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Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): An Investigation of Their Implicit Gender Stereotypes and Stereotypes’ Connectedness to Math Performance

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Abstract

In spite of many barriers facing women’s enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), some women are successful in these counter-stereotypic disciplines. The present research extended work primarily conducted in the United States by investigating implicit gender-STEM stereotypes—and their relation to performance—among female and male engineering and humanities students in Southern France. In study 1 (N = 55), we tested whether implicit gender-math stereotypes—as measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al. 1998)—would be weaker among female engineering students as compared to female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. In study 2 (N = 201), we tested whether this same results pattern would be observed with implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes (using a newly created IAT) and, in addition, whether implicit gender-reasoning stereotypes would be more strongly (and negatively) related to math grades for female humanities students as compared to the three other groups. Results showed that female engineering students held weaker implicit gender-math and gender-reasoning stereotypes than female humanities, male engineering and male humanities students. Moreover, implicit stereotyping was more negatively related to math grades for female humanities students than for the three other groups. Together, findings demonstrate that female engineering students hold weaker implicit gender-STEM stereotypes than other groups of students and, in addition, that these stereotypes are not necessarily negatively associated with math performance for all women. Discussion emphasizes how the present research helps refine previous findings and their importance for women’s experience in STEM.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Fabrice Gabarrot, Isabelle Régner, and two anonymous Reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. This article was partially written during the author’s postdoctoral stay at Clermont University-University Blaise Pascal.

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  1. Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale, Institut des Sciences Sociales, University of Lausanne, Bâtiment Vidy, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Annique Smeding

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Appendix

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  Words used as stimuli on the gender-math (Study 1) and the gender-reasoning (Study 2) implicit association tests. The original stimuli (in French) are provided along with their English translation
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Smeding, A. Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): An Investigation of Their Implicit Gender Stereotypes and Stereotypes’ Connectedness to Math Performance. Sex Roles 67, 617–629 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0209-4

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