National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement

Nosek, Brian A.; Smyth, Frederick L.; Narayanan, Sriram; Lindner, Nicole M.; Devos, Thierry; Ayala, Alfonso E.; Bar‐Anan, Yoav; Bergh, Robin; Cai, Huajian; Gonsalkorale, Karen; Kesebir, Selin; Maliszewski, Norbert; Neto, Félix; Olli, Eero; Park, Jaihyun; Schnabel, Konrad; Shiomura, Kimihiro; Tulbure, Bogdan Tudor; Wiers, Reinout W.; Somogyi, Mónika; Akrami, Nazar; Ekehammar, Bo; Vianello, Michelangelo; Banaji, Mahzarin R.; Greenwald, Anthony G.

doi:10.1073/pnas.0809921106

Cited by 809 publications

(448 citation statements)

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“…First, particularly in the scientific disciplines with larger numbers of applications, it is more difficult for reviewers to thoroughly process the available information and carefully weigh all of the applications. This increases the likelihood of relying on heuristics, which has been related to the emergence of implicit biases (19,39). Second, repeated emphasis on gender policy endorsing the advancement of women while observing an equal gender distribution among the applicants might have misled reviewers into thinking that gender bias is no longer an issue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although women are equally effective in, and equally likely to use optimal leadership styles, as men (15, 16), women continue to be devalued as leaders due to the influence of gender stereotypes on judgment (17). Overall, science also is more implicitly associated with men than with women, because gender stereotypes characterize women as lacking the masculine traits associated with ability and success in science (18,19). For instance, a recent study linked the level of women's underrepresentation across academic disciplines to the magnitude of the stereotype-based assumption that innate talent is associated with male traits and considered necessary for academic career success (20).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

Lee

Ellemers

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

233

166

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We examined the application and review materials of three calls (n = 2,823) of a prestigious grant for personal research funding in a national full population of early career scientists awarded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Results showed evidence of gender bias in application evaluations and success rates, as well as in language use in instructions and evaluation sheets. Male applicants received significantly more competitive "quality of researcher" evaluations (but not "quality of proposal" evaluations) and had significantly higher application success rates than female applicants. Gender disparities were most prevalent in scientific disciplines with the highest number of applications and with equal gender distribution among the applicants (i.e., life sciences and social sciences). Moreover, content analyses of the instructional and evaluation materials revealed the use of gendered language favoring male applicants. Overall, our data reveal a 4% "loss" of women during the grant review procedure, and illustrate the perpetuation of the funding gap, which contributes to the underrepresentation of women in academia.gender bias | research funding | success rates | academia | STEM W omen are still underrepresented in academia today. Despite various attempts to promote gender equality (e.g., affirmative action initiatives, quotas), female scientists are less likely to get offered tenure, are judged to be less competent, receive less payment and research facilities, and are less likely to be awarded research grants compared with male scientists (1-3). Over time, this type of bias accumulates and contributes to the attrition of women from academia (4); the academic pipeline leaks. Here we report evidence of gender bias in personal research funding for early career scientists.The importance of equal gender representation is widely acknowledged, for several reasons. First, it can resolve historic inequalities and provide equal opportunities (the "moral case for diversity") (5, 6). Second, research has demonstrated that gender diversity in organizations can boost innovation and creativity, expand target groups, and increase productivity (the "business case for diversity") (7, 8), either directly or indirectly through decision making processes or reputation, and provided that the organizational culture is open to change (9-12). This is true for academia as well. Gender-diverse research teams facilitate innovation and excellence in research and policy, address different research questions and methods, and facilitate wider application of research findings (13), thereby contributing to scientific progress.Relevant statistics, however, show a persistent leadership gap, salary gap, and funding gap for women in academia (3). To illustrate, The Netherlands-generally considered a high-equity nationhad only 16% female full professors in 2012 (14). Leadership is stereotyped as masculine and consequently associated more strongly with stereotypical male traits rather than female traits. Although women a...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

