Gender Bias & What Can We Do Today? Pamela Androff April 15, 2011

2 Outline My Background Generational Fast Facts Girls in STEM Our Current Situation Issues Women Face in STEM: –Beliefs about intelligence –Stereotypes –Self-Assessment –Spatial Skills –Implicit Bias Conclusion and Action Items

3 My Background Mechanical Engineer with Mitsubishi Electric –Application Support on HVAC Equipment –Training to Contractors, Distributors, and Sales Managers –SWE member since 2004 –BSME, UCF, 2008 Prior to Mitsubishi: –Design Engineer at Newcomb & Boyd –Engineering Intern in Washington DC –Engineering Intern at Universal Studios Orlando

4 Generational Fast Facts Millennials Key Characteristics –Tech-native, media-immersed, praised and raised for success, good for me = good for everybody sense of entitlement, socially and environmentally conscious, flow between family/work/school/play Values –Diversity, empowerment, belonging, connectivity, identity, creativity, experience, sharing Greatest Hopes –Being (sorta) rich, being (totally) happy, being at the center of it all, being respected, making a difference Gen We Note: This generation is still very young (still being born Key Characteristics –Tech-native, media-savvy, content creators, spiritual, pan-cultural, diversity as reality Values –Creativity, individualism, freedom, relationship, authenticity, connectivity, personalization, trust, exploration, inclusiveness

5 Girls and STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math We lose girls somewhere….. –In 4 th grade about equal amounts express interest in STEM subjects –By 8 th grade boys express more….. –Where did all the girls go? It only takes a seed to plant a garden. Your insight may inspire a girl to pursue more classes in the area of science, math and engineering. AAUW report “Why So Few?” at

6 Our Current Situation 30 years ago, 13 boys for 1 girl with 700 on Math SAT. Now 3:1 (Brody & Mills, 2005)

7 Our Current Situation Girls do better than boys in HS!

8 Our Current Situation Yet girls don’t do as well on AP tests as boys

9 Our Current Situation There were more women in CS 30 years ago than now

10 Our Current Situation

11 Our Current Situation Women are almost always below “critical mass”

12 Our Current Situation

13 Our Current Situation “Pipeline” issue

14 Beliefs about Intelligence Professor of Psychology, Stanford Fixed mindset vs. growth In Asian cultures, the basis of success is generally attributed more to effort and less to inherent ability (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992)

15 Beliefs about Intelligence WHAT TO DO: –Teach children that intellectual skills can be acquired –Praise children for effort –Highlight the struggle

16 Stereotypes Professor of developmental, social and educational psychology, NYU Two stereotypes: –Girls are not as good as boys in math –Scientific work is better suited to boys and men Stereotype threat Discrepancy b/w higher grades and lower SAT scores

17 Stereotypes Threat is induced by having a larger ratio of men to women in a test (Inzlicht & Ben-Zeev, 2000) WHAT TO DO: –Encourage students to have a growth mindset –Expose girls to successful role models in math and science –Teach girls about stereotype threat

18 Self-assessment Professor of sociology, Stanford When male superiority is believed in an area, girls assess their abilities in that area lower, judge themselves to a higher standard, and express less desire to pursue a career in that area than boys do Larry Summers, ex-president of Harvard (2005 comments) Difficult to convince girls they have scientific ability no matter how well they do If women hold themselves to a higher standard, fewer women will pursue STEM than men Impostor syndrome

19 Self-assessment WHAT TO DO: –Teach girls about impostor syndrome –Ask teachers to make performance standards and expectations clear –Encourage girls to take calculus, physics, chemistry, computer science and engineering classes whenever possible

20 Spatial Skills Professor of mechanical engineering & engineering mechanics, Michigan Technological University MS girls who take spatial visualization class also take more advanced math and science class in HS WHAT TO DO: –Emphasize that spatial skills are not innate but developed –Encourage children to play with construction toys, draw, take things apart and put them back together again, and play games that involve fitting objects into different places

21 Implicit Bias Professor of social ethics, Harvard WHAT TO DO: –Take the Implicit bias test at –Raise awareness of implicit bias

22 Conclusion & Action Items Spread the word about girls’ and women’s achievements in math and science Teach girls that intellectual skills are acquired Teach girls about stereotype threat, impostor syndrome, and a growth mindset Encourage girls to take calculus, physics, chemistry, computer science, and engineering classes Expose girls to female role models in STEM fields

23 Questions? Thank you for your time!