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Kids, teens believe girls aren't interested in computer science, study shows
Children as young as age 6 develop ideas that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering—stereotypes that can extend into the late teens and contribute to a gender gap in STEM college courses and related careers.
New research from the University of Houston and the University of Washington, published the week of Nov. 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explores the gender-based beliefs young children and teens hold about interest in STEM fields. The majority of children believe girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering, the study shows.
"Gender-interest stereotypes that STEM is for boys begins in grade school, and by the time they reach high school, many girls have made their decision not to pursue degrees in computer science and engineering because they feel they don't belong," said Allison Master, an assistant professor of Psychological, Health and Learning Sciences at the University of Houston and the study's lead author.
The PNAS study involved four different studies—a mix of surveys and designed experiments to capture the beliefs of a racially diverse sample of children and teens in grades 1 through 12. Researchers wanted to focus on interest, building on past studies of stereotypes about ability, to learn how gender-based stereotypes about who likes—not just who is "good" at—computer science and engineering can affect a child's sense of belonging and willingness to participate. Such information can influence a young person's motivation over the long term, researchers point out, and may deter them from trying an activity or taking a class.
As recently as 2019, national statistics reveal that women are underrepresented in some popular and lucrative STEM careers: United States Census Bureau statistics show that only about 25% of computer scientists and 15% of engineers were women.
In the first two studies, researchers surveyed more than 2,200 children and teens to gauge beliefs about computer science and engineering. The surveys used terms and phrases with which the students were familiar at school, such as "computer coding" for computer science or, for engineering, "designing and creating large structures such as roads and bridges."
Researchers found that just over half (51%) of children believed girls are less interested than boys in computer science, and nearly two-thirds (63%) said girls are less interested in engineering. In comparison, 14% of children said girls are more interested than boys in computer science, and 9% said girls are more interested in engineering.
Subsequent lab studies provided a smaller sample of children two different activities from which to choose. The results demonstrated that girls were significantly less interested in a computer science activity when they were told boys were more interested in it than girls (35% of girls chose the activity), compared to one they were told boys and girls were equally interested in (65% of girls chose that activity).
While the surveys showed the pervasiveness of gender-based stereotypes around interest in computer science and engineering, the designed experiments demonstrated how stereotypes can affect a sense of belonging, which can influence motivation, co-author Andrew Meltzoff said.
"The large surveys told us that the kids had absorbed the cultural stereotype that girls are less interested in computer science and engineering. In the experiments we zeroed in on causal mechanisms and consequences of stereotypes," said Meltzoff, a professor of psychology at the UW and co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. "We discovered that labeling an activity in a stereotyped way influenced children's interest in it and their willingness to take it home—the mere presence of the stereotype influenced kids in dramatic ways. This brought home to us the pernicious effect of stereotypes on children and teens"
And that's important, added co-author Sapna Cheryan, a UW professor of psychology, because if fewer girls feel they belong, then fewer might pursue computer science or engineering through school and beyond. That can lead to gender disparities in STEM fields and even worsen the wage gap.
"Current gender disparities in computer science and engineering careers are troubling because these careers are lucrative, high status, and influence so many aspects of our daily lives.
The dearth of gender and racial diversity in these fields may be one of the reasons why many products and services have had negative consequences for women and people of color," Cheryan said.
Teachers and parents can help counteract stereotypes by offering high-quality computer science and engineering activities early in elementary school—and encouraging girls' participation, the authors note.Changing stereotypes key to getting girls interested in computer science
More information: Gender stereotypes about interests start early and cause gender disparities in computer science and engineering, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2100030118.
Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Provided by University of Washington
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Edited by Yarrow Dunham, Yale University, New Haven, CT, and accepted by the Editorial Board September 10, 2021 (received for review March 8, 2021)
Significance
Societal stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering are endorsed by children and adolescents in a large and socioeconomically diverse sample, across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections, and as early as age six (first grade). Gender-interest stereotypes may contribute to subsequent gender disparities in the pursuit of these societally important fields. Addressing interest stereotypes may help improve educational equity.
