The acquisition of the gender‐brilliance stereotype: Age trajectory, relation to parents' stereotypes, and intersections with race/ethnicity

Zhao, Siqi; Setoh, Peipei; Storage, Daniel; Cimpian, Andrei

doi:10.1111/cdev.13809

Cited by 20 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 106 publications

(161 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Blatant stereotypes about women's competence have waned over time (Eagly et al, 2020; see also Charlesworth & Banaji, 2022). Yet, more subtle gender stereotypes about brilliance and genius are alive and well (e.g., Boutyline et al, 2023;Storage et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2022). Combined with seemingly gender-neutral field-specific beliefs about the necessary ingredients for success, these stereotypes This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other fields, this belief is less common, and effort and dedication are seen as sufficient. Although gender-neutral on the surface, FABs contribute to gender segregation because brilliance is culturally associated with men more than women (e.g., Boutyline et al, 2023; Musto, 2019; Storage et al, 2020; Zhao et al, 2022), which makes fields with brilliance-oriented FABs more conducive to men’s participation than to women’s 2…”

Section: The Fab Account: Broader Theoretical Context Prior Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Field-specific ability beliefs as an explanation for gender differences in academics’ career trajectories: Evidence from public profiles on ORCID.Org.

Hannák¹,

Joseph²,

Larremore³

et al. 2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Academic fields exhibit substantial levels of gender segregation. Here, we investigated differences in field-specific ability beliefs (FABs) as an explanation for this phenomenon. FABs may contribute to gender segregation to the extent that they portray success as depending on “brilliance” (i.e., exceptional intellectual ability), which is a trait culturally associated with men more than women. Although prior work has documented a relation between academic fields’ FABs and their gender composition, it is still unclear what the underlying dynamics are that give rise to gender imbalances across academia as a function of FABs. To provide insight into this issue, we custom-built a new data set by combining information from the author-tracking service Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) with information from a survey of U.S. academics across 30 fields. Using this expansive longitudinal data set (Ns = 86,879–364,355), we found that women were underrepresented among those who enter fields with brilliance-oriented FABs and overrepresented among those who exit these fields. We also found that FABs’ association with women’s transitions across academic fields was substantially stronger than their association with men’s transitions. With respect to mechanisms, FABs’ association with gender segregation was partially explained by the fact that women encounter more prejudice in fields with brilliance-oriented FABs. With its focus on the dynamic patterns shaping segregation and its broad scope in terms of geography, career stage, and historical time, this research makes an important contribution toward understanding the factors driving gender segregation in academia.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Fab Account: Broader Theoretical Context Prior Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Field-specific ability beliefs as an explanation for gender differences in academics’ career trajectories: Evidence from public profiles on ORCID.Org.

Hannák¹,

Joseph²,

Larremore³

et al. 2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…FABs such as these are largely consensual—within a culture, there is general agreement among individuals regarding which contexts require intellectual ability (e.g., Heyder et al, 2020; Leslie et al, 2015; Meyer et al, 2015; Vial et al, 2022). Importantly, these beliefs also give rise to inequities: Because intellectual ability (“brilliance”) is stereotypically associated with men rather than women (e.g., Storage et al, 2020; Zhao et al, 2022), women encounter more obstacles (e.g., bias) in fields that emphasize intellectual ability (e.g., mathematics, philosophy) and as a result are underrepresented in these fields (Bian, Leslie, & Cimpian, 2018; Cimpian & Leslie, 2015; Leslie et al, 2015; Meyer et al, 2015).…”

Section: Intellectual Humilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A context's emphasis on intellectual ability discourages the expression of intellectual humility.

Porter¹,

Cimpian²

2023

Motivation Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Expressing intellectual humility—admitting confusion, ignorance, and mistakes—can facilitate learning. We hypothesized that contexts that emphasize the importance of intellectual ability for success discourage the expression of intellectual humility. In Studies 1a and 1b, high school students (combined N = 1,449) reported the most difficulty expressing intellectual humility in math—a subject where success is distinctly associated with intellectual ability. Study 2 (preregistered) revealed that young adults (N = 401) were less comfortable expressing intellectual humility in math classes to the extent that they perceived them to emphasize intellectual ability. Study 3 (preregistered) showed that undergraduates (N = 329) were less willing to express intellectual humility in a hypothetical university that emphasized intellectual ability compared to one that did not. This effect was mediated by the perception that the ability-emphasizing university would have a culture of cutthroat competition (i.e., a “masculinity-contest culture”). To the extent that a context esteems intellectual ability as important for success, expression of intellectual humility will be suppressed.

show abstract

“…Yet, the story with respect to gender can be more complicated, as noted in Chapter I. Women and girls in the United States and in many other contexts around the world are subjected to negative intellectual stereotypes about their potential in math and science (Spencer et al, 1999; Zhao et al, 2022) and they often face anti‐intellectual peer norms that discourage immersion in their studies (Gordon et al, 2013). This bias can keep them out of the upper echelon of STEM performance.…”

Section: Unanswered Questions In Mindset × Context Theory Addressed Herementioning

confidence: 99%

Mindset × Context: Schools, Classrooms, and the Unequal Translation of Expectations into Math Achievement

Carroll

Yeager

Buontempo

et al. 2023

Monographs Society Res Child

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When do adolescents' dreams of promising journeys through high school translate into academic success? This monograph reports the results of a collaborative effort among sociologists and psychologists to systematically examine the role of schools and classrooms in disrupting or facilitating the link between adolescents' expectations for success in math and their subsequent progress in the early high school math curriculum. Our primary focus was on gendered patterns of socioeconomic inequality in math and how they are tethered to the school's peer culture and to students' perceptions of gender stereotyping in the classroom.To do this, this monograph advances Mindset × Context Theory. This orients research on educational equity to the reciprocal influence between students' psychological motivations and their school-based opportunities to enact those motivations. Mindset × Context Theory predicts that a student's mindset will be more strongly linked to developmental outcomes among groups of students who are at risk for poor outcomes, but only in a school or classroom context where there is sufficient need and support for the mindset. Our application of this theory centers on expectations for success in high school math as a foundational belief for students' math progress early in high school. We examine how this mindset varies across interpersonal and cultural dynamics in schools and classrooms. Following this perspective, we ask:

show abstract

The acquisition of the gender‐brilliance stereotype: Age trajectory, relation to parents' stereotypes, and intersections with race/ethnicity

Cited by 20 publications

References 106 publications

Field-specific ability beliefs as an explanation for gender differences in academics’ career trajectories: Evidence from public profiles on ORCID.Org.

Field-specific ability beliefs as an explanation for gender differences in academics’ career trajectories: Evidence from public profiles on ORCID.Org.

A context's emphasis on intellectual ability discourages the expression of intellectual humility.

Mindset × Context: Schools, Classrooms, and the Unequal Translation of Expectations into Math Achievement

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About