Analyzing the Research on Gender Stereotypes in STEM
For over 25 years, scientists have studied the impact of children’s gender stereotypes about abilities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. These beliefs—that girls and women are predisposed to perform poorly in STEM—could potentially have a compounding, lifelong impact. They could affect girls’ sense of self-efficacy and belonging in STEM learning environments, lower girls’ interest in STEM from a young age, affect their choice of high school and college coursework, and potentially even influence their professional performance and evaluations.
However, the research on this topic has been inconclusive and even contradictory. Some studies have found evidence of the expected stereotype of superior male ability in math and science. But other studies have found the exact opposite. Furthermore, evidence has been mixed about how and when these stereotypes can affect girls’ aspirations to pursue STEM fields. There is also limited understanding of whether and how young girls and boys of different races and ethnicities may differentially experience and be affected by gender stereotypes in these fields.
This AIR synthesis project, funded by the National Science Foundation, sought to clarify these seemingly conflicting results. AIR experts David Miller and Courtney Tanenbaum conducted a meta-analysis of existing studies, synthesizing more than 40 years of research, based on data from 145,000 children across 33 nations.
Key findings published in Psychological Bulletin include the following:
- By age 6, kids already see girls as worse than boys at computing and engineering.
- As girls age, their male-STEM bias increases, which could limit their future aspirations for fast-growing tech fields such as artificial intelligence.
- Black U.S. children tend to hold weaker male-STEM bias than White U.S. children.
- Yet, math stereotypes are far less gendered than often assumed, especially when compared to the stark male bias for computing and engineering.
- Girls are seen as far superior in verbal domains, such as reading and writing—a belief that emerges by age 8 and strengthens in older ages.
Ultimately, this research is designed to inform educational and developmental practices to strengthen student outcomes. For instance, this information could help practitioners target the earliest ages when children begin to subscribe to gender stereotypes about STEM, or maximize contexts in which the stereotypes are weakened. This project builds on AIR’s extensive expertise in systematic review and meta-analysis, such as the What Works Clearinghouse, Latin American Countries READS, and many others.
Read more about our work about increasing women's participation in STEM and in broadening STEM participation by women, racial and ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities.
