Changing the face of science

Fixing the scientist stereotype rather than fixing the women can make STEM careers more attractive to all genders.

Why are there still so few women in some STEM-related fields and what factors impact women in scientific careers?

Although many studies have explored gender stereotypes, no study before 2016 examined the connection between gender stereotypes and stereotypes about scientists. In 2016, a study by Linda L. Carli, Laila Alawa, YoonAh Lee, Bei Zhao, and Elaine Kim investigated this relationship through two surveys.

The first survey examined how much stereotypes about scientists, that is assumptions about behaviours, personality traits or other characteristics, overlap with stereotypes about men and women. The authors found that successful scientists are perceived to be more similar in characteristics to men than women. Survey two investigated how similar men and women are perceived to be to successful scientists from various STEM fields. Participants were asked to describe the characteristics of an adult man, an adult woman, a successful psychologist, biologist, chemist, physicist, and a successful computer scientist. Results showed that women are perceived to be less similar to successful scientists than men, with the exception of psychologists, who are seen to be more similar to women.

The more women in a scientific field, the more the perceived characteristics of high-status scientists in that field overlapped with the perceived characteristics of women. As more women enter scientific fields, the perceptions of female scientists and the qualities associated with success are likely to change. The authors conclude that shifting the stereotypes about scientists and associating success in science with a broader set of qualities would help increase interest and improve experiences for individuals of all genders in STEM careers.

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Study Details

Sample size(s): Pre-test: n = 94, Study 1: n = 315, Study 2: n = 341

Participants: pre-test : age range of 18–68; Ethnicity: mostly white participants. Study 1: age range of 16–26, gender proportion (253 females, 61 males), Ethnicity: 56% white, 25% asian, 9% black, 5% multiracial and 3% hispanic. Study 2: female students from same sex college (age range of 17–25) Ethnicity: 43% white, 36% asian, 6% multiracial, 9% hispanic, 4% black, students from coeducation colleges. Gender proportion:225 females, 116 males) (age range 17–64) Ethnicity: 57% white, 11% asian, 5% black, 6% hispanic, 3% multiracial

Design: Quantitative, Survey

Reference:

Carli, L. L., Alawa, L., Lee, Y., Zhao, B., & Kim, E. (2016). Stereotypes about gender and science: Women ≠ scientists. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(2), 244–260.

Summarized by WinSights team members: Brianna Iannazzo, Emily Ana Butler, Bianca Dreyer, Catherine Palm & Adrianna Tassone