Speaker Series: Dr. Allison Master – University of Houston
Speaker Series
February 10, 2023
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Location
1535A SSB, and Zoom
Address
1240 West Harrison, Suite 1535, Chicago, IL 60607
Cost
Free; RSVP Required
Calendar
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Speaker: Allison Master – Assistant Professor, Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences, University of Houston
Title: Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in STEM
Abstract: Societal stereotypes depict girls as less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. We demonstrate the existence of these stereotypes among children and adolescents from first to 12th grade and their potential negative consequences for girls’ subsequent participation in these fields. Studies 1 and 2 (n = 2,277; one preregistered) reveal that children as young as age six (first grade) and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections endorse stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. The more that individual girls endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science and engineering, the lower their own interest and sense of belonging in these fields. These gender-interest stereotypes are endorsed even more strongly than gender stereotypes about computer science and engineering abilities. Studies 3 and 4 (n = 172; both preregistered) experimentally demonstrate that 8- to 9-y-old girls are significantly less interested in an activity marked with a gender stereotype (“girls are less interested in this activity than boys”) compared to an activity with no such stereotype (“girls and boys are equally interested in this activity”). Taken together, both ecologically valid real-world studies (Studies 1 and 2) and controlled preregistered laboratory experiments (Studies 3 and 4) reveal that stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering emerge early and may contribute to gender disparities.
Please note this is a hybrid event, both in-person and via Zoom.
Date posted
Dec 21, 2022
Date updated
Dec 21, 2022