1. Stereotypes, Self-Perception and Careers in STEM
Jennifer Crossley| University of Huddersfield
Introduction
Initial Research Questions
Potential Future Research
Action research inspired by the GIST project. Create opportunities for pupils to meet ‘real-life’ scientists and engineers who are women and learn about ‘real-life’ applications of science and engineering.
Track the choices of children in the Early Years phase throughout the school day or school year. Use case studies to examine individual children’s evolving ideas of what is masculine and what is feminine.
Examine attitudes to science and self-assessment of science ability throughout primary and secondary school. Does a more positive self- assessment in science increase the likelihood that a student will pursue further education or a career in science? Is this true for both boys and girls?
Developing visual-spatial skills in the primary classroom. Action research examining whether teaching these skills can improve attitudes to and attainment in maths and science; does it have a positive effect on self-assessment in these subjects?
Building on one of the key concepts of ‘Goldie-Blox’, how can story narrative, problem-solving and collaboration be used to encourage girls to play with engineering toys? How effective is narrative at engaging girls’ attention with scientific processes?
What do primary and secondary pupils understand by the term ‘engineering’? Is their view of an engineer that of a male train driver? Action research approach to examining the existing attitudes of students and attempting to broaden understanding of the term ‘engineering’.
How does the education system instil and embed the notion that science is ‘dirty, difficult and dangerous’ (and therefore not for girls)? Research into curriculum content, curriculum delivery, teacher attitudes and school ethos.
While significant gains have been made by women in STEM fields since the middle of the 20th Century, careers and HE courses in STEM fields are still largely dominated by men.
Research shows that student attitudes to science decline throughout primary school, steepening in secondary school. This is more pronounced in girls than in boys. Is this the cause of women’s underrepresentation in STEM?
What stereotypes exist regarding gender and science, how are they experienced, and how do they influence girls to ‘opt out’ of STEM careers?
How can students be encouraged to develop positive attitudes to STEM at different stages of their education?
1. Stereotypes
2. Self-Perception
Research shows that STEM fields are stereotyped as ‘masculine’. Science is seen as ‘dirty, difficult and dangerous’, and therefore ‘unfeminine’. Science education does not do enough to challenge this stereotype, and in some cases, reinforces it.
Role models in STEM are frequently male. Women in STEM courses and careers are frequently in the minority by considerable measure. Science teachers, particularly at higher levels, tend to be men. The seminal 1982 GIST project found that inviting women who worked in science into schools was well received by both girls and boys. A UK- based 2016 visual analysis of STEM teaching materials showed that women were the least represented group out of boys, girls, men and women. These findings are in line with studies from the past two decades.
A further stereotype that is repeatedly identified in the literature is that women are more caring and nurturing then men. Indeed, many of the gains women have made in STEM have been in biology and medicine; women account for approximately half the biologist workforce, but just a tenth of the engineer workforce. In Japan, a 2007 study found that at secondary level, girls were more likely to choose biology and boys more likely to choose physics. The previously mentioned visual analysis of teaching materials revealed that more women were depicted as science educators or in nurturing roles, whereas more men were depicted as ‘real’ scientists (eg, as chemists or astronomers).
The GIST project found that, in line with this stereotype, girls scientific interests often related to nature, the environment and medical science. The project found that girls bring different experiences to school than boys; teachers noted that girls had less ‘tinkering’ experience, which possibly accounted for why girls showed less interest in topics such as ‘how electricity is produced’.
Gender stereotypes that are prevalent from an early age can have far- reaching consequences. Boys tend to develop greater spatial skills in childhood by playing with construction toys. Sorby’s 2000 study showed that women in their first year of an engineering course had significantly poorer spatial skills than the men, but also that these skills can be developed relatively quickly. Teaching spatial-visualisation skills in universities improves retention of women in engineering courses.
‘Stereotype threat’ is likely to have a negative effect upon girls’ educational aspirations in science and maths. Studies show that even if a person doesn’t believe the stereotype themselves, if they think it is the prevailing belief in their immediate environment, it will affect their perception.
Stereotypes influence self-perception. Correl’s 2001 study considered American high school students’ self-assessment of their academic abilities. When comparing boys and girls of equal past attainment, boys were more likely to believe that they were competent at maths. Importantly, boys did not show higher confidence across the board; girls were more likely to believe themselves competent in verbal ability.
Self-perception influences course and career choices. When comparing students of equal mathematical ability, Correl found that those with higher self-assessment were more likely to enrol in high school calculus and choose a quantitative major.
3. Recommendations
References
Develop the science curriculum to include greater reference to social and industrial applications of scientific concepts; girls like to know ‘why’. This was a recommendation of the GIST project. Further, it is an opportunity to use verbal skills in science – a skill where girls are more likely to have a positive self-assessment of their abilities.
Teach spatial-visualisation skills in primary schools. Further to her university-based research, Sorby found that teaching spatial- visualisation skills at a middle-school level increased the number of girls choosing to take more advanced maths and science in high school.
Invest in construction and STEM toys that appeal to girls; for example, Goldie-Blox toys incorporate stories, meaningful problem-solving and opportunities for collaboration, as well as technological concepts, designed specifically to appeal to the way girls play.
Correll, S. J. (2001). Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self-assessments. American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1691–1730.
Kerkhoven, A. , Russo, P., Land-Zandstra, A., Rodenburg, F. (2016). Gender stereotypes in science education resources: a visual content analysis. Plos One. Retrieved from
Cruickshank, M., Deem, R., Kant, L., Whyte, J., Baroness Vosper Blackstone, T. A. (1988) Girl friendly schooling, edited by Maureen Cruickshank, et al., Taylor and Francis. Retrieved from
Scantlebury, K., Baker, D., Sugi, A., Yoshida, A., Uysal, S. (2007). Avoiding the issue of gender in Japanese science education. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2007, Volume 5, Number 3, Page 415
Sorby, S. A. (2009). Educational research in developing 3-D spatial skills for engineering students. International Journal of Science Education, 31(3), 459– 80.
Sorby, S. A., & Baartmans, B. J. (2000). The development and assessment of a course for enhancing the 3-D spatial visualization skills of first year engineering students. Journal of Engineering Education, 89(3), 301–07.