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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Girls' endorsement of gender-interest stereotypes correlated negatively with their own interest in computer science (r = −0.26 in Study 1; r = −0.25 in Study 2) and engineering (r = −0.32). → Master 2021 q3 i? When both stereotype types were entered simultaneously, only gender-interest stereotypes predicted girls' interest in computer science (Study 1: P < 0.001 vs. P = 0.75; difference Z = 2.48, P = 0.013), and the same pattern held in Study 2 for both fields. → Master 2021 (2)

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 · i2 · causal · r2

Correlational analysis in the Study 1 survey (n = 733). The article prints the effect size r = −0.26 for computer science and, in Study 2, r = −0.25 for computer science and r = −0.32 for engineering, with negative correlations for Black, Asian, Latina, and White girls.

"The more that individual girls endorsed gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, the lower their own interest in pursuing computer science, r(369) = −0.26 and P < 0.001"

Master 2021 (2)¶

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 · i? · causal · r2

Regression comparison in Study 1 with both stereotype types as simultaneous predictors; the difference between the two predictors was significant, Z = 2.48, P = 0.013. In Study 2 the same comparison was significant for computer science (Z = 2.04, P = 0.04) and engineering (Z = 2.86, P = 0.004).

"When including both stereotypes simultaneously as predictors of girls' own interest in pursuing computer science, only gender-interest stereotypes predicted girls' own interest, P < 0.001 versus P = 0.75"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Fixed mindsets predict stronger stereotyping and trait inferences, with experimental evidence of a causal role — related
• Children in grades 3–7 endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, with boys endorsing more strongly than girls
• Experimentally labeling a novel activity with a gender-interest stereotype causes 8-year-old girls to report lower interest and choose it less often
• 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 — related
• Girls started with lower interest in science than boys but gained significantly more, resulting in equal post-intervention interest — related
• 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 — related
• Girls' lower sense of belonging mediates the relation between gender-interest stereotypes and their lower interest in computer science, with the opposite mediation for boys — related
• Endorsement of brilliance-oriented FABs predicts lower self-efficacy among stigmatized students in brilliance-oriented contexts — related