Children in grades 3–7 endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, with boys endorsing more strongly than girls¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr1·q3·i0negligible
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i0 Children in grades 3–7 endorsed gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science (d = 0.18, a negligible-to-small printed effect), with boys endorsing significantly more strongly than girls (d = 0.23). → Master 2021
Evidence¶
Master 2021¶
Master, A., Meltzoff, A. N., & Cheryan, S. (2021). Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in computer science and engineering. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(48), e2100030118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2100030118
q3 · i0 · associational · r1
Cross-sectional survey of 733 children in grades 3–7 in four Rhode Island schools. The article reports that children "significantly endorsed gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, t(713) = 4.69, P < 0.001, and d = 0.18", with 36% believing girls are less interested versus 18% believing girls are more interested.
"Children significantly endorsed gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, t(713) = 4.69, P < 0.001, and d = 0.18"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science and engineering are endorsed across grades 1–12 and across racial/ethnic groups in a diverse sample
- The more girls endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys, the lower their own interest in computer science and engineering, and interest stereotypes predict girls' interest more strongly than ability stereotypes
- Gender-interest stereotypes create a gender gap in interest in a computer science activity: girls, but not boys, show lower interest when the stereotype is present
- Experimentally labeling a novel activity with a gender-interest stereotype causes 8-year-old girls to report lower interest and choose it less often
- Fixed mindsets predict stronger stereotyping and trait inferences, with experimental evidence of a causal role — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
children-endorse-gender-interest-stereotypes-cs-study1 |
title |
Children in grades 3–7 endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, with boys endorsing more strongly than girls |
description |
Children in grades 3–7 endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, with boys endorsing more strongly than girls |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
recheck_by |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — master-2021 |
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