic cultures, where not only agentic but also communal academic practice is recognized and rewarded are discussed.

The Gender Gap in Brazilian Entomology: an Analysis of the Academic Scenario

Although women are about half of world's population, they are underrepresented in many sectors including academia and the research scenario in general. Gender gap in Entomology has been pointed out in other publications; however, data for Brazil has never been demonstrated. Here we provide a diagnosis for the Brazilian Entomology scenario in order to contribute to propositions towards disentangling the gender gap in general. We analyzed scientometric data for Brazilian Entomology focusing on gender disparity and on personal perceptions related to the gender gap through an online questionnaire. We detected a pervasive gender bias in which the scissor-shaped curve is the most representative effect of it: women were the majority in lower degree stages but the minority in higher degree stages (permanent positions and positions of prestige and power). We also observed mentorship bias and discussed these results in light of intersectionality and the COVID-19 pandemic. Gender differences were perceived differently by the questionnaire respondents considering age, gender, and parenting. With this data and analyses, we have provided elements to stimulate and support change to a healthier and more equitable academic space.

Affirmative Action Policies in Academic Job Advertisements: Do They Facilitate or Hinder Gender Discrimination in Hiring Processes for Professorships?

Evidence of female-favoring hiring preferences for assistant professorships suggests that universities can implement affirmative action programs successfully. However, research on the role of applicant gender and the actual use of affirmative action policies in hiring processes for high-level professorships remain scarce. A web-based experiment with 481 economic university members assessed whether evaluators perceived a female applicant as less qualified than a male applicant for an associate professorship position when the job advertisement highlighted the university’s commitment to affirmative action (gender-based preferential selection) but not when it solely highlighted its commitment to excellence (non-gender-based selection). Contrary to previous experimental findings that affirmative action would adversely affect female applicants, evaluators perceived the female applicant as more hirable and ranked her first for the job significantly more often than the male candidate. Furthermore, male evaluators had a stronger preference for the female candidate in the gender-based condition than in the non-gender-based condition and a stronger preference for the male candidate in the non-gender-based condition than in the gender-based condition. Overall, the results provide evidence that gender-based preferential selection policies can evoke their intended effect to bring highly qualified women to high-level professorships, especially when being evaluated by non-beneficiaries of these policies, such as men.

A multi-year science research or engineering experience in high school gives women confidence to continue in the STEM pipeline or seek advancement in other fields: A 20-year longitudinal study

There remains a large gender imbalance in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce deriving from a leaky pipeline where women start losing interest and confidence in science and engineering as early as primary school. To address this disparity, the Science Research & Engineering Program (SREP) at Hathaway Brown School was established in 1998 to engage and expose their all-female high school students to STEM fields through an internship-like multi-year research experience at partnering institutions. We compare data from existing Hathaway Brown School SREP alumnae records from 1998-2018 (n = 495) to Non-SREP students and national datasets (National Center for Educational Statistics, National Science Foundation, and US Census data) to assess how SREP participation may influence persistence in the STEM pipeline and whether SREP alumnae attribute differences in these outcomes to the confidence and skill sets they learned from the SREP experience. The results reveal that women who participate in the SREP are more likely to pursue a major in a STEM field and continue on to a STEM occupation compared to non-SREP students, national female averages, and national subsets. Participants attribute their outcomes to an increase in confidence, establishment of technical and professional skills, and other traits strengthened through the SREP experience. These data suggest that implementing similar experiential programs for women in science and engineering at the high school stage could be a promising way to combat the remaining gender gap in STEM fields.

The role of gender in peer-group perceptions of climate scientists' media statements

This research explores whether environmental scientists perceive their male and female peers differently when making statements in the media including policy advocacy. Environmental scientists in the United Kingdom were provided with a media statement by a fictitious scientist containing a mixture of scientific information and advocacy, and asked to rate the statement against various attributes. Attributes were designed to represent stereotypes associated with male and female tendencies, and with science (impartial objectivity) and the media (dramatic narrative). The statements were randomly assigned to one of two male and two female scientists. Where the statements were attributed to a female scientist, male environmental scientists rated the fictitious scientist as significantly more 'dramatic' and 'biased' than their female counterparts did. These gendered attributes are typically held as contrary to the norms of science, suggesting an implicit bias among male scientists when reviewing their female peers' media statements.

The 100,000 most influential scientists rank: the underrepresentation of Brazilian women in academia

Despite the progress observed in recent years, women are still underrepresented in science worldwide, especially at top positions. Many factors contribute to women progressively leaving academia at different stages of their career, including motherhood, harassment and conscious and unconscious discrimination. Implicit bias plays a major negative role in recognition, promotions and career advancement of female scientists. Recently, a rank of the most influential scientists in the world was created based on several metrics, including the number of published papers and citations. Here, we analyzed the representation of Brazilian scientists in this rank, focusing on gender. Female Brazilian scientists are greatly underrepresented in the rank (11% in the Top 100,000; 18% in the Top 2%). Possible reasons for this observed scenario are related to the metrics used to rank scientists, which reproduce and amplify the well-known implicit bias in peer-review and citations. Male scientists have more self-citation than female scientists and positions in the rank varied when self-citations were included, suggesting that self-citation by male scientists increases their visibility. Discussions on the repercussions of such ranks are pivotal to avoid deepening the gender gap in science.

On Methods and Marshmallows: A Roadmap for Science That Is Openly Feminist and Radically Open

In this commentary, we argue that feminist science and open science can benefit from each other’s wisdom and critiques in service of creating systems that produce the highest quality science with the maximum potential for improving the lives of women. To do this, we offer a constructive analysis, focusing on common methods used in open science, including open materials and data, preregistration, and large sample sizes, and illuminate potential benefits and costs from a feminist science perspective. We also offer some solutions and deeper questions both for individual researchers and the feminist psychology and open science communities. By broadening our focus from a myopic prioritization of certain methodological and analytic approaches in open science, we hope to give a balanced perspective of science that emerges from each movement’s strengths and is openly feminist and radically open.

Towards diversity in science - a glance at gender disparity in the Brazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC)

Gender equity is far from being achieved in most academic institutions worldwide. Women representation in scientific leadership faces multiple obstacles. Implicit bias and stereotype threat are considered important driving forces concerning gender disparities. Negative cultural stereotypes of weak scientific performance, unrelated to true capacity, are implicitly associated with women and other social groups, influencing, without awareness, attitudes and judgments towards them. Meetings of scientific societies are the forum in which members from all stages of scientific careers are brought together. Visibility in the scientific community stems partly from presenting research as a speaker. Here, we investigated gender disparities in the Brazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC). Across the 15 mandates (1978-2020), women occupied 30% of the directory board posts, and only twice was a woman president. We evaluated six meetings held between 2010 and 2019. During this period, the membership of women outnumbered that of men in all categories. A total of 57.50% of faculty members, representing the potential pool of speakers and chairs, were female. Compared to this expected value, female speakers across the six meetings were scarce in full conferences (χ²(5)=173.54, P<0.001) and low in symposia (χ²(5)=36.92, P<0.001). Additionally, women chaired fewer symposia (χ²(5)=47.83, P<0.001). Furthermore, men-chaired symposia had significantly fewer women speakers than women-chaired symposia (χ²(1)=56.44, P<0.001). The gender disparities observed here are similar to those in other scientific societies worldwide, urging them to lead actions to pursue gender balance and diversity. Diversity leads not only to fairness but also to higher-quality science.