How implicit stereotypes affect gender equity in science
New research shows that implicit stereotypes could influence gender equity in science and mathematics engagement and performance. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the results showed that more than two thirds of the study's participants connect science with men, not women. The researchers said that 70% of the participants in the over 500,000-strong sample, which included Czechs, Hungarians and Poles, associate science with men more than with women. The study also found that boys achieved at a higher level in eighth-grade science and maths in countries whose citizens had strong implicit stereotypes. 'We correlated our data with a measure of actual science achievement among eighth-graders in those 34 countries and found that in the countries with the largest sex gap - where the boys were performing much better than girls in maths and science - there also was the strongest implicit stereotyping of science as a male endeavour,' explained project leader Professor Brian Nosek of the University of Virginia in the US. The study's results suggest that implicit stereotypes may also have a hand in ensuring that women and girls steer clear of science as opposed to their male peers. 'We found a general tendency, across every country that we investigated: [...] people on average have an easier time associating science concepts with male, rather than with female,' Professor Nosek added. The research study was part of Project Implicit, a research and education website where visitors could complete the Implicit Association Test to measure their own implicit associations. The science and maths achievement scores in the 34 nations participating in the study emerged from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and were compared with the implicit stereotype data collected through Project Implicit. The researchers found no gender gap in the tendency to implicitly stereotype science as male. Male and female subjects 'showed equally strong associations of science with males'. In this study, the participants were asked to quickly categorise words representing male including 'he' and 'son' or female including 'she' and 'mother', as well as those representing science like 'chemistry' and 'physics' or liberal arts such as 'history' and 'literature'. The majority of subjects categorised male words with science items more quickly than the female words with the same science items. 'Participants are often surprised to learn that they may have unconscious biases involving gender or race or religion that are quite different from their stated beliefs,' explained Professor Fred Smyth of the University of Virginia. The researchers noted how the divergence between implicit and explicit beliefs and the relation of both to behaviour show that automatic, implicit reactions as well as deliberate, explicit beliefs play a significant role in behaviour. 'Culture is a powerful force for shaping the beliefs and behaviour of its members,' Professor Nosek said. 'Even if one's explicit beliefs change, the cultural residue may persist in memory and continue to influence behaviour.' Professor Nosek concluded: 'If countries want to increase their competitiveness in science and engineering, they might want to look at their social environments, the social factors like implicit stereotypes that exist at a cultural level, and how this might inhibit women - who comprise more than half their intellectual pool - from contributing to scientific and engineering advancement.'
Countries
Czechia, Hungary, Poland, United States