More than words: Gender inclusive language creates identity safety and protection against stereotype threat for women in a mathematics context

Abstract

The present research examined whether the use of gendered language acts as a cue to reduce identity threat by enhancing women’s motivation, self-efficacy, and cognitive processing in academic contexts culturally stereotyped as masculine. Pooled data from two studies conducted in Spanish, a language in which masculine generics are the cultural default, was analyzed using an Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) process. We manipulated the use of masculine gender exclusive vs. gender inclusive language in describing a mathematics task. Moreover, we orthogonally manipulated the activation of gender stereotypes by varying task framing. Women’s cognitive performance, motivation, self-efficacy, and feelings of inclusion were measured. Results revealed three important findings. First, minimally signaling identity threat through a combination of gender inclusive language and the absence of stereotype activation elicited the highest motivation and self-efficacy compared to all other conditions. Second, regardless of stereotype activation, using gender exclusive language in a math testing context elicited significantly more anxiety-related cognitive interference compared to gender inclusive language. Third, using gender inclusive (as compared to gender exclusive) language elicited lower feelings of ostracism. No stereotype threat effect emerged on performance. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the use of gender inclusive language can be a simple and effective strategy to reduce identity threat for women in achievement contexts culturally stereotyped as masculine.