Experimentally labeling a novel activity with a gender-interest stereotype causes 8-year-old girls to report lower interest and choose it less often¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Girls were significantly less interested in the stereotyped than the nonstereotyped novel activity, t(49) = 5.46, P < 0.001, d = 1.10, and only 20% chose the stereotyped activity to take home (P < 0.001). → 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 · i3 · causal · r2

Preregistered within-subjects laboratory experiment with 50 8-year-old girls; descriptions of two novel activities were identical except for random assignment of the interest stereotype. The printed effect size was d = 1.10. In the behavioral choice task, only 20% chose the stereotyped activity (binomial proportion test, P < 0.001).

"girls were significantly less interested in the stereotyped activity (in which "girls are less interested than boys") than the nonstereotyped activity (in which "girls and boys are equally interested"), t(49) = 5.46, P < 0.001, and d = 1.10"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Children in grades 3–7 endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science, with boys endorsing more strongly than girls
• 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
• 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
• Brilliance cues reduce stigmatized students' interest and intrinsic motivation, with effects emerging by age 6–7 and persisting into adulthood — 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