Abstract
Societal stereotypes depict girls as less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. We demonstrate the existence of these stereotypes among children and adolescents from first to 12th grade and their potential negative consequences for girls’ subsequent participation in these fields. Studies 1 and 2 (n = 2,277; one preregistered) reveal that children as young as age six (first grade) and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections (Black, Latinx, Asian, and White girls and boys) endorse stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering. The more that individual girls endorse gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys in computer science and engineering, the lower their own interest and sense of belonging in these fields. These gender-interest stereotypes are endorsed even more strongly than gender stereotypes about computer science and engineering abilities. Studies 3 and 4 (n = 172; both preregistered) experimentally demonstrate that 8- to 9-y-old girls are significantly less interested in an activity marked with a gender stereotype (“girls are less interested in this activity than boys”) compared to an activity with no such stereotype (“girls and boys are equally interested in this activity”). Taken together, both ecologically valid real-world studies (Studies 1 and 2) and controlled preregistered laboratory experiments (Studies 3 and 4) reveal that stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in computer science and engineering emerge early and may contribute to gender disparities.
Societal stereotypes, shared beliefs linking groups and traits, have numerous negative consequences (1, 2). The prevalence of negative stereotypes about women’s and girls’ abilities contributes to gender disparities in computer science and engineering (3⇓⇓⇓⇓–8). Here, we investigate a different and consequential pervasive stereotype: that women and girls have lower interest in computer science and engineering. We define interest stereotypes as beliefs that one social group has lower liking, enjoyment, or predisposition to engage in a particular topic than another group. Interest stereotypes may influence motivation by altering students’ perceptions of themselves, including their sense of whether they would belong with others in that field. The current studies make three primary contributions by demonstrating 1) the existence of gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys among young children and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections in the United States, 2) that gender-interest stereotypes causally influence subsequent academic motivation (e.g., children’s own interest in pursuing, choice of, and sense of belonging in computer science activities), and 3) that gender-interest stereotypes more strongly predict academic motivation to pursue computer science and engineering than the traditionally studied gender-ability stereotypes. Four studies (n = 2,449, 3 preregistered) combine cross-sectional surveys in schools across a wide range of ages and racial/ethnic groups with controlled experiments in the laboratory to investigate the presence, correlates, and causal effects of gender-interest stereotypes on interest and participation in computer science and engineering activities and classes.
In the United States, the representation of women varies widely across science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Computer science and engineering have among the largest gender disparities in college, much larger than mathematics, biology, and chemistry (9⇓–11). Gender disparities in computer science and engineering contribute to many societal inequities, including the existence of products and services that overlook and sometimes selectively harm women and children (12). Gender disparities in lucrative fields such as computer science and engineering are also a significant source of the gender wage gap (13). Society would benefit from more girls and women pursuing these fields.
Current Studies
We combine large cross-sectional surveys (Studies 1 and 2, Ns = 733 and 1,544) and controlled preregistered laboratory experiments (Studies 3 and 4) to establish the existence of gender-interest stereotypes and their causal influence on academic motivation and participation. In Studies 1 and 2, we find that young children and adolescents endorse gender-interest stereotypes. These stereotypes negatively predict girls’ interest in pursuing computer science and engineering and sense of belonging in these fields, even when controlling for effects of gender stereotypes about ability. In Studies 3 and 4, we find that girls are significantly less interested in an activity that is marked (through random assignment) by a gender-interest stereotype compared to an activity with no stereotype. We also find that these gender-interest stereotypes favoring boys are sometimes (but not always) positively related to boys’ interest and sense of belonging.
This programmatic series of four studies advances theory by demonstrating that gender-interest stereotypes 1) exist among a racially and socioeconomically diverse group of children and adolescents across multiple racial/ethnic and gender intersections, 2) more strongly predict girls’ motivation to pursue computer science and engineering courses than gender-ability stereotypes, 3) cause girls to be less interested than boys in pursuing novel and computer science-related activities, and 4) cause girls to have a lower sense of belonging which mediates their lower interest in computer science activities. These studies also have several methodological strengths: 1) mixed methods, including large-scale surveys administered in schools and preregistered laboratory experiments, 2) a racially and socioeconomically diverse US sample, 3) intersectional analyses (i.e., effects broken down by race and gender), 4) self-report and behavioral choice outcomes to measure interest and participation, and 5) in-person and online video-conferencing procedures, similar to how the majority of American children experienced learning situations during the COVID-19 pandemic (14).
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