Lee

Ellemers

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

233

166

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“…This stereotype is consequential: Women's math achievement and performance is lower in cultures where this stereotype is stronger (1). Although there are many reasons why women underperform at math, one important factor that affects not only math performance but also career choices and career achievement is stereotype threat: The mental and behavioral states that accompany the activation of this stereotype in women (2).…”

Section: Gender | Math | Visual Searchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stereotype threat prevents perceptual learning

Rydell

Shiffrin

Boucher

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Stereotype threat (ST) refers to a situation in which a member of a group fears that her or his performance will validate an existing negative performance stereotype, causing a decrease in performance. For example, reminding women of the stereotype "women are bad at math" causes them to perform more poorly on math questions from the SAT and GRE. Performance deficits can be of several types and be produced by several mechanisms. We show that ST prevents perceptual learning, defined in our task as an increasing rate of search for a target Chinese character in a display of such characters. Displays contained two or four characters and half of these contained a target. Search rate increased across a session of training for a control group of women, but not women under ST. Speeding of search is typically explained in terms of learned "popout" (automatic attraction of attention to a target). Did women under ST learn popout but fail to express it? Following training, the women were shown two colored squares and asked to choose the one with the greater color saturation. Superimposed on the squares were task-irrelevant Chinese characters. For women not trained under ST, the presence of a trained target on one square slowed responding, indicating that training had caused the learning of an attention response to targets. Women trained under ST showed no slowing, indicating that they had not learned such an attention response.A cross all cultures that have been examined there is a persistent stereotype held by both men and women that "women are bad at math." This stereotype is consequential: Women's math achievement and performance is lower in cultures where this stereotype is stronger (1). Although there are many reasons why women underperform at math, one important factor that affects not only math performance but also career choices and career achievement is stereotype threat: The mental and behavioral states that accompany the activation of this stereotype in women (2). Most notably, when this stereotype is activated in women's minds, they worry about confirming this pejorative stereotype and their math performance drops (3-5). Similar findings exist for other performance stereotypes held about other populations (5-7). The reasons for the performance drop are not entirely clear. Perhaps some kind of general anxiety causes a general decrement in women's math performance (8). Stereotype threat (ST) has been shown to increase arousal (9), increase negative thoughts (3, 10), decrease cognitive resources (5), and increase the perseverance of incorrect problem-solving strategies (11-13); all of these reactions partially explain performance decrements. Given the varied negative responses to threat, it seems a natural extrapolation to guess that it might inhibit women's ability to learn new information. That theory is the target of the present research.Demonstrating that ST reduces or inhibits learning is important because it broadens the domain of ST and provides a specific unstudied mechanism by which ST impacts performance. ...

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“…Girls have lower confidence in their math abilities beginning in middle school where they underestimate their math abilities. This misjudgment of their abilities and lowered confidence levels continues on into high school, (Nosek et al, 1999).…”

Section: Causes For the Underrepresentation Of Females In Stem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Are All the Talented Girls How Can We Help Them Achieve in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics

Meadows¹

2016

JEGYS

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Women's participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses and careers lags behind that of men. Multiple factors contribute to the underrepresentation of women and girls in STEM. Academic research suggests three areas, which account for the under representation of girls in STEM: social and environmental factors, the school climate and the influence of bias. In order to engage and to retain girls in STEM, educators need to: eliminate bias in the classroom, change school culture, introduce female role models, help girls assess their abilities accurately and develop talent in areas related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Educators should encourage young girls to ask questions about the world, to problem solve, and to develop creativity through play and experimentation. Women have made impressive gains in science and engineering but remain a distinct minority in many science and engineering fields. Creating environments that support girls' and women's achievements and interests in science and engineering will encourage more girls and women to pursue careers in these vital fields.

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National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement

Cited by 809 publications

References 41 publications

Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands

Stereotype threat prevents perceptual learning

Where Are All the Talented Girls How Can We Help Them Achieve in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics

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